Pacific Ocean
Ancient Australia’s First Settlers Probably Came There On Purpose
Rather some chance encounter with the continent down under, researchers think that the original migrants set out to deliberately colonize Australia
April 25, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
An Artist’s Ode to Plankton, Set to Puccini’s ‘La Boheme’
Instead of singing to Mimi, the poet Rodolfo serenades a giant stalks of human-sized plankton wrapped in plastic pollution
March 27, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Smuggler Caught With 10 Percent of an Entire Species
At the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Thailand, authorities stopped a man with some turtles. Fifty-four ploughshare tortoises and twenty-one radiated tortoises, to be exact
March 26, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
For Truck Drivers, Coffee May Save Lives
Drivers who drank caffeine-laden beverages were 63 percent less likely to crash than those who did not - even if they were more sleep deprived
March 21, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Japan Just Opened Up a Whole New Source for Fossil Fuels
For the first time, natural gas has been pulled from offshore methane clathrates
March 13, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
This Giant Snail Is Giving Australia Terrible Flashbacks to the Last Giant Snail Takeover
The giant African snail is a true nightmare. So when Australian officials found one in a shipping container yard in Brisbane, they destroyed it as quickly as possible
March 12, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
California’s Gender-Bending Fish Was Actually Just a Contamination Accident
Scientists thought male fish, exposed to artificial hormones, were growing eggs. They weren't
February 08, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
At 62, the Oldest Bird in the World Is Still Hatching Chicks
Wisdom the 62 year-old albatross just hatched what is thought to be her 30 to 35th chick
February 07, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
Sweet Potato Genes Say Polynesians, Not Europeans, Spread the Tubers Across the Pacific
Sweet potato samples preserved in centuries-old herbariums indicate that Polynesian sailors, rather than Spanish or Portuguese explorers, introduced the now-ubiquitous yam across Southeast Asia and the Pacific
January 23, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Indians Made It to Australia More Than 4,000 Years Before the British
Evidence of substantial gene flow between Australian and Indian populations around 4,000 years ago refutes beliefs that Australia was an isolated continent before Europeans arrived
January 15, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Pet Store Refuses to Sell Impulse-Buy Puppies for Christmas
Too many animals end up on death row, one Australian pet shop says, so their shop will not sell kittens or puppies around Christmas time
December 12, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Eating Whale Meat Is Going Out of Vogue in Japan
Whale meat elicits a "meh" response from young Japanese these days, but global citizens continue to cry foul
November 28, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Australian Students Accidentally Taught That Robots Led the Russian Revolution
Nearly 6,000 Australian students were inadvertently taught this week that giant robots led the Russian Revolution thanks to a sloppy exam staff Google job
November 15, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Mother Birds Teach Their Eggs a Secret ‘Feed Me!’ Password
Australian female fairy-wrens don't even wait until their young are hatched before starting to teach them life skills
November 09, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Island Nation Now Runs Entirely On Solar Power
A one-megawatt solar power plant now provides150% of the electricity demand of a small Pacific island nation
November 06, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
While the East Coast Focused on Sandy, Typhoon Son-tinh Battered East Asia
Sandy was not the only tropical cyclone this week
October 30, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
To Increase Salmon Populations, Company Dumped 110 Tons of Iron Into the Pacific Ocean
Adding iron to the ocean can make life bloom, but scientists are uneasy about the potential unknown consequences
October 16, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
Fossilized Dung Hints That One Endangered Species Might Be the Savior of Another
Researchers examined fossilized kakapo dung and found that it contained wood rose spores, suggesting that the kakapo played an important role in pollinating the threatened plant
October 04, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Fish to Shrink in Warming Waters
Climate change could lead to a sizable drop in fish sizes in coming decades
October 01, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
Slinkys Can Float in the Air (For a Second)
Further proof that Slinkys are magical
September 13, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer


