With an estimated 100,000 marine animals being choked, suffocated, or injured by plastic every year, the danger posed by the trillions of pieces of polymer floating in our oceans is well-known. However, given that most of the microplastics measure less than 0.5mm in diameter, collecting them is a challenging task. Now, some Dutch environmentalists have devised a way to not only capture plastic waste before it reaches the open seas and disintegrates, but to also use it to create a public park and wildlife sanctuary....
Read news articleWhen two German hikers stumbled upon a dead body buried in ice in the Italian Otzal Alps in 1991, they had no idea that the pristine remains were those of a male who had inhabited Earth almost 5,300 years ago. Named Ötzi after the mountains where he had lain for thousands of years, the Iceman is Europe’s oldest-known natural human mummy....
Read news articleOn Tuesday, July 10, 2018, the world watched with bated breath as an international team of rescuers safely extracted the two remaining members of the Moo Pa, or, Wild Boar, soccer team from a flooded cave in Thailand. The twelve boys, aged between 11 and 17, along with their coach, Ekkapol Ake Chantawong, had been trapped inside the intricate seven-mile long Tham Luang Nang Non cave system in northern Thailand's Chiang Rai Province for over two weeks....
Read news articleIf the recently released Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has you yearning to see the ancient creatures in real life, you are out of luck. That’s because to resurrect the animals, researchers would need a complete set of dinosaur DNA, which is impossible to obtain. However, if Nikita and Sergey Zimov have their way, a prehistoric Ice Age ecosystem may soon become a reality. Their motive is not to attract tourists but to stop the thawing of the Arctic permafrost....
Read news articleOver the years, American pizza restaurant chain Domino’s has come up with several smart marketing strategies to create brand awareness and increase sales. These include deploying a delivery robot, allowing customers to place an order with a pizza emoji tweet, and launching a “Tummy Translator” app which offered food recommendations based on the customer’s stomach rumbles. For its latest campaign, “Paving for Pizza,” the company is taking on a pressing problem – America’s cracked and pothole-ridden roads....
Read news articleFor most climbers, professional or amateur, summiting Mount Everest — Earth’s highest mountain above sea level — once is a crowning achievement. However, don’t tell that to Kami Rita, who scaled the peak of the treacherous mountain for the 22nd time on May 16, 2018 breaking the previous record of 21 successful ascents he shared with two fellow guides. And the veteran mountaineer is not done yet! Prior to embarking on the recent climb, the 48-year-old announced, “My goal is to reach the summit of Everest at least 25 times. I want to set a new record not just for myself but for my family, the Sherpa people and for my country, Nepal.”...
Read news articleDepending on where you live, today — Thursday, June 21 — is the first day of summer or winter. Also known as the June solstice, it is the day when the North Pole is most inclined towards the sun, allowing residents of the Northern Hemisphere to enjoy the longest day of the year. Conversely, those living in the Southern Hemisphere will experience the shortest day of 2018....
Read news articleOn June 12, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump became the first American president to meet with a North Korean head of state. The historic summit between Mr. Kim Jong Un and Mr. Trump, at the Capella Hotel on Singapore’s Sentosa Island, was an attempt to end seven decades of open hostilities and establish diplomatic relations between the two nations....
Read news articleAn almost complete dinosaur skeleton, auctioned by Aguttes at the Eiffel Tower in Paris on June 4, is making headlines after it sold for an astounding $2.3 million, much higher than the $1.4 million to $2.1 million estimated by the French auction house. The steep price paid by a French art collector was justified given that the 150-million-year-old fossil, believed to be that of a new dinosaur species, is the only one of its kind discovered to date....
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