While the wooly mammoths, smilodons, and giant ground sloths starred in Disney’s “Ice Age,” do prehistoric creatures have a place on Earth today? When species go extinct, evolution fills the ecosystem gap with modern species, renewing balance and moving forward in evolutionary history. The hot-topic term “de-extinction” describes the process of using genetic engineering to […]
Reincarnation: Dodo or do-don’t Read More »
New York City typically turns into a snow globe by mid-December, gracing its residents with a white Christmas, but not this season. Setting a record for the longest wait for snowfall since 1869, the first flurries came to the Big Apple on February 1, 2023. The overnight dusting covered the city with 0.4 inches of
New York City breaks record for the latest first snowfall Read More »
As climate change escalates, preventative measures to reduce global warming are almost futile without a uniform attempt by civilization. Damage control is likely the future of sustainability and fungi may be an effective way to help in the restoration of forests after a wildfire. Below the typical fruiting body or mushroom we see on the
Fungi’s role in fighting the climate crisis Read More »
Inconspicuously, house keys and the location of home dissipates from memory. Progressing further along, even the familiar faces of loved ones fade out of recollection. The most common form of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. This neurodegenerative disorder primarily affects the cognitive functioning responsible for retrieving, storing,
Exposure to air pollution, even at low levels, increases risk of Alzheimer’s Read More »
Trees are the underrated superheroes of planet Earth. They sustain human life by mediating droughts, capturing rainwater, increasing healthy soil, conserving energy, providing food, preventing water pollution, and creating and cleaning the air we breathe. Trees serve as essential caretakers for humans and the environments we inhabit. Moreover, trees heal. They have been shown to
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the United States generated 67 million tons of air pollution in 2021. Ever since the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, the amount of air pollutants (nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, methane, and sulfur dioxide, to name a few) in the Earth’s atmosphere skyrocketed. With the increasing toxicity present in the
Yet another reason to avoid traffic Read More »
Global warming and its detrimental impacts on society and Earth’s natural systems have become an ever-urgent issue for humanity to confront. According to the U.N.’s World Meteorological Organization, there is a 50–50 chance we will reach 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming within the next five years with the likelihood continuously increasing. As the reality of
Solar geoengineering: An uncharted climate solution or human interference? Read More »
On Wednesday, May 3, four Roxbury high school students and a couple of Northeastern undergraduate volunteers built mini wind turbines as part of an energy education pilot program. The motivation behind the event was not only to teach students about the generation and conversion of energy but also to try out accompanying learning modules with
Globally, Indonesia hosts the largest concentration of mangrove forests, accounting for over 20% of the world’s total mangrove population. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, mangrove forests are among the most threatened ecosystems on our planet, with Indonesia reporting the greatest decline in population of any concentrated area of mangrove forest. Without
Mangroves and oysters: Using nature’s ecosystem engineers to save coastal communities Read More »