A researcher makes the case that all infectious diseases are seasonal. (Credit: Dirima/Shutterstock.com) (Inside Science) — During the height of the polio epidemic in the U.S. in the 1940s and ’50s, parents often kept their children away from swimming pools, concerned that the disease, which peaked in the summer, was frequently spread through the water. But this fear couldn’t account for the summertime outbreaks around the world where public pools were not as common. Then in ...read more

Our planet teems with life. But are we a fluke, or an inevitability? Credit: ESA Humans have often looked at the night sky and wondered if there’s anyone else out there. But stare into that darkness long enough, and many wonder instead: how did we get here? What were the odds, in a universe so enormous and chaotic, that humans should have come to exist at all? Is life, let alone intelligent life, such a wildly improbable occurrence that we’re the only ones here? Or are we an i ...read more

SciStarter offers something for anyone who is curious or concerned about the natural world. In this edition, we highlight Fall projects the Girl Scouts are doing all across the nation. But anyone can participate in these projects! Girl Scouts USA and SciStarter have joined forces on the “Think Like a Citizen Scientist Journey” featuring a handful of curated projects (some are listed below) aligned with the Outdoor STEM badges. Find dozens of other G ...read more

This new, developing device works to both heat and cool the area around it without fossil fuels. (Credit: Linda Cicero, Stanford News) As people search for solutions to the climate change crisis on Earth, scientists are working to create renewable energy sources as alternatives to fossil fuels. Now, scientists at Stanford University hope to offer a new solution as they are developing a single device that collects solar energy and shoots radiation out into space – acting as both a heater ...read more

omNew research aims to resolve the mystery of how Earth’s global ocean formed. (Credit: NASA) Forming an Ocean When you look out at the ocean, it’s difficult to imagine the swaying body of water being any other way. But, says a team of researchers, some of the H2O that covers much of our planet’s surface was once something very different: A stream of hydrogen traveling through the galaxy. Only on Earth did this hydrogen mix with oxygen to create the watery world we know today ...read more

A new study finds that an imbalance between one’s circadian rhythm and eating and sleeping habits may contribute to weight gain. (Credit: Pakula Piotr/Shutterstock) Our weight might not be controlled solely by what we eat. When we eat, and when we get to sleep, may be just as important. A small study published this week in Current Biology found people who had been thrown off their circadian rhythms burn more calories in the late afternoon and evening hours than in the morning, ...read more

Solar flares captured on sun. (Credit: NASA/SDO) On Aug. 4, 1972, the crew of a U.S. Task Force 77 aircraft flying near a naval minefield in the waters off Hon La observed 20 to 25 explosions over about 30 seconds. They also witnessed an additional 25 to 30 mud spots in the waters nearby. Destructor sea mines had been deployed here during Operation Pocket Money, a mining campaign launched in 1972 against principal North Vietnamese ports. There was no obvious reason why the mines should have de ...read more

Using a small lava cove as trap, a small number of bulls have learned to round up pelagic yellowfin tuna, driving them into shallow nooks, where the exhausted fish often leap ashore in a last ditch attempt to escape. The oldest bull eats his fill after dispatching the prey with bites to nape and throat, while younger bulls take the scraps. (Credit: Tui de Roy) The water churns in a chaotic flurry of fins and flippers. Hungry onlookers hover, swoop, and scurry, hoping to get in on at least the ...read more