Picture This: Christmas from space

SAN FRANCISCO Evening trips to the mall. Christmas parties. Rooftop lights. The December holidays are bright dazzling enough to be seen by satellites orbiting high above Earth. Researchers recently used satellite data to track when, where and how often we turn on lights. The findings, they say, point to how human activities drive electricity use.Scientists sent radiometers into space and...

What has three eyes, breathes through gills, and may help scientists spot new ways to improve organ transplants? An unusual tadpole living in a lab near Boston, Mass.Researchers removed an eye from one tadpoles head and attached it to the skin of another. Adjusting electric charges in that second tadpoles cells helped its new, third eye connect to its new body. The adjustments triggered the...

Imagine snacking on sweets while wrapped in a cozy bubble. Now picture this happening while floating in a cloud. It sounds like a pleasant dream. But for some lucky bacteria, it also may be a reality.Researchers have discovered that at least one cloud-dwelling microbe a bacterium belonging to the Bacillus genus may dine on sugars while riding the winds in clouds. And this is not just any...

VANCOUVER A magnifying glass can help detectives spy for clues. For environmental sleuths tracking water pollution, spiders living along riverbanks might work just about as well.As spiders eat, their bodies will accumulate some of the chemicals polluting the environment. By measuring what taints their bodies, scientists can discover the types, locations, concentrations and even potential...

A virus may be responsible for turning starfish along the west coast of North America into puddles of slime.Since June 2013, scientists have watched in horror as the dazzling marine creatures have experienced a startling and mysterious die-off. At least 20 species of starfish (also known as sea stars) have been affected. The epidemic has hit the Pacific coast of the United States, Canada and...

Ive baked a lot of cookies for science. Now its time to see what the data show.So far, its clear that my tasters did not like the cookies made with my two gluten-free flours as much as they did the control cookies made with normal flour. When tasters were asked how much they agreed with the statement Overall, I like this cookie, the gluten-free ones got significantly lower scores. But while...

There are lots of holiday gifts out there for people who like science. Everything from your very own remote-operated underwater robot to 3-D printers that can make parts and pieces to build anything you desire. While these gifts would be a lot of fun, they can also cost a lot of money. Luckily, there are options out there that dont cost a lot, but still give your science student or science...

In the New York City subway, its not just the trains that are crowded. Air in the underground stations used by more than 5 million passengers each day also is chockablock with teeny-tiny pollutants, researchers report.The sooty pollution is called black carbon. It is a byproduct of the burning of diesel fuel. The subway trains, which run on electricity, arent responsible. Maintenance trains...

Cough. Wheeze. Gasp!Those sounds echo through the streets of polluted cities. Brown clouds made up of noxious gases, dust, soot and even finer particles hang over buildings and hug the ground. When outside, people cant help but breathe it all in. And in most parts of the world, windows wont keep these air pollutants out.Not all large cities have air pollution like this. But in those urban areas...

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