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Engineering the Earth to Fight Climate Change

by Katie Dagon Imagine if we had an “undo” button for climate change – we could remove all the greenhouse gases from the air or cool the planet’s temperature in an instant. While this might sound like science fiction, the basic idea is not as far off as…

Seaweed May Cut Cows Methane Production

A team of Australian scientists lead by Rocky De Nys (James Cook University) discovered that a certain type of red seaweed, called Asparagopsis taxiformis, can decrease the amount of methane produced by the bacteria found in a cow’s stomach. Lauren Kuntz…

Galactic Rotation Curves Revisited: A Surprise For Dark Matter

Historically, galactic rotation curves have suggested that galaxies are surrounded by a vast amount of invisible matter, otherwise known as a dark matter halo. A few weeks ago, a team of astrophysicists published a result that completely contradicts…

It’s a boy! Baby is born with DNA from three “parents”

  Human egg cell about to undergo in vitro fertilization, which can be used to assist with conception or screen for genetic diseases [Image: ‘Oocyte with Zona pellucida’ from ZEISS Microscopy]A now five-month-old boy was the first child to be born…

New Study Warns of Southwest Megadrought

A new study published in Science aims to assess the effect of climate change on the risk of a serious drought hitting the Southwest United States before the year 2100. Megadroughts are defined as decade-long periods of prolonged drought; megadroughts…

Foldit players beat scientists in determining a protein's shape

Eight years ago, a team at the University of Washington developed Foldit, a protein folding game that pits gamers against scientists and computer algorithms. Proteins, which are made up of a string of building blocks, called amino acids, form much of the…

Marine Memorial Established Off New England Coast

President Obama has recently established the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off of the coast of New England. The monument is the first in the Atlantic Ocean and measures in at 4,913 square miles, roughly the size of Connecticut.…

HIV: Still America's Most Wanted

by Rose Filoramo figures by Daniel Utter A Report that Changed History On June 5th, 1981, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a medical report documenting something peculiar: within the span of one year, five previously healthy…