Leaving da Vinci’s Mark in the Melting Arctic
Artist John Quigley is known for his big creations. He likes the scale of decorating a field by scattering people to form shapes. He first gained notoriety during the World Trade Organization meetings...
View ArticleSurfers Use Science to Protect the Ocean
Surfers are a group of ocean super users. They spend a great deal of time in the water and on top of the waves. They notice slight variations. And they depend on a clean, safe environment to catch a...
View ArticleScience of…Fall Foliage
For leaf peepers Fall is the time for the best leaves. They turn from bright green to yellow, then orange and if the conditions are right red and purple too. But what makes fall colors so spectacular?...
View ArticleClimate Skeptics Confirm Global Warming
Global warming has become so politicized that many people forget there is science underlying the concept. The camps sort out like this. Climate scientists for the most part agree that the world is...
View ArticleLa Nina Back for Round Dos
After a year of record precipitation in some parts of the country and blistering drought in others, everyone was hoping that this would be a neutral year. But weather forecasters show that a second La...
View ArticleClimategate II: Attack of the Scientists
Two years ago the private e-mails of one of the top climate change research centers were stolen and published online. The timing was such that it occurred just before the Copenhagen Climate Summit in...
View ArticleArctic Region Warms into New Climate State
In 2006, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration began monitoring the Arctic region, creating an annual report card to mark rapid change occurring there. Five years in and the news isn’t...
View ArticleDeadly Dozen Extreme Weather Events of 2011
2011 was a banner year for weather. It was cold, wet, dry and hot, depending what part of the country you inhabit. And according to new analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration...
View ArticleFrankincense Shortage on the Horizon
It’s almost Christmas and the value of the gifts of the Three Wise Men is on the rise. For those not remembering the Nativity story the Three Wise Men brought three items, gold, frankincense and myrrh...
View ArticleChristmas Count Turns Birders into Citizen Scientists
If it’s December it’s time to count the birds. For 112 years the National Audubon Society has been documenting the avian world with its annual Christmas Bird Count. The oldest citizen science (and...
View ArticleSharks Begin Climate Adaptation Strategy
Recently scientists in Australia discovered that two species of sharks are interbreeding. The common black-tip shark and the Australian black-tip shark have started producing hybrid sharks. Marine...
View ArticleStrong Mussels Land Student in Intel Science Finals
Samantha Garvey wants to be a marine biologist and the science-focused 17 year old is now one of 61 finalists from Long Island in the Intel Science & Engineering Fair for her pioneering work with...
View ArticleSDF: What the Frack?
Editor’s Note: To mark the new year REALscience is rolling out a new feature — Science Ditty Friday. Each and every Friday we’ll compile a song (preferably with accompanying video) to kick your weekend...
View ArticleState of the Union Skimps on Science
For those expecting President Barack Obama to expound on the accomplishments of his laundry list of science and innovation policy he outlined in last year’s State of the Union, there were a few nods...
View ArticleWhere’s Winter?
Today famed groundhog Punxsutawney Phil poked his head out of his burrow and saw his shadow, meaning (according to the old German superstition) that we can expect six more weeks of winter. But the...
View ArticleWater Race at the Bottom of the World
The Russians proudly claim the honor of being the first nation to reach the subglacial waters of Lake Vostok buried deep beneath 12,000 feet of Antarctic ice. This feat has been ongoing for 20 years...
View ArticleSDF: Michael Jackson’s Earth Song Calls Out Apathy (Climate Denial)
Editor’s Note: It’s Science Ditty Friday. Every Friday REALscience compiles a song (generally with an accompanying video) to kick your weekend off with a musical start. Have a favorite science song?...
View ArticleHimalayan Mountain Lakes Pose Growing Threat
Apa Sherpa has climbed Mount Everest 21 times and is practically a mountain goat when it comes to knowing the terrain of the Himalayas. When he first climbed the tallest peak he says there was always...
View ArticleAcid Oceans Spell Trouble for Sea Life
Ocean acidity is one of the most worrisome problems facing marine biologists. There is a lot that we don’t understand about the carbon cycle, including exactly how much of the carbon dioxide human...
View ArticleTornado Season Off to Fast and Furious Start
Last year 1,668 tornadoes raked the U.S. causing billions of dollars in damage and claiming many lives. Winter tornadoes tend to be infrequent and weak because they rely on warm water in the Gulf of...
View ArticleJames Hansen Sounds Climate Alarm
James Hansen looks more like an Amish farmer these days — sporting a chin curtain beard, button-down white shirt and hat — than a scientist. At least that’s how the renowned climate expert appeared at...
View ArticleBacteria Gene Inserted in Corn to Make it More Drought Tolerant
Drought resistant corn is coming soon. It’s the latest transgenic offering from the Monsanto seed company. After the US Department of Agriculture chose not to regulate DroughtGard, a new species of...
View ArticleCrowdfunding Science
Who could say No to a face like this? Especially when that face is attached to a scientist doing cool research? Kevin Miklasz is just about to finish his PhD in Biomechanics at Stanford University. At...
View ArticleSDF: Tropical Spring Heatwave
Editor’s Note: It’s Science Ditty Friday. Every Friday REALscience compiles a song (generally with an accompanying video) to kick your weekend off with a musical start. Have a favorite science song?...
View ArticleGeneral Slothpital
Twenty years ago Judy Avery Arroyo stumbled into her calling to rehabilitate injured and abandoned sloths in Costa Rica. The bed and breakfast owner from Alaska and her Costa Rican husband now run one...
View ArticleChris Lintott: Glactic Zookeeper
Self-deprecating astronomer Chris Lintott is terribly British. From his post at University of Oxford he keeps tabs on the universe and everything in it. He says, “This is a problem because the...
View ArticleCanada Muzzles Government Scientists
The Canadian government wants to know exactly what its scientists are saying to the media. A few months ago the Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper tightened a five-year-old communications...
View ArticleCurbing Cow Emissions to Slow Global Warming
35 million sheep and 8 million cows animals are emitting more than 50 percent of the greenhouse gas New Zealand produces. That is why scientists at the Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Center are...
View ArticleYoung Explorer Circumnavigates the Americas
Matt Rutherford is not your typical 31 year old. The Annapolis, Maryland resident just returned from a 309-day sailing trip. The avid sailor becomes the first person to circumnavigate North and South...
View ArticleDebby Drenches Florida
Tropical Storm Debby is a troublemaker. The slow-moving storm came out of nowhere on Saturday and in two days it has dumped inches of rain on the Gulf Coast of Florida. It’s not a particularly strong...
View ArticleThis is What Global Warming Looks Like
(From July 2, 2012) Climate scientists have been saying it for years. Extreme weather phenomenon is a sign of global warming. Droughts and wildfires will become more frequent. Floods and torrential...
View ArticleGiant Iceberg Breaks off Greenland Glacier
For some scientists it’s one of the last warnings to pay attention global warming. For others it’s merely the butt of a joke. Either way, a giant ice tongue broke off the Petermann Glacier in northern...
View ArticleGoogle Gets International at Its Science Fair
The second annual Google Science Fair crowned its winners this week in a science-studded event that celebrated the 21 finalists and 15 projects. With over 5,000 entries from over 100 countries and...
View ArticleHuman Activity is Melting Arctic Sea Ice Faster than Nature
One of the big areas of uncertainty in climate science is natural variability. The Earth’s climate is a complex system and one that allows for natural and cyclical shifts from warmer to cooler and...
View ArticleRichard Muller Reverses His Own Climate Skepticism
Richard Muller is a physicist and head of the Berkley Earth Surface Temperature (BEST) project, a privately funded set of studies that examine the scientific literature about global warming. He has...
View ArticleMidwest Drought Allows Farmers to Test Drought-Resistant Crops
Nearly half of the U.S. corn crop isn’t good enough to eat, not even by cows. A widespread drought that has affected much of the Midwest is ravaging corn raised to feed cattle and forcing farmers to...
View ArticleSuperstorm Sandy Supersized by Climate Change
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy There is nothing super about mega, extra-tropical hybrid storm Sandy that scoured the New Jersey coast line, flooded New...
View ArticleThe Spectral Beauty of Universality
Math, man and nature all converge in universality. This very complex pattern — that looks like a bar code — appears over an over again in complex climate models, the structure of the Internet and even...
View ArticleVegas Fossil Bed Could become Newest Ice Age Attraction
Las Vegas is the entertainment capital of America. But it is also located near one of the most prolific fossil beds in North America. Nevada university students dig in the dirt about 30 minutes off...
View ArticlePrehistoric Camel Unearthed in Canadian Arctic Tells Climate Story
The story of climate change in the Arctic 3.5 million years ago and the discovery of the first known American camel -- a dromedary 30 percent larger than today's desert-dwellers -- started when...
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