Water
Climate Skepticism Could Wipe Out Whole Towns in Australia
Stubborn climate skeptic hold-outs now face more than just the rest of the world's scorn: Their towns might not be on the map in a few years.
July 12, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Synthetic Bacteria Could Turn Ocean Garbage into One Big Island
Entrepreneurial students from University College London are striving to create tropical paradises made from ocean garbage. The aim of the project is to collect tiny pieces of plastic trash floating in the ocean, then stick them all together to create islands of artificial habitat.
July 09, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Easter Island Drug Makes Mice Happier, Smarter
Out of Polynesia emerges a drug that may have potential for preventing cognitive decline associated with old age. ScienceDaily describes a study just published in the journal Neuroscience: Rapamycin, a bacterial product first isolated from soil on Easter Island, enhanced learning and memory in young mice and improved these faculties in old mice, the study [...]
July 03, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
300 Years of Rowing on the Thames
There must be something in the water at Eton, where rowing rules as the sport of choice
July 2012 |
By Joshua Hammer
Mining an Oyster Midden
The Damariscotta River was an epicenter of oyster shucking between 2,200 and 1,000 years ago
June 28, 2012 |
By Peter Smith
Respect: Sharks are Older than Trees
Fun fact of the day: Sharks are older than trees. The earliest species that we could classify as “tree,” the now-extinct Archaeopteris, lived around 350 million years ago, in forests where the Sahara desert is now. But Sharks? They laugh at trees. They’ve been around for 400 million years, skirting four global mass extinctions along [...]
June 27, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Cowboy Conservationist Frees Whales with Crossbow
Marine biologist Scott Landry’s tool of choice for freeing whales tangled in stray fishing gear is the gobbler guillotine, a crossbow-like weapon designed in Texas for shooting turkeys.
June 27, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Sea Level Rising Three Times Faster Than Average on Northeast US Coast
A study lead by United States Geological Survey scientist Asbury Sallenger found that over the past 20 years the ocean height has gone up faster along the coast north of Cape Hateras, North Carolina, than to the south. According to Nature, In absolute figures, sea levels on this stretch of coast have climbed by between 2 [...]
June 25, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
Does Larry Ellison Know His $600 Million Island Is Sinking?
CNN is reporting that Larry Ellison, co-founder and CEO of Oracle (the people who make Java), is buying 98% of Lanai, Hawaii’s sixth largest island. According to Reuters, ‘It is my understanding that Mr. Ellison has had a long standing interest in Lanai. His passion for nature, particularly the ocean, is well known specifically [...]
June 21, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
50 Years of Longline Fishermen Throwing Out the Endangered Half of Their Catch
Longline fishing uses strings of hooks stretching 30 miles in the Gulf of Mexico, regularly ensnaring around 80 non-target animals, including Atlantic bluefin tuna, blue and white marlin, sailfish and endangered sea turtles. Some studies indicate that longliners throw away more animals than they actually haul in for harvest. In the hopes of encouraging people [...]
June 20, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
How to Eat Lobster 10 Ways In 24 Hours
These innovative recipes entice the taste buds for every meal of the day
June 15, 2012 |
By Kat J. McAlpine
Five Quintessential Cajun Foods
If you've only had the pleasure of eating a bowl of gumbo, queue up some Beausoleil and prepare some of these specialties
May 22, 2012 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Kelly Slater, the Chairman of the Board
An ode to surfing’s fiercest, most successful competitor – who now has a place in the Smithsonian collections
May 2012 |
By Owen Edwards
The Breathtaking Surfing Photos Featured in Swell
A new book catalogues some of the best sites around the world to catch a wave with stunning photography
April 17, 2012 |
By Chloë Schama
How the Titanic Tragedy Reshaped the Fishing Industry
Alarmed by the sinking of the ocean liner, a radio pioneer devised a way to detect icebergs—and then submarines, reefs and schools of fish
April 13, 2012 |
By Peter Smith
The Most Dangerous Game: Chasing a Sea Snail?
Abalone divers die of exhaustion, heart attacks, or becoming entangled in kelp. The fear of being eaten by a great white shark is persistent and haunting
April 11, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
How Plants and Animals Can Prepare Us for the Next Big Disaster
Author Rafe Sagarin looks to the natural world for tips on how to plan for national emergencies
April 03, 2012 |
By Megan Gambino
The Greatest Diving Sites in the World
The vertiginous void of the Great Blue Hole offers divers the feeling of facing off with the edge of the world
March 28, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Meet Food “Information Artist” Douglas Gayeton
The images convey invisible or purposely obfuscated ideas related to food, explained by the experts themselves
March 22, 2012 |
By Peter Smith
Why Do You Travel?
What is it we look for over mountains and across oceans? What do we find, or hope to find? Answer our survey and we'll publish responses in the May issue of Smithsonian
March 12, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
