Science

Changes made to Forked Deer River near Jackson in 1916 have contributed to flash floods. (Representational photo: NOAA) A river in Tennessee, US, that was straightened more than a century ago to drain surrounding land is now being prepared for restoration after years of flooding problems. Authorities have acquired 985 acres along the South Fork…

Representative Image of genetically engineered tomato plants displaying red-purple hues in a field in response to nitrogen deficiency (AI-generated image) Cornell University scientists have developed genetically engineered tomato plants that turn red-purple when nitrogen becomes scarce, giving farmers a visible warning that crops may need fertiliser. Called RedAlert, the plants have moved beyond greenhouse experiments…

Puerto Rico is carrying out a major coral reef restoration effort that combines coral planting with the return of marine animals that help keep reef ecosystems balanced. The Caribbean Reef Project is led by the Institute for Socio-Ecological Research, known as ISER Caribe, alongside organisations from Puerto Rico and elsewhere. Its plan covers five acres…

NASA-funded study reveals 4.1-billion-year-old history of pink Martian rock found in Sahara (Image Credit: Darryl Pitt / Maine Mineral & Gem Museum via NASA) A rock that spent more than four billion years preserving clues about Mars’ early history was found lying in the Sahara Desert, looking like an ordinary pink stone. Discovered in 2022,…

Scientists have directly observed tiny electrical discharges glowing and moving across tree leaves during thunderstorms, confirming a phenomenon suspected for more than 70 years. Using a specially equipped research vehicle fitted with an ultraviolet camera, researchers recorded 859 electrical signals on a sweetgum tree and another 93 on a loblolly pine in North Carolina. The…

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons) “Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another,” said Plato. But even as the skies above us have changed over centuries, the stars have continued to hold the same fascination for those seeking to understand the universe.There are some discoveries that do not immediately…

The spread of invasive Burmese pythons in South Florida has raised concerns about their effects on native wildlife. Researchers have examined parasites in the invasive snakes and native snake species to compare infection rates and parasite diversity.According to the Florida Academy of Sciences’, Luke Niemann and Dr Christina Anaya of Florida Gulf Coast University examined…

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons) Long before modern medical science emerged, nature held answers to healing, protection and healthy living within its bounds. Across several communities and spiritual cosmologies, the natural world has been viewed as the guide for the human world, as have the species that reside in it. Among the myriad spcies that have…

United States deforestation has permanently removed nearly 10 million acres of forest between 1990 and 2017, according to new research on land conversion and forest loss across the country. Woodland cleared for development and cropland disappeared at a pace of as many as 350,000 acres every year, roughly one football field every two minutes, year…

Representative Image (AI-generated) A mine in south-western Spain is offering new clues about how copper travelled across Bronze Age Europe, potentially linking miners in the Iberian Peninsula with communities in Scandinavia thousands of kilometres away. Around 1300 BC, people were extracting copper ore at Las Minillas, using stone tools to work deposits deep underground. Centuries…