205 Items Tagged

Scientists at Work

The ancient yeast could only be revived with Emmer, an older, less common varietal of wheat likely used by ancient Egyptians.

How the Man Who Invented Xbox Baked a 4,500-Year-Old Egyptian Sourdough

It took three experts, two museums, and one clay pot to bake a truly ancient loaf.

Luke Fater April 2, 2020

Insect farming could serve an important role in alleviating food insecurity in Madagascar, where almost half of all children under five are malnourished.

To Save Madagascar’s Wildlife, an Entomologist Is Helping Revive a Bug-Based Cuisine

Local insect farms could save lemurs, baobabs, and more.

Andy Isaacson March 31, 2020

Jonathan Green affixes a fin-mounted double satellite tag on the dorsal fin of an adult female whale shark.

The Ocean’s Largest Shark Has a Little Something to Say

An online video raised a strange question: Do whale sharks make sounds? And would it matter if they did?

Claudia Geib March 24, 2020

Just when you thought cows could do it all.

The Oregon Creamery Making Vodka From Milk

“It's a tribute to the cows.”

Luke Fater March 19, 2020

This individual remains unidentified, because the algorithm that researchers used couldn't pick up the spots from this angle.

Scientists Want You to Photograph This Curious, Enigmatic Giant

Keep an eye out for the giant sea bass's spots.

Jessica Leigh Hester March 18, 2020

Colombian glaciologist Jorge L. Ceballos and assistant Andres Cruz Mendoza climb the highest peak of the Santa Isabel glacier.

An Elegy for Colombia's Tropical Glaciers

"We are the place on Earth where glaciers shouldn't be, and they are here.”

Megan Janetsky March 16, 2020

The endangered sea turtles of São Tomé now have the island's biggest pop star on their side.

In São Tomé, a Pop Star Helps Keep Sea Turtles Off the Dinner Table

A hit single is benefiting an endangered species.

Luke Fater March 5, 2020

Behold: insect soup, pictured here under a dissecting microscope.

To Study Pesky Aphids, Scientists Suck Them From the Sky

Every summer and fall, giant vacuums gobble up insects for 13 hours a day.

Jessica Leigh Hester March 5, 2020

<em>Cyanea kuhihewa</em>, rediscovered.

botanical gardens

In Kaua‘i, Botanists Rediscover an Extinct Plant Once Mistaken for Another Extinct Plant

Just another day in Hawaiian conservation.

Sabrina Imbler February 28, 2020

Thiago Mendes and Mariela Aponte, of the International Potato Center, study blight-resistant potatoes bred from wild relatives.

On the Hunt for the Wild Relatives of America's Favorite Produce

Popular crops’ untamed cousins are genetic gold mines, but they're at risk of disappearing.

Reina Gattuso February 24, 2020

Colombian conservator Clemencia Vernaza peers up at her work in Colombia's Parque Arqueológico Nacional de Tierradentro.

The Effort to Save Colombia's Underground Mountaintop Tombs

Scientists and conservators are finally able to return to what was once an Andean war zone.

Megan Janetsky February 24, 2020

A small snail's new diet has some big implications.

What Tiny Snail Poop Could Mean For Latin America's Coffee Farms

“I just followed a trail of excrement.”

Luke Fater February 13, 2020

Welcome to a thoroughly 21st-century ark.

The Coral Ark That Hopes to Save Florida’s Ailing Reefs

As a mysterious disease sweeps across the region, dry land might be the last best hope for survival.

Sabrina Imbler February 12, 2020

Surprise, surprise: It didn't smell great down there.

Centuries of Crap and Some Historical Treasures in an Old London Cesspit

An art museum found a very old toilet—right under where its new bathroom was being built.

Jessica Leigh Hester February 6, 2020

Mass animal die-offs, simulated here in an Oklahoma hog body farm, can negatively impact the surrounding ecosystem.

Scientists Are Simulating Mass Animal Die-Offs in an Oklahoma Prairie

Understanding the ecological impact of hundreds of dead feral hogs.

Sabrina Imbler January 22, 2020

Lake Bonney looks quiet, but it's full of life.

If You Look Very, Very Close, Antarctica Is Teeming With Life

Meet the icy continent's menagerie of microbes.

Jessica Leigh Hester January 17, 2020

<em>Kummakivi</em> (Finnish for "strange rock") was deposited by a glacier.

Why Scientists Fall for Precariously Balanced Rocks

“They’re nature’s hilarious accidents."

Sabrina Imbler January 9, 2020

Checking In on the Algae of a Brooklyn Reservoir With a Microbiologist

Sally Warring knows a lot about what we can't see.

Sabrina Imbler December 10, 2019