This animation shows how temperatures at the surface and subsurface of the tropical Pacific ocean departed from average over five-day periods starting in early August 2017. The vertical axis shows the depth below the surface in meters. The cross-section is right along the equator. Note the blue blob indicative of relatively cool water rising from the depths and spreading eastward. (Source: NOAA ENSO Blog) Here we go again? Following a mild and short-lived La Niña episode in 2016/20 ...read more

The startup Flytrex launched a delivery drone service in Reykjavik, Iceland starting in August 2017. Credit: Flytrex Delivery drones are carrying customer orders for burgers and smartphones across a bay of water straddled by the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik—and that’s just the start of a much more ambitious plan. Before the end of 2017, the Israeli startup Flytrex envisions sending its delivery drones to the street corners of certain Reykjavik neighborhoods. T ...read more

Asian carp jump from the water at the mouth of the Wabash River in Ohio. (Credit: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/Todd Davis) For years, people have been freaking out that Asian carp are about to invade the Great Lakes. That concern seemed more real than ever this summer after an Illinois fisherman caught a carp in June less than 10 miles from Lake Michigan — beyond the barriers designed to keep them out. These voracious fish have already decimated Midwestern rivers. They’re filters f ...read more

[embedded content] Flying low, through a truss bridge, under a Union Pacific train, and even in a boxcar are just a few of the stunts a drone pilot shows off in a YouTube video while a UP mixed freight is in motion. The video went live on Sept. 20 and has already received more than 250,000 views as of Friday morning. The recording shows a double-tracked right-of-way bridging a river near a highway. The location appears to be just south of Verdi, Nev., on former Southern Pacific tracks over ...read more

A change in seasons can mean it’s time to take the sweaters out of the back of your closet, plant your garden, or—if you’re a panda—remake your gut microbiome. Scientists have found that pandas, rather than a summer and winter wardrobe, have different sets of gut bacteria for different seasons. The rotating roster of bugs helps pandas make the most of their drab diet of bamboo, bamboo and more bamboo. The panda menu does have seasonal variations. Pand ...read more

(Credit: Shuttershock) You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Don’t give up.” I do, from my mom, all the time, and she’s always led by example. A new study from MIT shows she likely taught me persistence, just from my observing her. The study reveals that kids as young as 15 months can learn persistence from adults. Of course, this also means adults setting not-so-good examples for kids could be inspiring that same behavior in them. This study is apparen ...read more

Here be drugs. (Credit: Wanna Thongpao/Shutterstock) Obtaining information about illegal drug use isn’t a simple task. The illicit nature of the subject makes gathering information on the who and the what of drug consumption problematic. Self-reported surveys, a common tool, aren’t always accurate because people aren’t always honest about their drug use. But reliable information on drug use is a requisite for public health officials, and to gather the kind of detailed data ne ...read more

Love is a battlefield, and in the case of the hooded grebe, that battle takes place on the dance floor. These endangered freshwater divers have a mating ritual that is not only extremely intricate, but also highly entertaining. And lucky for us, we now have it on film. Not much is known about the hooded grebe, Podiceps gallardoi, as these aquatic birds were discovered only 43 years ago in the frigid waters of Patagonia. Though they tend to keep to themselves, footage of them is incredibly ...read more