NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES - The National Academy of Sciences announced today the election of 120 members and 30 international members in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Those elected today bring the total number of active members to 2,662 and the total number of international members to 556. International members...
SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY - Researchers from several University of California campuses have collaborated to create a report on dust in California, a characteristic that defines the desert climate zone that encompasses most of the state. The regions where dust storms occur encompass an area greater than 55,000 square miles and are home to nearly...
By Robert Monroe | Scripps Institution of Oceanography |
SCIENCEALERT - You often need a lot of patience to be a scientist, and that's certainly been the case for researchers who have now found solid evidence for a hypothesis around vitamin B1 (or thiamine) that was first put forward almost 70 years ago. In 1958, Columbia University chemist Ronald Breslow proposed that vitamin B1...
LIVE SCIENCE - The trendiest planet in the universe right now is K2-18b, a potentially habitable world swirling around a small, red star in the constellation Leo. Located 124 light-years from Earth, the mysterious planet will never host human visitors — but a recent glimpse with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) hints that alien...
THE INDEPENDENT UK - It’s one of humanity’s oldest questions. Are we alone? Is there life elsewhere in our galaxy or the universe? Scientists last week made a stunning announcement that they had found the “strongest evidence yet” of life beyond our solar system. A team of astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope said...
THE COOL DOWN - Urban development in California is threatening a new manzanita species — a plant species already considered highly vulnerable since its discovery in the area. What's happening? The Dana Reserve project, a housing development in Nipomo, is a 288-acre community with 1,370 residential units on land where a new manzanita species was...
FORBES - Preliminary budget cuts proposed by the Trump Administration would slash a huge swath out of NASA's Venus science funding. And it would spell the end of the space agency’s much anticipated $500 million DAVINCI mission, an orbiter and atmospheric probe, which had been due for launch to our sister planet in 2030. The...
CNN - A team of astronomers have detected what they call the most promising signs to date of a possible biosignature, or signs of past or present life linked to biological activity, on an exoplanet named K2-18b. But the study authors, and other experts, remain cautious and have not declared a definitive discovery of life...
NEWSWEEK - Scientists say they may have detected signs of biological activity on a planet outside our solar system, in what some describe as the "strongest evidence" so far in the ongoing search for life beyond Earth. "This is a question humanity has been asking for thousands of years, and if you're witnessing it for...
NPR - An ocean world that's teeming with microbes — and who knows what other kinds of life — is currently the best explanation for some chemical signatures that the James Webb Space Telescope has spotted in the atmosphere of a distant planet. That's according to Nikku Madhusudhan of the University of Cambridge's Institute of...
NEWSWEEK - A massive lithium discovery beneath California's Salton Sea has set off a high-stakes push for what some have implied could be America's best shot at lithium self-sufficiency. The U.S. Department of Energy confirmed in late 2023 that an estimated 18 million metric tons of lithium—often called "white gold" on account of its silvery-white...
SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE - Are we alone in the universe? While no one can say for sure, space scientists know where to start looking—exoplanets. An exoplanet is a planet beyond the cradle of Earth’s eight-membered solar system. Hundreds of billions of these extraterrestrial kingdoms swarm our galaxy, and hundreds of sextillions of others exist beyond that...
THE NEW YORK TIMES - The steep trail near the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway was covered in inches of spongy fallen needles and peppered with ankle-twisting pine cones. It was also shady, which felt remarkable after the first seven miles of the grueling Cactus to Clouds hike offered little more than a...
EARTH.COM - For centuries, farmers have struggled to keep their crops safe. Droughts, pests, and poor soil are common challenges. But among the most silent and destructive enemies are parasitic weeds. These plants do not grow on their own. Instead, they cling to healthy crops and steal vital nutrients. In regions already battling food insecurity...
SPACE.COM - Hycean worlds, which are a possible kind of exoplanet with deep oceans surrounded by a thick envelope of hydrogen, could provide the best chance for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to detect biosignatures, according to a new study. Those potential signs of life are a group of chemicals called methyl halides, which...
NEWS ATLAS - Finding alien life won’t be as dramatic as a flying saucer landing on the White House lawn – it’ll be NASA scientists holding a press conference to excitedly show off a chart that’s incomprehensible to most people. Now, we’re a step closer to that boring but groundbreaking day. Astronomers from the University...
GB NEWS - Scientists have discovered that alien existence could be hiding in gases on distant planets. New research suggests extraterrestrial beings might exist in gases called methyl halides on faraway worlds. Researchers believe this approach could provide a relatively quick and easy way to examine potential signs of life beyond Earth. On Earth, methyl...
MASHABLE - Considering humans don't have a spacecraft capable of traveling to planets beyond the solar system, scientists have to get creative if they want to find clues of life existing light-years away. Now a group of scientists is proposing a new way for astronomers to look for signs of aliens using the James Webb...
EARTH.COM - Scientists have searched for alien life for years, but space is huge, and technology has limits, making it hard to find answers. Traditionally, researchers have focused on finding planets similar to Earth, believing that conditions mirroring our own would be the best place to look for life. However, a new study suggests that...
THE RAINCROSS GAZETTE - Scotland has the Loch Ness monster, Tibet has the yeti, and the Pacific Northwest has Bigfoot. Cryptozoology is the study of such creatures—legendary animals which may or may not be real. Riverside has its own cryptozoological species: the chupacabra. The Chupacabra The origin of the chupacabra is younger than I am...