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Stories from Elizabeth Gamillo

Morels are wild fungi that stand three to six inches tall and have a cone-shaped wrinkled lattice cap. The shades of the cap can range from cream to chocolate brown and are treasured in the culinary world for their earthy and nutty taste.

Danish Biologists Cultivate Morel Mushrooms Year-Round With New Indoor Technique

The black morel mushrooms are grown in a climate-controlled environment that produces 20 pounds per square yard per year

This year's global winner was a close-up image of a thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) flower with pollen tubes growing through the flower’s pistil. Scientists use the plant to study growth and development processes in plants and plant genetics.

Discover the Microscopic Wonders of Olympus’ 2021 Image of the Year Awards

Just in time for spring, several winners capture a close-up view of fern spores to pollen tubes hidden in a flower petal

General Motors has previously announced plans to exclusively sell electric vehicles by 2035 with a plan to release 30 new electric cars globally by 2025.

Chevrolet’s Classic Corvette Is Going Electric

A new hybrid model of the iconic American sports car, rumored to reach up to 1,000 horsepower, will hit the market as early as 2023

A waning crescent moon, pictured here, occurs right before a new moon. The second new moon in a single calendar month is often called a black moon.

View a Rare Black Moon This Weekend

The phenomenon will also be marked by a partial solar eclipse

an aurora borealis over Lake Inari in Finland

Evidence of Earliest Aurora Found in Ancient Chinese Texts

Such historical records of celestial events can help astronomers track and model patterns of space weather

Reseachers tested out the backpack dubbed KNaCK in a volcanic field in New Mexico, and are hoping the tech can support astronaunts on future lunar missions.

Lunar Backpack Could Aid Astronauts on Future Missions to the Moon

The pack can create 3-D maps in real-time of uncharted terrain

The Hickson Compact Group 40 features five galaxies caught in a gravitational dance.

Hubble Space Telescope’s 32nd Anniversary Photo Features Dramatic Galaxy Cluster

The five galaxies, dubbed the Hickson Compact Group 40, will merge in roughly a billion years

The fossilized head crest of a pterosaur with evidence of feathers.

Pterosaurs May Have Had Vibrant Feathers Like Modern Birds

Researchers say different colors on the flying reptiles were a possible means of communication, and may indicate a common ancestor with dinosaurs

Europa became an interest to researchers as a place that potentially could harbor life after observations from Earth-bound telescopes and space probes found evidence of an ocean 10 to 15 miles beneath the icy surface. This drawing illustrates a possible water pocket within the ice that may contribute to ridges forming on the moon's surface.

Europa’s Icy Shell May Be Habitable for Life

The moon of Jupiter could have shallow water pockets within its frozen surface

Isaac Larsen, a geosciences expert at UMass Amherst, stands near a drop-off that seperates native remnant prairie from farmland in Iowa. Reseachers found that farmed fields were more than a foot lower than the prairie on average. 

More Than 50 Billion Tons of Topsoil Have Eroded in the Midwest

The estimate of annual loss is nearly double the rate of erosion the USDA considers sustainable

Researchers are most concerned with the disease affecting endangered species like these riparian bush rabbits.

New Vaccine Could Save Rabbits From Deadly Hemorrhagic Disease

Scientists have a new tool in the fight against a spreading virus that threatens the small mammals

The research team confirmed the comet's size with photos taken by Hubble Space Telescope in January 2022. The comet's nucleus is seen as a bright dot of light in the photos. With the computer model, the team removed the hazy glow of the coma to leave behind the bright star-like nucleus.

Hubble Space Telescope Spots Largest Comet Ever Discovered

The icy object is larger than the state of Rhode Island and weighs an estimated 500 trillion tons

Mapping out where these RNA viruses are found globally can help scientists understand how they interact with organisms driving the planet's ecological processes.

Virologists Identify More Than 5,000 New Viruses in the Ocean

The new study focused on under-researched RNA viruses, which often infect animals and humans

The dinosaur leg fossil will be featured in an upcoming BBC documentary special premiering April 15. 

Paleontologists Find Fossilized Remains of a Dinosaur Possibly Killed in Earth’s Fifth Mass Extinction Event

The leg bone is one of many other specimens uncovered at the North Dakota site

 The newly described jumping spider, Guriurius minuano, has a stripy pattern on its abdomen and large black eyes. (Pictured)

Scientists Identify 50,000th Spider Species on Earth—but Thousands More Are Waiting to Be Discovered

A new kind of jumping spider discovered in South America marks the major milestone

Greenland Sharks are found in the cold deep-water habitats of the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans about 2,200 meters (about 7,200 feet) below the surface.

A Brain Infection Likely Killed 100-Year-Old Greenland Shark Washed Ashore in England Last Month

It is the first known case of meningitis in the species

Perhaps the most prolific of the group, split-gill mushrooms produced "remarkably diverse" signal patterns.

Mushrooms May Communicate With Each Other Using Electrical Impulses

A computer scientist found the average fungal lexicon contains 50 words

Woolly monkeys have thick dense fur, and are found in the rainforests of the western Amazon River basin.  

Ecuador’s High Court Rules Wild Animals Have Legal Rights

The landmark case involved a deceased woolly monkey named Estrellita

The cat-sized, butter-colored rodents live about 15 years on average, a much longer lifespan than what is expected for their size.

Yellow-Bellied Marmot Hibernation Could Unlock the Key to Longevity

The fluffy rodents stop aging when they curl up in their dens for winter and start again once they emerge in spring

The muscles that allow for the "puppy-dog eyes" in domestic dogs is undeveloped in wolves, suggesting that the adorable look evolved to captivate humans. (Pictured: The author's dog, Smoky.)

The Science Behind Those Big Ol’ Puppy-Dog Eyes

Our canine friends evolved extra muscle fibers around their eyes and mouths that allow them to make facial expressions humans find adorable

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