Florida has quite a history when it comes to hurricanes. From June 1st to November 30th, the Sunshine State deals with tropical hurricanes during these six months every year. Since 1851, roughly 41% of hurricanes that saw landfall in the U.S. impacted Florida; this equates to 125 out of 308 hurricanes. Moreover, Florida leads in all categories of hurricanes, from one through five. Fortunately, in a time of desperate need, one town has been emerging as a potential solution: Babcock Ranch, Florida. Let's find out why. What Makes Babcock Resilient? In 2018, Babcock Ranch was created as a housing...

Think of some reasons why temperatures are so high during the summer heat. I’m sure none of the reasons that came to mind had to do with corn and more specifically corn sweat. For people in the Midwest, one of the causes of heat waves is corn sweat. Since Iowa and Illinois are responsible for a third of US corn production, the air feels more oppressive and humid than normal in those states. Corn sweat doesn't actually involve corn sweating like a high-performance athlete, but it has everything to do with evapotranspiration. Due to evapotranspiration and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,...

In February and throughout the summer of 2024, the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) recorded the fifth mass bleaching event in the Great Barrier Reef since 2016. In 2023, a record marine heatwave caused one of the worst coral bleaching in the Northern Hemisphere. Yet, 90% of young coral in the Caribbean survived. As it turns out, the young corals had been bred using in-vitro fertilization (IVF)! Let's find out more. Hope for Corals: The Caribbean Study Corals are crucial to marine biodiversity and support a quarter of all marine creatures. Humans depend on corals for food and...

One of the keys to curbing climate change is switching to sustainable energy. That means more solar power, wind turbines, electric cars, etc. However, there is a major obstacle when it comes to their design and manufacture; they require rare earth metals, like nickel and cobalt, to build. Acquiring these rare earth metals is dangerous work, with mines harming habitats, the use of carcinogenic (cancer-causing) harsh chemicals to purify them, and the looming shortage as mines begin to run dry. As such, scientists have been researching the potential for bacteria to be used to extract and recycle...

Often when we hear that a species is endangered, we think about it as an isolated event. However, the death of one species can have catastrophic effects on the whole ecosystem, including humans! Let’s learn about how the disappearance of vultures in India led to the death of 500,000 people. Background On India's Vultures Vultures used to be abundant in India, with a massive population of 50 million. They are birds of prey that primarily eat the carcasses of animals. These birds are very efficient -- a group of them can finish off a carcass in 45 minutes! Vultures are capable of consuming at...