Wrangell and its ice-filled caldera seen from the International Space Station in August 2005. NASA. Alaska is full of volcanoes. Most of them lie along the long, arcuate chain along the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands, stretching far into the Pacific Ocean. However, they are not the only volcanoes in the vast state. to the east of the Aleutian arc are the Wrangell-St. Elias Range. It is one of the most complex tectonic area in North America and home to at least 10 volcanoes. In fact, s ...read more

Wind sweeps over sand dunes along the shores of Lake Michigan at Indiana Dunes National Park. (Credit: Delmas Lehman/Shutterstock) (Inside Science) -- On the shores of Lake Michigan, near the northeastern tip of Indiana Dunes National Park, an approximately 125-foot-high dune rises into the air. Named Mount Baldy, the crescent-shaped mound is arguably the most famous sand dune in the park. Rangers lead visitors on summer hikes to the top. "You get some gorgeous views," said Kelly Caddell, ...read more

Virtually join a SCUBA diver as she takes a fish survey. Watch scientists explain the goals of their research, how YOU can get involved, and what they'll do with the data you collect. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the videos we feature below. You'll discover how you can become a citizen scientist, in minutes!Nature TV and WNET produced this video about citizen science and SciStarter, too. Find more citizen science project videos on SciStarter's "How To" YouTube channel. If you're a proj ...read more

A paper about electrical activity in cultured human brain cells got a lot of attention this week: Scientists Just Detected Brain Waves in Mini Lab-Grown Brains Mini-brains grown in a lab show neural activity like preterm babies The study, published in Cell Stem Cell, was about cortical organoids, three dimensional blobs of brain-like tissue that are created from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Researchers Trujillo et al. recorded electrical activity from the organoids as ...read more

DNA obtained from an ancient woman's remains have established a genetic link between modern-day Indians and the Indus Valley Civilization's people. (Credit: Vasant Shinde) Two new genetic studies published this week offer some rare insights into the Indus Valley Civilization, one of the earliest human civilizations. The work helps illuminate where these people, who created one of the cradles of civilization, came from. Just as importantly, it also reveals where they went. The Indus Valley ...read more

GC1052-DF2 is a large, but very diffuse galaxy located some 65 million light-years away. The galaxy is thought to contain a negligible amount of dark matter. This image was captured by the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope. (Credit: NASA/ESA/P. van Dokkum (Yale University)) Some 60 million light-years from Earth, not too far from our local galactic neighborhood, a strange little galaxy is causing a cosmic stir. This little island universe holds far fewer stars than yo ...read more

With cases of STIs on the rise, basic methods of protection are more important than ever.(Credit: Purple Anvil/Shutterstock) When it comes to sexually transmitted infections (STIs), we all know the classics: Syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea and the like. But these health-class terrors are not the only microbes that can get passed on through sexual contact. There are more than 30 known STIs, and four in particular are becoming more common at a worrying rate. Some are developing antibiotic re ...read more

Wynn, James. Citizen Science in the Digital Age: Rhetoric, Science, and Public Engagement. The University of Alabama Press, 2017. 224 pages. Paperback $US 24.95. Citizen scientists have repeatedly faced resistance from skeptics questioning their experience, training, and ability, but recent technological advances have brought citizen science into the digital age, transforming many aspects of the process. This ranges from the experience of being involved in a project as a citizen scientis ...read more

One-third of GE's Catalyst engine, a turboprop set to fly in the Cessna Denali, is 3D printed. It has the most 3D-printed parts of any plane engine in the world. (Credit: GE Aviation) In 2014, eight engineers started a secret project behind the walls of GE Aviation’s headquarters. Their challenge? Build an aircraft engine with 3D printing instead of traditional manufacturing. The engineers wanted to make an engine with fewer parts than normal – way fewer parts. The normal CT7 t ...read more

India could be the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the lunar surface (Credit: ISRO) India’s space agency is prepping for their first soft landing on the Moon today. The mission, called Chandrayaan-2, would make India the fourth country to reach the Moon’s surface -- behind the United States, Russia, and China. The Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-2 mission consists of several parts, including an orbiter to observe the Moon for a year, the ...read more