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Water

New Research

Revealing the Deep Secrets of Deepwater Waves

Scientists hope their study of 1,600-foot underwater waves can help improve climate modeling

Trending Today

Starbucks Moves its Bottled Water Operations Out of California’s Drought

Bottling water in California might not be a great idea, but many companies still do it

Sinbad the Coast Guard dog surrounded by sailors.

The Adorable and Heroic Animals of the Museum of Maritime Pets

Telling the stories of dogs in sailor hats and cats in life jackets

Using dirt containing bacteria that generate electricity, kids can build their own mud batteries.

This Week in Crowdfunding

A Kit to Build Your Own Mud Battery and Other Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded

Also, a campaign to build a Little Free Museum

David Lerner uses a conductivity and temperature meter to test for sewage in water, a method that's more costly and less effective than using tampons.

How Scientists Are Monitoring Water Quality With Tampons

The feminine hygiene products glow under ultra-violet light after absorbing pollutants called optical brighteners

This pyramid in Lima, Peru was built by the Wari civilization, who pre-dated the Incas. Now Lima is proposing using another Wari innovation, a series of waterways called 'amunas,' to stem the city's ongoing water crisis.

Cool Finds

Ancient Tech Could Help Solve Lima’s Water Crisis

Turns out Peru’s Wari people were excellent urban planners…and their 1,500-year-old ‘amunas’ could soon bring water to Lima

In an eerie green hue, this upside-down Medusa head threatens to turn onlookers to stone. The color seems to come partly from a slick covering of algae.

Europe

Two Eerie Medusa Heads Watch Over Turkey’s Waterways

Why the Greek monster stares out from an ancient cistern in Istanbul

Trending Today

California’s Drought Is Changing the Way Bay-Area Water Tastes And Smells

The Bay Area’s water is still safe to use, but drought is causing a noxious algae bloom to affect tap water

Trending Today

How Bad Is California’s Drought?

Hint: it’s pretty bad

Center pivot irrigation in Blythe, California

New Research

We’re Taking All the Water Out of the Ground And Causing Sea Levels to Rise

Pumping water out of aquifers at the rate we do doesn’t just threaten the water supply, it also exacerbates the effects of climate change

The front page of the Los Angeles Times on March 14, 1928

On Occasions Like This, I Envy the Dead: The St. Francis Dam Disaster

William Mulholland was the savior of Southern California until he wasn’t

Geckos have amazingly-structured feet, but new research indicates that the lizards' skin also possesses exceptional properties.

New Research

Water Drops Leap Off Gecko Skin Thanks to Tiny Spines

Specialized hydrophobic structures on gecko skin encourage dewdrops to be swept away by the wind or to collide and shoot off one another like pool balls

In the Argentine village of San Antonio de los Cobres, some people have a genetic mutation that helps them cope with the high levels of arsenic present in their drinking water.

New Research

Centuries of Poison-Laced Water Gave These People a Tolerance to Arsenic

Some citizens of a remote village in the Andes have a genetic adaptation that allows them to quickly process high levels of arsenic, a new study shows

A Norwegian Company is Transforming Deserts Into Farmland

Solar power plants in Qatar and Jordan, not far from the sea, are powering desalination systems that irrigate plants in and around greenhouses

A view from São Paolo's depleted Cantareira Reservoir.

Trending Today

São Paulo is Running Low on Water

What will happen when Brazil’s taps go dry?

The Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado was abandoned hundreds of years ago, probably because of a severe drought. Scientists now predict that the region could experience an even worse megadrought in the latter half of the 21st century.

Anthropocene

The Western U.S. Could Soon Face the Worst Megadrought in a Millennium

Climate models predict that the region will be drier than the droughts that likely caused ancient Native Americans to abandon their pueblo cities

New Research

Tourist Trash Has Changed the Color of Yellowstone’s Morning Glory Pool

Researchers have found proof of what caused a hot spring’s drastic color modification—it’s people, of course

The Hemingwrite is a newfangled take on the old school typewriter, featuring cloud back-up.

This Week in Crowdfunding

Five Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded: From a Digital Typewriter to Treadmill-Powered Gaming

A Los Angeles group is also creating greeting cards with personalized audio messages from top celebrities

These images show the planet on the last day of Martian spring in the northern hemisphere (just before summer solstice). The annual north polar carbon dioxide frost (dry ice) cap is rapidly sublimating, revealing the much smaller permanent water ice cap.

New Research

Examining Martian Meteorites, Scientists Think They’ve Found The Red Planet’s Missing Water

Mars may have an underground water reservoir

A surfer rides large waves at Baker Beach in San Francisco during one of the largest storms to hit Northern California in the last five years.

New Research

Get Set For Frequent Flooding In Coastal U.S. Cities

Sea level rise is increasing the odds of nuisance flooding

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