Signs of ammonia on Pluto's surface may hint at liquid water underground. (Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI)
The New Horizons spacecraft, which flew past Pluto in 2015, is still making new findings. Most recently, researchers used its data to find traces of ammonia on Pluto’s surface. Intriguingly, the ammonia lines up with a cracked region called Virgil Fossae, which has mounds of water ice and shows signs of past tectonic activity. Because ammonia is eventually destroyed in environments like ...read more
A satellite view of the Chuckegg Creek wildfire near High Level, Alberta in Canada on May 26, 2019.
With unusual heat refusing to loosen its grip on Western Canada, ten out-of-control wildfires are now burning in northern Alberta.
Thanks to the hot, dry weather and rising winds, officials in Alberta were concerned on Tuesday (May 29) that the Chuckegg Creek fire near High Level, Alberta could lead to "blow-up fire behavior." The fire has already scorched 580 square miles — an area l ...read more
EF3 tornado from an 2017 tornado outbreak near Washburn, Illinois. Wikimedia Commons.
I live in Ohio and one thing I've had to get used to here that I didn't experience most places I have lived are tornadoes. This week, parts of western Ohio got hit by some big and destructive tornadoes and in total, at least 17 tornadoes were confirmed across the state. This is part of a larger tornado outbreak across the central U.S. Tornadoes are a lot like volcanic eruptions: they've highly destructive a ...read more
New research suggests that LDL cholesterol may play a role in developing early-onset Alzheimer's disease. (Credit: Atthapon Raksthaput/Shutterstock)
Most of us know that high levels of “bad” cholesterol in our blood can increase our risk of developing cardiovascular problems. Now, a new study gives us another reason to keep cholesterol levels in check. High cholesterol may also play a role in the development of early-onset Alzheimer's disease, a research team has found.
T ...read more
A colony of tufted puffins. (Credit: tryton2011/shutterstock)
From beached whales to strange seal die-offs, mass marine life mortality events are getting more common. And thanks to changing temperatures, mass seabird deaths are on the rise as well.
A study published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One catalogs a four-month period starting in October 2016 where researchers and volunteers collected dead seabirds from St. Paul Island off the Alaskan coast in the Bering Sea. They foun ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine