A thin lattice of metals and organic compounds could turn moisture trapped in the atmosphere into drinkable water using only the power of the sun. By optimizing what they call a metal-organic framework (MOF) to hang on to water molecules, researchers at MIT and the University of California-Berkeley have created a system that passively catches water vapor and releases it later when exposed to heat from sunlight. Their device could offer a low-cost, sustainable means to deliver drinkable wa ...read more

Springtime Citizen Science April is buzzing with citizen science you can do at hackfests, conferences, festivals, workshops, marches and more! Looking for family-friendly projects? Check this out.  Below, we've selected three projects and two events we think you'll love.  You can find more projects and events on SciStarter to do now or bookmark for later.  Bonus: Complete your SciStarter profile this month and we'll send you a free pdf of The Rightful Place of ...read more

As robots take on greater roles in society, one simple question remains without a satisfying answer: How are they going to move around? Researchers have devised robots that run, walk, roll, hop and slither, but each method of locomotion comes with advantages and inherent drawbacks. Wheeled robots are great indoors, but get stuck when faced with even a single step. Legged robots are good at navigating rough terrain, but have difficulty moving quickly and efficiently. There won't be one sol ...read more

In 1977, a group of marine researchers discovered something they’d only before theorized: cracks in the ocean floor releasing heat, warming up (and often boiling) the ocean around it. They also found mollusks in them, and subsequent vents have yielded heat resistant microbes, giant tube worms, and more fantastic creatures living in what are essentially small, underwater volcanoes. Now, NASA has announced that they have indirect evidence for hydrothermal vents beyond Earth. In its encounte ...read more

In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, there’s an enormous patch of seaweed that’s perplexed sailors for centuries: the Sargasso Sea. This strange place is where American and European eels go to breed. Once born, the little eels — called elvers — have to venture toward land. American eels live out their lives — which can be more than a decade — just off the eastern seaboard. Their cousins across the pond live everywhere from Scandinavia to North Africa. Then, a ...read more

Interacting with food is an incredibly sensual experience. One might imagine the smell of an oven roast, or picture an oozing chocolate lava cake, maybe even hear the crunch of a stale baguette. But what happens when you lose your sense of smell and taste? Anosmia is a disorder where one loses their ability to smell. There are various forms of this unfortunate disorder: Congenital anosmia is when someone is unable to smell at birth, and hyposmia describes the diminishing sense of smell th ...read more

Finally! Some relief from the unrelenting decay in Arctic sea ice. Well, no. I was hoping to be able to report that. But I can't. The National Snow and Ice Data Center's most recent update shows the extent of Arctic sea ice in March dropping to a record low for the month. And that marks the sixth month in a row of record-setting lows. On March 7, the extent of Arctic sea ice seems to have reached its maximum extent for the year, after an entire winter of frigid temperatures. But here ...read more

Izaak Walton League Celebrates Citizen Science Month With Project To Document Streams Across America By Danielle Donkersloot, Izaak Walton League Clean Water Program Director Every American has the right to know whether the streams running through their backyards and neighborhood parks are safe. But there is an alarming lack of up-to-date information about water quality across the country. The Izaak Walton League’s “Stream Selfie” project will help bridge that information ...read more

Well, well, well... looks like it's time for yet another shake-up in the dinosaur story, this time courtesy of one of the animals' early relatives, Teleocrater rhadinus. The first description of the animal, published today, reveals the conventional chronology of how dinosaurs bodies evolved might be just a wee bit off, give or take several million years. With reverberations from a proposed massive rewrite of the dinosaur family tree still echoing, here comes a species new to science but v ...read more

Over the past 7,000 years, as mighty civilizations rose and crumbled, another saga was playing out in the southern reaches of the world. Just off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, a colony of gentoo penguins have long made tiny Ardley Island their home. At times, the colony rose to a mighty power, holding absolute dominion over the mile-long strip of land their forefathers swam, waddled and slid their way to some time around 5,700 B.C. But, nature deals harshly with hubris ...read more