The dark, high-pressure depths of Earth's interior is an unexpected place to find life. Now, an international group of scientists report there’s 16.5 to 25 billion tons of micro-organisms beneath the planet's surface. The team’s work is redefining what a habitable environment is.
The discoveries “force us to reimagine what the boundaries are that life can exist in,” said Karen Lloyd, a microbiologist at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Deep Discovery
Lloyd is a ...read more
If you find yourself swooning over urbanites more than country boys, you’re not alone.
A new study found that female túngara frogs were more attracted to the mating calls of males living in cities than those residing in forests. Researchers found that male túngara frogs in urban areas have more prominent, complex calls than those in the wilderness — a possible adaptation to noisy city life that's enabled by a lack of predators.
A study outlining th ...read more
On Tuesday, two Russian cosmonauts are spending some six hours in space, working to solve the mystery of who or what poked a hole in the Soyuz spacecraft.
Back in August, astronauts noticed a slight drop in pressure on the International Space Station. While not an immediate risk, the astronauts investigated and found a hole on the inside of the Soyuz habitation module, which is currently docked at the space station. Astronauts Sergey Prokopyev and Alexander Gerst repaired the two-millimet ...read more
Scotch pines on a Christmas tree farm in northern Michigan. (Credit: Bert Cregg, CC BY-ND)
Environmentally conscious consumers often ask me whether a real Christmas tree or an artificial one is the more sustainable choice. As a horticulture and forestry researcher, I know this question is also a concern for the Christmas tree industry, which is wary of losing market share to artificial trees.
And they have good reason: Of the 48.5 million Christmas trees Americans purchased in 2017, 4 ...read more
This newly identified rare black butterfly has been named after the pioneering 17th century female entomologist, Maria Sibylla Merian. An extraordinary woman, this naturalist and scientific illustrator once sold 255 paintings to fund an expedition across the Atlantic to document the flora and fauna of Dutch Suriname, collected in a book in 1705.
The Central American butterfly honored with her name is dubbed Catasticta sibyllae. Exceedingly rare, only two specimens have been uncovered: on ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine