Archive for May 2024
An ancient Indigenous lagoon system brings water back to a dry town in Ecuador
There’s a legend that says the hill of Cerro Pisaca — female — and the hill of Cerro Cango — male — had a bull as a son that, in honor of its father, was named Torito Cango, based on the Spanish word for bull, toro. The bull had a gift: With its roar, it […]
Hubble Views the Dawn of a Sun-like Star
Looking like a glittering cosmic geode, a trio of dazzling stars blaze from the hollowed-out cavity of a reflection nebula in this new image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The triple-star system is made up of the variable star HP Tau, HP Tau G2, and HP Tau G3. HP Tau is known as a T […]
Read MoreSpace Physics and Space Weather Scientist Dr. Yihua (Eva) Zheng
“I grew up in China. In China, everybody talks about what they want to be [when they grow up]. Many want to grow up to be a scientist or engineer. So I aspired to be a scientist from an early age. “… For the girls or women in science — or in any profession or […]
Read MoreVenezuela’s shrimp farms push for sustainability against hardship and oil spills
Most of Venezuela’s shrimp farms sit on the eastern shore of Lake Maracaibo, a brackish lagoon covering an area larger than the island of Sicily in the country’s northwest. This region is also Venezuela’s oil-production hub, and throughout the years, hundreds of oil spills have polluted the waters near the farms and damaged marine ecosystems […]
It’s OK to mow in May − the best way to help pollinators is by adding native plants
NoMowMay is a catchy concept, but it doesn’t provide the food that native North American pollinators need or lasting support for them.
Read MoreSetback for Guinea mine that threatens World Heritage chimp reserve
A major iron mining project in eastern Guinea may be at risk as its owner, the U.S. firm HPX, is reportedly running into trouble with its plans to ship ore through neighboring Liberia. HPX’s mining concession in Guinea has raised alarm among environmentalists, who say that if it reaches the production stage, its close proximity […]
Binoculars: A Great First Telescope
Do you want to peer deeper into the night sky? Are you feeling the urge to buy a telescope? There are so many options for budding astronomers that choosing one can be overwhelming. A first telescope should be easy to use and provide good quality views while being affordable. As it turns out, those requirements […]
Read MoreQ&A: Is Pittsburgh Becoming ‘the Plastic City’?
Once a month for nearly two years, Evan Clark, the Waterkeeper at Three Rivers Waterkeeper, a water quality advocacy organization based in Pittsburgh, has traveled by boat along the Ohio River to Shell’s enormous new plastics plant in Beaver County. This facility is a cracker plant, using ethane from fracked gas to make ethylene and […]
Read MoreInside a California oil town’s divisive plan to survive the energy transition
Kern County is betting on carbon capture to replace oil jobs and tax revenue. But will the county’s new economy repeat the sins of the old one?
Read MoreTribes could lease their water to dry states. Why is it so hard?
The Colorado River Indian Tribes can now lease water to non-Indigenous users along the drought-stricken river. Most nations can’t do the same.
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