A major research collaboration unmasked Mercury today, revealing more than people have ever known about the closest planet to the Sun. NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft flew by Mercury last fall, and researchers have been mining its data and images to fill in maps for nearly half the planet that were previously [...]
Even though I’ll blog after the end of “100 Days of Science,” I’m sweating this last push of my daily effort, wanting to make sure I tackle some of the most pressing science stories I haven’t blogged about yet. A case in point: White-nose syndrome in bats. The disease got a slow start in 2006, [...]
Out of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington — which happens to be my undergraduate alma mater — comes good news for coral reef restoration. Study authors Steven McMurray and Joseph Pawlik report that sponges knocked off their reefs by human activities or storms can actually be re-attached with excellent success. “The worldwide decline of coral [...]
I’ve never gotten a flu shot. And even if a pandemic loomed, I doubt I would. I’m not opposed to most vaccines, and certainly I support time-tested, life-saving childhood vaccination programs. But I think it’s a little strange how people can be heard polling each other in late fall, asking, “Have you gotten your flu shot?” [...]