Science & Technology
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Canny as a crocodile but dumber than a baboon -- new research ponders T. rex's brain power
In December 2022, Vanderbilt University neuroscientist Suzana Herculano-Houzel published a paper that caused an uproar in the dinosaur world.
After analyzing previous research on fossilized dinosaur brain cavities and the neuron counts of birds and other related living animals, Herculano-Houzel extrapolated that the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex ...Read more
Wildlife officials confirm fourth gray wolf attack in Colorado´s Grand County
DENVER — Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed a fourth gray wolf depredation in Grand County on Sunday, according to the confirmed gray wolf depredation information.
The incident involved one calf and no claim has been submitted.
CPW defines gray wolf depredation as physical trauma that results in injury or death to a domestic animal. ...Read more
Why are some people faster than others? 2 exercise scientists explain the secrets of running speed
Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.
Why are some people faster than others? – Jon, age 14, Macon, Georgia
Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest human, ran a 100-meter sprint at a speed of 23.35 miles per hour (37...Read more
Midwest tornadoes: What a decaying El Niño has to do with violent storms in the central US
Dozens of tornadoes hit the central U.S. April 26-28, 2024, tearing through suburbs and small towns and damaging hundreds of homes from Oklahoma to Nebraska and Iowa.
Spring is tornado season in the U.S., but the tornadoes in Nebraska and Iowa were quite a bit farther north and east of what would be typical for tornadoes in late April...Read more
Commentary: America's 'big glass' dominance hangs on the fate of two powerful new telescopes
More than 100 years ago, astronomer George Ellery Hale brought our two Pasadena institutions together to build what was then the largest optical telescope in the world. The Mount Wilson Observatory changed the conception of humankind’s place in the universe and revealed the mysteries of the heavens to generations of citizens and scientists ...Read more
A Flamingo flock inspires hope. Have the rare birds returned to the Everglades for good?
For the last century, flamingos in Florida were more likely to be spotted on T-shirts and cups in a souvenir shop than flapping around in the wild.
Then last summer, a flock of the rare and beautiful birds — a group is fittingly known as a “flamboyance” of flamingos — was blown to Florida on the fierce winds of Hurricane Idalia.
Eight ...Read more
World War II-era ship docked in Alameda testing tool to combat global warming
The flight deck of a decommissioned World War II-era aircraft carrier docked at Alameda has recently begun launching something other than airplanes: microscopic droplets of salt water that scientists hope will help counteract the effects of climate change.
A team of atmospheric scientists from the University of Washington has teamed up with ...Read more
Red Sea diversions spew carbon emissions equal to 9 million cars
Ships seeking to avoid ongoing attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea area are emitting millions of additional tons of carbon, making it tougher for companies using ocean freight to reduce pollution across their supply chains.
Instead of passing through Egypt’s Suez Canal, hundreds of vessels since mid-December are sailing around South ...Read more
Philadelphia begins powering City Hall and the airport by a solar array 100 miles away
Philadelphia has begun pulling large amounts of power for city-owned buildings from a solar array on farmland near Gettysburg.
The project, begun nearly six years ago under former Mayor Jim Kenney, started producing electricity specifically for the city a few weeks ago in Adams County after testing was complete. It is expected to provide up to ...Read more
86% of Great Lakes litter is plastic, a 20-year study shows. And the plastic is 'just getting smaller and smaller.'
CHICAGO — Heads down and attentively scanning the ground, a small group of schoolchildren walked through an expanse of grass dotted with yellow dandelions and toward the concrete steps leading to Lake Michigan.
Andrew Scarpelli, a biologist, ambassador for the Alliance for the Great Lakes and guide for this cleanup effort, asked the children ...Read more
Why can’t we throw all our trash into a volcano and burn it up?
Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.
Why can’t we throw all our trash into a volcano and burn it up? – Georgine T.
It’s true that lava is hot enough to burn up some of our trash. When Kilauea erupted on ...Read more
New England stone walls lie at the intersection of history, archaeology, ecology and geoscience, and deserve a science of their own
The abandoned fieldstone walls of New England are every bit as iconic to the region as lobster pots, town greens, sap buckets and fall foliage. They seem to be everywhere – a latticework of dry, lichen-crusted stone ridges separating a patchwork of otherwise moist soils.
Stone walls can be found here and there in other states, but ...Read more
Cicadas will soon descend on Las Vegas -- but not the ones you think
LAS VEGAS — Every year, when spring bleeds into summer, the desert heat awakes a chorus of Las Vegas singers that rival any residency you’ll find on the Strip — cicadas.
But these critters are not the ones you’ve probably been hearing about.
This year has recently been dubbed the year of “cicada-geddon” as two broods of cicadas ...Read more
Lawmakers hope to use this emerging climate science to charge oil companies for disasters
A fast-emerging field of climate research is helping scientists pinpoint just how many dollars from a natural disaster can be tied to the historic emissions of individual oil companies — analysis that is the centerpiece of new state efforts to make fossil fuel companies pay billions for floods, wildfires and heat waves.
When a flood or ...Read more
LA supervisors oppose plan to eradicate Catalina deer by shooting them from helicopters
LOS ANGELES — Last fall, the Catalina Island Conservancy labeled its plan to eliminate the island's invasive mule deer population, by employing helicopter-bound hunters armed with high-powered rifles, "bold and ambitious."
But the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors chose other descriptors, decrying the proposal in an opposition letter as...Read more
SpaceX lines up pair of Space Coast launches for the weekend
ORLANDO, Fla. — SpaceX has launches set for Saturday and Sunday from the Space Coast.
First up from is a Falcon 9 on the Galileo L12 mission carrying global navigation satellites for the European Commission from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A targeting 8:34 p.m. Saturday with a backup Sunday at 8:30 p.m.
The first-stage booster is ...Read more
Editorial: In eco-minded California, there's still no constitutional right to clean air and water
California may be a leader in the fight against climate change, but the state is years, even decades, behind other states when it comes to granting environmental rights to its citizens.
While a handful of other state constitutions, including those of New York and Pennsylvania, declare the people’s rights to clean air, water and a healthy ...Read more
California battery storage increasing rapidly, but not enough to end blackouts, Gov. Newsom says
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday that California continued to rapidly add the battery storage that is crucial to the transition to cleaner energy, but admitted it was still not enough to avoid blackouts during heat waves.
Standing in the middle of a solar farm in Yolo County, Newsom announced the state now had battery storage systems with the ...Read more
Astronauts arrive at Kennedy Space Center as 1st crew for Boeing's Starliner spacecraft
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — It’s not just another ride for a pair of veteran NASA astronauts who arrived to the Space Coast ahead of their flight onboard Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner.
Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams, who both joined NASA’s astronaut corps more than two decades ago, will be the commander and pilot for ...Read more
Feds greenlight return of grizzlies to Washington's North Cascades
SEATTLE —Grizzly bears will soon return to the North Cascades.
The National Parks Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service filed a decision Thursday outlining a plan to capture three to seven grizzlies from other ecosystems in the Rocky Mountains or interior British Columbia and release them in the North Cascades each summer for five to 10 ...Read more
Popular Stories
- A Flamingo flock inspires hope. Have the rare birds returned to the Everglades for good?
- Why are some people faster than others? 2 exercise scientists explain the secrets of running speed
- Commentary: America's 'big glass' dominance hangs on the fate of two powerful new telescopes
- World War II-era ship docked in Alameda testing tool to combat global warming
- Philadelphia begins powering City Hall and the airport by a solar array 100 miles away