A lightning strike in New Port Richey, Florida, led to a chemical reaction creating a new material that is transitional between space minerals and minerals found on Earth. High-energy events, such as lightning, can cause unique chemical reactions. In this instance, the result is a new material -- one that...
Freight Train of Atmospheric Rivers Brought Record Rain, Snow in March
March was a turbulent month weather-wise across the United States, as a series of western storms brought record amounts of precipitation and tornadoes ripped through parts of the South and the nation’s midsection.
Scientists Uncover the Amazing Way Sandgrouse Hold Water in Their Feathers
Many birds’ feathers are remarkably efficient at shedding water — so much so that “like water off a duck’s back” is a common expression.
Trees in areas prone to hurricanes have strong ability to survive even after severe damage
The island of Dominica took a direct hit from Category 5 Hurricane Maria. Nine months afterward, researchers found that while 89% percent of trees located in nine previously documented forest stands were damaged, but only 10 percent had immediately died. The most common damage was stem snapping and major branch...
Perfume component helps lure male moth pests
A small amount of a perfume component -- nonanal -- added to a traditional blend of sex pheromones captures the attention of male fall armyworm moths looking for a good time.
Temperature is stronger than light and flow as driver of oxygen in US rivers
The amount of dissolved oxygen in a river is a matter of life or death for the plants and animals living within it, but this oxygen concentration varies drastically from one river to another, depending on their unique temperature, light and flow. To better understand which factor has the greatest...
Stowaways in the genome
Scientists have discovered over 30,000 viruses by using the high-performance computer cluster 'Leo' and sophisticated detective work. The viruses hide in the DNA of unicellular organisms. In some cases, up to 10% of microbial DNA consists of built-in viruses.
The 2022 Durban floods were the most catastrophic yet recorded in KwaZulu-Natal
Research shows flooding events in the province have doubled in the last century.
Male yellow crazy ants are real-life chimeras
Researchers discovered that males of the yellow crazy ant have maternal and paternal genomes in different cells of their body and are thus chimeras.
UTA Research Uses Seawater to Remove Carbon Dioxide From Atmosphere
A University of Texas at Arlington researcher is working to create a process that uses seawater to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.