Twenty years ago, astronomers witnessed one of the brightest stellar explosions in more than 400 years. The titanic supernova, called SN 1987A, blazed with the power of 100 million suns for several months following its discovery on Feb. 23, 1987.
People in Kenya's semiarid Samburu region face growing water shortages, water quality issues, and conflicts between livestock and wildlife over water. Scientists and volunteers at Earthwatch's Samburu Field Center have developed a GIS resource to help the Samburu community cope with water issues and avert public health crises.
Pigeons and humans use similar visual cues to identify objects, a finding that could have promising implications in the development of novel technologies, according to new research conducted by a University of New Hampshire professor.
A new look at the famous "Pillars of Creation" with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has allowed astronomers to peer inside the dark columns of gas and dust. This penetrating view of the central region of the Eagle Nebula reveals how much star formation is happening inside these iconic structures.
America has a taste for chocolate, but at what environmental and social cost to tropical countries where cacao is grown? Earthwatch volunteers working in the forests of Belize this summer will investigate how cacao farming can rescue the environment and economy of this tropical paradise.
Radio was the Plasma TV of its day in the 1920s and 30s. Everyone wanted one but few could afford them to start - until market forces stepped in to make them cheaper, and easier to use. The programming was definitely homebrew to start but was taken over by national networks and well-known entertainers. An exhibit by the University of Maryland's Library of American Broadcasting looks at "When Radio Entered the Home."
The first organic female calf was born Dec. 12, 2006 at the nation's first university organic research dairy farm. The calf will be named by the highest bidder on an auction on eBay, with proceeds from the auction funding the UNH organic dairy project.
A team of teenage volunteers will explore the changing ecology of coral reefs in the Bahamas this summer, part of an Earthwatch-supported research project led by John Rollino of Earth Tech. Inc. This vital research on coral decline is featured in A Year on Earth, a new TV documentary about teens making a difference by participating in scientific research, to air on Animal Planet, Earth Day, April 22, at 6:00 p.m.. (VIDEO EMBEDDED)
Earthwatch teams working with Dr. Charles Higham of University of Otago are unearthing surprises about the indigenous origins of Southeast Asia's most illustrious empire. Excavations in Thailand are featured in the TV documentary, A Year On Earth, on Discovery Kids Channel December 3 and 10.
Researchers have developed an innovative new technology that will help pediatric cardiac surgeons design and test a customized surgical procedure before they ever pick up a scalpel. With a better understanding of each child's unique heart defect, surgeons could greatly improve the likelihood that children with complex defects requiring multiple surgeries over a period of several years could have smoother recoveries and an improved quality of life after their operations.
Rising temperatures may disrupt gender balance among reptile populations, says Earthwatch-supported crocodile researcher Dr. Alison Leslie of University of Stellenbosch. Her comments came during the filming of A Year on Earth, premiering this week on Discovery Kids Channel.
Who doesn't love a world's fair? Now, thanks to a five year effort at the University of Maryland, researchers and world's fair afficianados can go online to see photos and other parts of the Architecture Library's "Treasury of World's Fair Art and Architecture." It's just one of many new digital collections the university has been hard at work on.
For the first time, Lake Oloidien has attracted thousands of lesser flamingos, a near-threatened species hard hit by recent die-offs. Earthwatch-supported scientist Dr. David Harper (University of Leicester) and colleagues, who have been researching the lake ecology of Kenya's Rift Valley for almost two decades, are investigating the die-offs at nearby lake Bogoria. (VIDEO EMBEDDED)
A new guideline developed by the American Academy of Neurology and the Child Neurology Society aims to help physicians diagnose the causes of status epilepticus, a state of continuous seizures, in children, many of whom have epilepsy. The guideline is published in the November 14, 2006, issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
The study, published in the latest issue of the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, used three-dimensional imaging and morphing software to remove wrinkles and furrows from pictures of women, leaving skin tone as the only variable. Researchers were then able to determine exactly what impact facial skin tone has on how young, healthy and attractive people perceive the women to be.
Researchers found very few grey whales in their traditional feeding grounds in the North Pacific last summer. Earthwatch volunteers will help Bath University's Dr. William Megill investigate unusual feeding behavior exhibited by grey whales off Baja California, Mexico, this winter.
Central Michigan University is doing psychological research with support from General Motors into driving distractions. The goal of the research is to help design dashboards and other technical devices in cars that won't require drivers to become distracted from the road. (VIDEO EMBEDDED)
Researchers at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry are pulling nanocrystals of cellulose out of natural materials and developing ways to use them to strengthen plastics. (VIDEO EMBEDDED)
After all these years, mom was right. She knew broccoli was good for you, she just didn't know it was this good. Two UVa pathologists have received a $1.3 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to study how specific nutrients in healthy vegetables like broccoli work to prevent cancer.
From pre-harvest to post-harvest phases of food production and processing, researchers at Oklahoma State University are working to reduce potential contamination of foods by E. coli and other common food-borne pathogens.
A gigantic sonic boom generated by a supermassive black hole has been found with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, along with evidence for a cacophony of deep sound. (VIDEO EMBEDDED)
Is the University of Maryland haunted? It's a question we try to answer as Halloween approaches. Come visit some of the scariest places on campus, and learn a little bit more about the history of the university as it celebrates its 150th anniversary. (AUDIO EMBEDDED)
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered 16 extrasolar planet candidates orbiting a variety of distant stars in the central region of our Milky Way galaxy. The planet bonanza was uncovered during a Hubble survey, called the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS). Hubble looked farther than has ever successfully been searched for extrasolar planets. (VIDEO EMBEDDED)
University of Arkansas poet Michael Heffernan explores time, place and travel in a series of poems published recently in two renowned journals.
A severe storm that occurred in the Gulf of Alaska in October 2005 generated an ocean swell that six days later broke apart a giant iceberg floating near the coast of Antarctica, more than 8,300 miles away. (AUDIO EMBEDDED)
Powerful chemotherapy drugs and estrogen-blocking hormone treatments are highly effective in treating breast cancer. But in the process they may be putting women at risk of another disease: osteoporosis.
Eating just one salad a day provides even greater health benefits than previously thought, according to a study that examined salad consumption by more than 17,000 adults. The study, conducted by the UCLA School of Public Health and Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, supported by The Association for Dressings & Sauces, revealed that those who eat salads and raw vegetables with salad dressing have considerably higher levels of vitamins C, E, B6, and folic acid. (VIDEO EMBEDDED)
Chris Sherwood, a research scientist in the Center for Applied Biomechanics at the University of Virginia, is studying various child safety restraints (child car seats) and working to identify the factors that affect injury rates of children involved in car crashes. Preliminary findings show that leaving children in rear-facing seats until the age of 4 could lower injury rates by more than 50 percent. (VIDEO EMBEDDED)
Science enthusiasts of all ages will enjoy the featured presentations that are part of Argonne National Laboratory's upcoming open house on Saturday, October 7. Demonstrations across Argonne's 1,500-acre site will include a discussion "“ with live piano examples "“ of "The Physics of the Blues". (VIDEO EMBEDDED)
University of Maryland, ACAGI develop first portable video system capable of matching faces with known threats in real time.
New research from the University of Maryland shows that children in a diverse school setting are less likely to use race when evaluating their peers. But even in a more homogeneous setting, there are many ways parents and teachers can help ensure students challenge racial stereotypes. (AUDIO EMBEDDED)
With the help of myositis experts, members of congress, patients, families and international celebrity Fabio, The Myositis Association successfully petitioned Congress to designate a day of advocacy for this rare autoimmune disease. See Fabio's presentation about myositis available on video (embedded).
Vanderbilt University Medical Center has become the first hospital in the region to offer a novel approach to cardiac surgery which doctors believe will change the standard of care for cardiovascular patients.
New book by Babson professors shows companies how to retain and engage employees with no-cost, low-cost ideas.
Members of the University of Mississippi family gather on campus at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 1 to dedicate the university's civil rights monument, which features a life-size bronze likeness of James Meredith, the first black student admitted to the university. The ceremony serves as a reflection of 44 years of social progress since Meredith's enrollment.
Methamphetamine is a powerfully addictive drug that can seriously damage oral health, destroying a person's smile and natural ability to chew, according to the American Dental Association (ADA).
New findings suggest that oncolytic reoviruses may also have the potential to prime the body's own immune system to mount a defense against cancer cells.
U.S. and French scientists this month are launching specialized balloons carrying miniaturized weather instruments to detect hurricanes as they emerge over the far-eastern Atlantic, which is out of range of U.S. hunter-hurricane aircraft. The project, based in Africa, relies on new technology to provide early warning of potentially dangerous storms.
Researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute are analyzing vitamin D in prostate cancer prevention and treatment in the laboratory and the clinic.
Certain tests can predict with great accuracy whether a person in a coma after CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) will have a poor outcome, according to new guideline developed by the American Academy of Neurology. The guideline is published in the July 25, 2006, issue of Neurology.
Florida State University in Tallahassee Fla., does not have a crystal ball, but it is developing a new tool that could possibly see the strength of future hurricane seasons. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded the FSU Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS) a $6.2 million, five-year grant to support the development of a model that may more accurately predict the number of hurricanes in an upcoming season, according to COAPS director emeritus James O'Brien, the Robert O. Lawton Professor of Meteorology and Oceanography and state climatologist. (VIDEO EMBEDDED)
A new Ohio State University Medical Center study debunks the widely held belief that engaging in sexual intercourse during the final weeks of pregnancy can hasten labor and delivery.
New guidelines developed by the American Academy of Neurology aim to educate physicians on the diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson disease to improve quality of life.
Survival rates of patients suffering a cardiac arrest dramatically improved when they were treated with an automated cardiopulmonary resuscitation device versus manual CPR prior to reaching the hospital.
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