If you have ever had an x-ray, you have Marie Curie to thank. The Nobel-winning physicist and chemist researched radioactivity, discovered polonium and radium, and created the first mobile x-ray machines to assist doctors during World War 1. Marie Curie’s research contributed to physics and chemistry, and changed medicine and medical treatments. Her persistence and […]
Water is essential for life. We drink it, we bathe in it, and we play in it. Communities, cities, businesses, and even countries have been built around water. Whether it is the surge of ocean tides, or the flow from our faucets, life would be impossible without water. And, water is just not a local […]
Filled with groceries, stuffed under cabinets, tumbling down city streets, drifting with the breeze, floating across the ocean. Plastic bags are everywhere, including many places they should not be. To environmentalists, plastic bags have become the symbol of waste. Lawmakers in California aim to eliminate plastic bags by passing a state-wide ban. The proposed law, […]
The weather outside is about to become frightful. An Arctic blast is expected to deliver blizzards, snow, and super cold to much of the north and eastern United States. The nor’easter that visited Massachusetts and New York last week and this week’s expected storm both will bring more than a shovelful of snow. Snow and […]
It was a cold Christmas for the 50 passengers and 20 crew members aboard the Russian passenger ship MV Akadamik Shokalskiy. Led by Australian climate scientist, Chris Turney, of the University of New South Wales, the crew began a research journey to Antarctic on November 28. On Christmas Eve, the frigid sea winds pushed ice […]
“Humanity has the stars in its future, and that future is too important to be lost under the burden of juvenile folly and ignorant superstition.” Isaac Asimov When the Mesopotamians carved the first cuneiform maps on clay from about 700 to 500 BCE, little did they know that their Babylonian inscriptions would be the beginning […]
February 27th is International Polar Bear Day. Spend time this month learning about and celebrating polar bears and thinking of ways in which we can help protect them. Sadly, global warming and melting ice from the North Pole as well as hunting and other factors have all endangered the existence of polar bears. Scientists have […]
The winter climate is upon us, and much of the nation has already experienced some degree of winter weather. Winter weather creates an ideal teachable moment… From Nor’easters impacting the Eastern seaboard from the Carolinas to Maine (and the Canadian Maritime provinces) to blizzards sweeping across the Great Plains and Midwest, our nation experiences more […]
From curious children visiting a museum exhibit to terrified adults watching Jurassic Park, there is something about dinosaurs that fascinates and attracts us. 160 million years ago, dinosaurs disappeared from Earth, but some left behind rare fossils. The discovery of fossil remains a thrilling reminder that “fearfully great lizards” once roamed Earth. In the past two […]
It has been a stormy week. Apparently, Huracan, the weather god is not happy. Last week, Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda to locals) rocked the island chain of the Philippines. It is being called the most powerful storm ever. In its wake, an estimated 2,300 people died, and thousands more are now homeless. 200,000 pregnant Filipinos […]