Australia Beaches See Plastic Pollution Drop by 30% in 6 Years

Plastic waste across Australia’s beaches and coastlines has declined by a third over the past six years as a result of a wide range of local initiatives to reduce litter, according to research by Australia’s science agency.

Continue reading...

In NASA’s new video game, you are a telescope hunting for dark matter

There’s always something new to learn about space, whether it’s how scientists are planning to grow food in microgravity, or how new telescopes will illuminate dark energy. But NASA is adopting a fresh tactic to get people to discover the science behind the agency’s missions: turning future objectives into video games.

Continue reading...

Amazon says it will launch drone deliveries this year in Lockeford, California

Ecommerce giant is working with the Federal Aviation Administration and local regulators to secure permits.

Continue reading...

U.S. Landfills Are Getting a Second Life as Solar Farms

When landfills get capped and grassed over, they have the appearance of lush, rolling hills. Despite their green appearance, however, these sites are known as “brownfields”—a term for an environmentally hazardous site without a promising future. Indeed, landfills are typically unsuitable for development because the contents below the surface are both contaminated and physically unstable.

Continue reading...

June's strawberry moon will light up the sky this week

According to NASA, the moon will be full from Sunday moonrise to Wednesday moonset. It will peak at 7:52 a.m. ET on Tuesday, but will not be completely visible until moonrise in North America. The strawberry moon this year is the first of two supermoons in a row.

Continue reading...

Scientists discover viruses that secretly rule the world's oceans

Thousands of unknown viruses identified recently in the world's seas may have a significant impact on ecosystems, according to experts, in part through "reprogramming" the hosts they infect. The latest study, which was published in the journal Science on Thursday (June 9), focuses on viruses that include RNA, a molecular cousin of DNA. In human illness, RNA viruses abound; coronaviruses and influenza viruses, for example, are both RNA-based. Scientists are just now learning about the variety of RNA viruses that may be found in the water, as well as the spectrum of animals that they can infect.

Continue reading...

Discovery in the brains of army veterans sheds light on the neurobiological mechanisms behind chronic pain and trauma

A new study is the first to investigate brain connectivity patterns at rest in veterans with both chronic pain and trauma, finding three unique brain subtypes potentially indicating high, medium, and low susceptibility to pain and trauma symptoms. The findings provide an objective measurement of pain and trauma susceptibility and could pave the way for personalized treatments and new therapies based on neural connectivity patterns.

Continue reading...