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Apr 30, 2013

Homeowners Warm to Solar Power: Op-Ed

Marlene Cimons of Climate Nexus contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. When Linda and Jay Mathews moved back to their native California nearly two years ago — after 20 years in New York and Washington — they found their dream home in Pasadena. It had everything...

Apr 30, 2013

Photo Glossary: Hawaii's Amazing Volcanic Rocks

Hawaii's Rocks From'A'a to (almost) Z (Image credit: Robert Simmon, NASA's Earth Observatory, using data from USGS and NASA) An amazing variety of rocks appear in Hawaii from a single type of molten rock called basalt. Here's a guide to some of the weird and wonderful stones that result from...

Apr 30, 2013

Was Girl Murdered for Her Organs?

The family of a young British girl traveling in their home country of India is accusing a medical clinic of killing their daughter for her organs. Gurkiren Kaur Loyal's family said she was being treated for dehydration in Punjab when she died. According to a news story in The Telegraph,...

Apr 30, 2013

Study: Stress Isn't Hot

Stress makes its mark on the female face, according to a new study that finds men judge women with high levels of a stress hormone less attractive. The finding is a gender turnaround on previous research that has found that women go for low-stress guys, too. Stress can suppress fertility,...

Apr 30, 2013

Costa Rica's Turrialba Volcano Erupts

Costa Rica's restless Turrailba volcano rumbled to life early Tuesday morning (May 21), spitting ash and steam from its summit and prompting a small-scale evacuation. The small blast started at two fissures in the volcano's West Crater, the same site of earlier eruptions in 2010 and 2012, according to the...

Apr 30, 2013

Smithsonian Digs Into Extraordinary Fossil Collection

This Research in Action article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. This well-preserved fossilized tree hopper, flanked by two fossil crane flies, is one specimen from of an extraordinary fossil collection donated to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History by an amateur paleontologist between...

Mar 31, 2013

Historic Marine Mammal Protection Act Worked, Scientists Say

In the fall of 1972, then-President Richard Nixon signed the Marine Mammal Protection Act, providing sweeping protections for whales, dolphins, seals and other species swimming in U.S. waters whose populations had dwindled due to commercial fishing and accidental killing. The law invigorated conservation efforts and prohibited hunting, killing, capturing and...

Mar 31, 2013

How a Fake Island Landed on Google Earth

Last year, a group of Australian researchers undiscovered an island the size of Manhattan in the South Pacific. A mysterious place called Sandy Island had popped up on maps, northwest of New Caledonia. It even showed up as a black polygon on Google Earth. But when scientists sailed there last...

Feb 28, 2013

Ocean Acidification Affects Northeastern US Coasts More

Coastal regions around the United States respond differently to ocean acidification, a large-scale study finds. In the new study, scientists from 11 U.S. institutions measured levels of carbon dioxide and other forms of carbon in waters off the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. If the same amount of...

Feb 28, 2013

10 Sinkhole Facts That Could Save Your Life

Sinkholes are a common feature in Florida's limestone-rich bedrock as groundwater easily dissolves the calcium carbonate into solution turning the ground into a slushy mix that washes out under the structures built on top of it. But rarely do they kill. On Thursday night, a sinkhole in Tampa opened up...

Feb 28, 2013

Wilderness 'Paparazzi' Flock to Yosemite's 'Firefall'

Last year, Yosemite National Park's famed firefall was more of a firedrizzle due to lack of snow. But this year, the firefall is burning bright. Yosemite's Horsetail Fall flows like lava under a clear sky and favorable lighting. It's a small waterfall that makes big news whenever it glows orange...

Feb 28, 2013

'Dino Idol': Vote For Fossil to Be Unveiled

Canada's next rock star may be between 71 million and 75 million years old — and it won't be music that propels him or her to fame. The Canadian Museum of Nature has launched a contest called Dino Idol, in which the public can vote on which of five dinosaur...

Feb 28, 2013

New Type of Bacteria Reportedly Found in Buried Antarctic Lake

A new type of microbe has been found at a lake buried under Antarctica's thick ice, according to news reports. The find may unveil clues of the surrounding environment in the lake, according to scientists. The bacteria, said to be only 86 percent similar to other types known to exist...

Feb 28, 2013

Best Earth Images of the Week March 8, 2013

Before the ice came (Image credit: Stuart N. Thomson/UA department of geosciences) Like Alaska's mighty Yukon, a broad river once flowed across Antarctica, following a gentle valley shaped by tectonic forces at a time before the continent became encased in ice. Understanding what happened when rivers of ice later filled...

Feb 28, 2013

Hundreds of Dinosaur Egg Fossils Found

Researchers in northeastern Spain say they've uncovered hundreds of dinosaur egg fossils, including four kinds that had never been found before in the region. The eggs likely were left behind by sauropods millions of years ago. Eggs, eggshell fragments and dozens of clutches were nestled in the stratigraphic layers of...