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As the sea ice covering the Arctic continues to shrink under the influence of greenhouse gas-induced warming, it’s causing a host of other changes in the region, including the growth of large waves in the previously iced-over areas. Those waves could potentially reinforce and hasten the demise of sea ice, leading to further changes in the fragile polar realm. Changes brought on by global warming in the Arctic region have been well documented....

Bacteria and archaea—collectively known as prokaryotes—live pretty much everywhere, dividing happily in places from stomach acid to deep-sea vents. They can thrive in so many different places because their genomes are incredibly flexible: they can alter, lose and duplicate genes almost at will. Scientists have long recognized that prokaryotes can also acquire genes from their neighbors (a move that contributes to antibiotic resistance). But this method of gaining new DNA, termed horizontal gene transfer, was thought to be relatively rare and to occur only under strong pressures in the environment, such as exposure to powerful antibiotics....

Key Concepts Physics Engineering Materials Force Strength Introduction If you’ve looked at bridges, you’ve probably noticed that they can be made of different materials. Some are wood, some are steel, some are concrete, and some are even made from stone. If you want to build a simple, sturdy miniature bridge using something you have lying around the house, what’s the best material to use? Try this activity to find out! Background What materials should engineers use to build a bridge?...

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. The War of the Camisards (1702-1705) was launched by Protestant Huguenots in the Cévennes region of southern France. After the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 by Louis XIV of France (r. 1643-1715), Huguenots worshipped illegally in secret places before rising up to reclaim their religious rights....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. The Battle of Megiddo (c. 1457 BCE) is one of the most famous military engagements in history in which Thutmose III (1458-1425 BCE) of Egypt defeated the coalition of subject regions led in rebellion by the kings of Kadesh and Megiddo. The battle itself was a decisive victory for Egypt and the seven- or eight-month siege which followed reduced the power of the subject kings, gave Thutmose III control of northern Canaan (from which he launched his campaigns into Mesopotamia), and elevated the Egyptian king’s status to legend....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. Ancient Persian Mythology is the term now referencing ancient Iranian religion prior to the rise of Zoroastrianism between c. 1500-1000 BCE. This was a polytheistic faith with a pantheon led by the supreme god Ahura Mazda (“Lord of Wisdom”), champion of order, against the dark forces of Angra Mainyu (“Destructive Spirit”) and his legions of chaos....

In a warming world, the U.S. could see its cities inundated with water, its power grids threatened by intense storms, its forests devastated by wildfire and insect infestations, and its coastlines washed away by storm surges. Climate change also threatens roads, pipelines, power lines and rail lines in ways that may not be quite as in-your-face as the stark images of homes washed away on a hurricane-eroded beach. Bridges and highways can be weakened or destroyed in floods....

The current presidential administration in the US has proposed to almost completely eliminate funding for programs aimed at researching and reducing the effects of climate change. The Environmental Protection Agency faces a cut of 31% or roughly $2.4 billion and almost 4,000 jobs. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could be cut by a potential 17% which would specifically eliminate $510 million (or ~22%) of their satellite division. These cuts would likely encompass climate programs like EnergyStar, SmartWay, fuel emission standards, and weather warning systems....

If measures proposed by the Democratic Republic of Congo to protect its tropical forests are not enacted, it could result in a significant uptick in the nation’s deforestation rate, according to a recent study. According to the paper, published by the journal PLOS ONE, forests blanket 1.1 million square kilometers (425,000 square miles) of the DRC and contain an estimated 22 billion metric tons of carbon. It’s the second-largest forest carbon stock on the planet....

Hideo Hosono’s research group at the Tokyo Institute of Technology was not looking for a superconductor in 2006. Rather the team was trying to create new kinds of transparent semiconductors for flat-panel displays. But when the researchers characterized the electronic properties of their new substance—a combination of lanthanum, oxygen, iron and phosphorus—they found that below four kelvins, or –269 degrees Celsius, it lost all resistance to carrying an electric current; that is, it superconducted....

Astyanax mexicanus cave fish have adapted to an incredibly tough environment: chilly, pitch-dark caves that flood about once a year, providing brief feasts separated by long periods of starvation. These fish put on fat easily, maintain high blood glucose levels and sleep very little. They also have lost their eyes and coloration. Despite the challenging conditions they live relatively long lives, often reaching 15 years. Now new genetic research shows that the loss of color, rather than being incidental to evolution, may actually help these hardy fish generate crucial energy....

People who live farther from the equator have larger eye sockets than their tropical counterparts, a new study finds. And as people inhabited higher and higher latitudes, eye socket size grew along with the northerly or southerly extent of their migrations. “It’s never been shown before that latitude and vision are related in this way in humans,” says Robert Barton, an evolutionary anthropologist from Durham University in England, who was not involved in the research....

The curlicue compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) oft touted as an Earth-friendly alternative to standard incandescent bulbs may cause skin damage, according to a new study by researchers at Stony Brook University. The bulbs are already known to pose hazards from using mercury, a toxic element, though in very small quantities, as lighting manufacturers are quick to point out. Regulations in parts of the United States and in the European Union limit mercury to 3....

As a society, we have a great fear of cancer—and it’s not hard to see why. Virtually every one of us has been touched by this disease. Most of us know survivors. Some of us are survivors. Many of us have lost people to the disease as well. When you’re afraid, the feeling that you can take control of the situation can be very comforting. The Centers for Disease Control recently hosted a meeting at which experts from several different fields discussed “Opportunities for Cancer Prevention During Midlife....

The Obama administration has taken great pains to frame its Clean Power Plan as an immediate solution for an immediate, quantifiable problem. President Obama and other high-level administration surrogates have routinely focused on easy-to-picture issues like asthma, rather than the more existential threat of an increasingly warming planet, as they try to sell an ambitious plan to lower the power sector’s carbon emissions 30 percent below 2005 levels over the next 15 years....

Last year NASA failed to release useful data from its study on aviation safety, which the agency thought would undermine public confidence. Another study at least shows that mishaps caused by pilot error among U.S. carriers declined between 1983 and 2002. The analysis, by Susan P. Baker of Johns Hopkins University and her colleagues, traced the gains to improved training and crew communication as well as to advanced technology that provides more accurate data on such variables as aircraft position and rough weather....

Fossils from 66 million years ago have pointed to a potential link between mass extinction of marine life and ocean acidification. A study published yesterday by the National Academy of Sciences revealed how the collapse of marine species occurred following a meteorite’s impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. The meteorite increased carbon levels in the atmosphere and altered the chemistry of the Earth’s oceans over time. Researchers studied marine animals with shells, known as foraminifera, to determine how a spike in carbon levels increased ocean acidification....

By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europeans will need to recycle 70 percent of urban waste and 80 percent of packaging waste by 2030, the European Union proposed on Wednesday, as it pushes to cut the amount of trash produced by its 500 million citizens. Fostering an environmentally friendly economy has long been a priority for the European Union, which argues it would set the 28-country bloc on a sustainable path to growth after the financial crisis....

When hydrogen burns, the only by-product is water—which is why hydrogen has been an alluring zero-carbon energy source for decades. Yet the traditional process for producing hydrogen, in which fossil fuels are exposed to steam, is not even remotely zero-carbon. Hydrogen produced this way is called gray hydrogen; if the CO2 is captured and sequestered, it is called blue hydrogen. Green hydrogen is different. It is produced through electrolysis, in which machines split water into hydrogen and oxygen, with no other by-products....

In the 1990s French humanitarian Line Brunet de Courssou began treating Buruli ulcer—violent, flesh-eating eruptions of Mycobacterium ulcerans—with two imported French green clays. The application of one type of clay to such lesions produced a pain that some patients equated to childbirth and, after several days, purplish skin tissue surrounding the open wound. A subsequent application of a second variety, this one mixed with shea butter (a fat), produced no pain and helped heal the oozing wound, replacing it with flexible scar tissue over the course of several months....