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Jun 30, 2014

Who Will Save Earth? The Ingenious Human Mind (Op-Ed)

Raghu Murtugudde is executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Forecasting System at the University of Maryland Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) and a professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science. Murtugudde contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. I wake up every morning...

May 31, 2014

Ant Sperm Bundle Up to Outrace the Competition

The race to fertilization is no every-sperm-for-itself sprint in desert ants. A new study finds that bundles of these ants' sperm work together to swim faster than any single sperm could. The sperm of the ant Cataglyphis savignyi are some of the few sperm cells ever found to cooperate. The...

May 31, 2014

Intense Solar Storm Could Hit Earth on Friday the 13th

The sun has unleashed three powerful solar flares over the past two days, and the effects of these eruptions could hit Earth this Friday the 13th — but don't worry, space weather reports show there's no cause for alarm. The three solar bursts were all X-class flares — the most...

May 31, 2014

Human Ancestors Got Herpes from Chimps

A herpes virus that infects humans originated in chimpanzees before it jumped into early human ancestors, according to a new study. Researchers found that herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) infected hominids before their evolutionary split from chimpanzees 6 million years ago, whereas herpes simplex 2 (HSV-2) was transferred from ancient...

May 31, 2014

Swirling Aurora, Zodiacal Light Win Top Prizes in Night Sky Photo Contest

The night sky never looked so inviting. From light rays framing the Big Dipper above the Alps to the eerily stunning aurora hovering atop Norway to the silhouettes of skywatchers below Mother Nature's starlit dome, the winners of a dark skies photo contest delight with their upward gazes. The winners...

May 31, 2014

Strange Stone Spheres Top List of New World Heritage Spots

Enigmatic archaeological sites in Costa Rica dotted with mysterious stone spheres are among six new spots newly designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The stone sphere sites, on the Diquis Delta in southern Costa Rica, join places like the Great Wall of China and Yellowstone National Park on the list...

Apr 30, 2014

Belly-Flopping Icebergs Could Help Track Glaciers

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Icebergs that tumble into the ocean are the source of unusual earthquakes recorded at Alaskan glaciers, researchers said yesterday (May 1) here at the annual meeting of the Seismological Society of America. Though no one regularly follows these funky seismic signals, analyzing them could give researchers a...

Apr 30, 2014

Massive Citizen-Powered Climate Simulation Links Winter Floods to Global Warming (Op-Ed)

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Britain’s warm, wet winter brought floods and misery to many living across southern England, with large parts of Somerset lying underwater for months. When in January rainfall was double...

Apr 30, 2014

How Corkscrew Vaginas and Female Penises Evolved

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A male ruddy duck with a sky-blue beak coasted across a pond here at the Prospect Park Zoo, brightening a rudely cold spring day. There's a very nice sexually selected bill color, Dutch biologist Menno Schilthuizen said, poking his head over the wooden-post fence. At some point...

Apr 30, 2014

Photos: Hawaii's New Underwater Volcano

A rocky resting place (Image credit: University of Hawaii at Manoa)A newly-discovered volcano, named Ka'ena, erupted 5 million years ago in the deep waters south of Kauai. It was the first of three volcanoes that would form the island of Oahu. Researchers recently showed that Ka'ena was a separate volcano,...

Apr 30, 2014

Huge Swath of Amazon Preserved in Record-Setting Deal (Op-Ed)

Meg Symington is managing director for WWF's Amazon program. She contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. On May 21, the Brazilian government, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and partners announced the creation of a $215 million fund to ensure long-term protection of the world's largest network...

Feb 28, 2014

Momentum Builds for Deforestation-Free Palm Oil (Op-Ed)

Seth Shulman is a senior staff writer at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a veteran science journalist and author of six books. This Op-Ed, and other of Shulman's Got Science? columns can be found on the UCS website. Shulman contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed &...

Feb 28, 2014

Hurricane Sandy's Rainfall Decoded Via CrowdSourcing

The storm smash-up that morphed Hurricane Sandy into a hybrid weather monster left a chemical trail that scientists have decoded with the help of crowdsourced water samples. After a long run up the East Coast from its Caribbean birthplace, Superstorm Sandy was no longer considered a hurricane when it came...

Feb 28, 2014

The Gorgeous, Dangerous World Below Antarctic Ice (Op-Ed)

This article was originally published at Slate. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Rob Robbins and Steve Rupp have been diving under the Antarctic sea ice for a combined 60 years. Hang around their dive headquarters at McMurdo Station and you’ll see rows...

Feb 28, 2014

Greenland Ice Sheet Loses Its Last Grip

Greenland is losing the battle against rising air and ocean temperatures, a new study finds. The last bulwark to fall is the northeast corner of the Greenland Ice Sheet, which started shrinking rapidly in 2003, according to a new study. My guess is this is a new record for Greenland,...