Wilkes Land Anomaly Deep beneath the ice of East Antarctica’s Wilkes Land, an enigmatic mass anomaly has continued to puzzle scientists since its discovery. Located under a 300-mile-wide (480 km) impact crater-like structure, the Wilkes Land Anomaly has fueled numerous theories ranging from an asteroid impact site to the remnants of a lost continent—or even, according to some fringe theories, […]
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Have you ever thought to yourself, “Can plants talk to each other?” Unsettling news for vegetarians: Plants may communicate with one another by making sounds at frequencies that humans can’t hear. British and Australian researchers have discovered that the roots of corn saplings emit a constant clicking sound. When a similar sound was played in a lab, they found that […]
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Crested and rockhopper penguins are threatened by climate change – but this time the penguins could be at risk because they cannot change their own ways. Evolution has left them with a rigid parenting strategy, probably well adapted for climate conditions so far. But as temperatures rise, conditions change and food supplies become precarious, the inflexible roles of male and female […]
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An expedition team in Antarctica has successfully cleared away layers of thick ice from inside the hut of the famous Australian explorer Sir Douglas Mawson, revealing a century-old frozen bowl of peas, books on the shelves, candles, matches and “old-style woolen underwear”. The team used picks and chainsaws to remove the ice that had filled the main living quarters used […]
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1. The first confirmed sighting of the continent was in 1820. 2. Explorers first reached the South Pole in 1911. 3. Because Antarctica lies in the southern hemisphere, seasons there are the opposite of seasons in the north — summer runs from October to February and winter covers the remainder of the year. 4. Antarctica is the coldest continent; temperatures […]
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In a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, scientists from three universities show that products made in China are associated with significantly higher carbon dioxide emissions than the same products made elsewhere. “The amazing increase in Chinese manufacturing over the past 15 years has driven the world economy to new heights and supplied consumers in developed countries with […]
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There’s an oil painting on one wall in the cluttered room that serves as central headquarters of Burch Farms, a large vegetable grower in Faison, N.C. The painting shows an African-American couple, the woman in a long, plain dress, the man in a homespun shirt. They’re digging sweet potatoes with their bare hands and an old-fashioned hoe. Jimmy Burch Sr., […]
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Imagine a pivotal scene from your favorite sci-fi alien invasion movie where their 50-foot wide laser beams destroy our buildings like sneezing on a pile of flour. What could we do? We’re merely meat muppets with pitiful silicon based technology. How could we ever hope to detect these aliens with their stealth spacecraft and 3rd stage guild navigators? If we’re […]
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A team of expeditioners from Australia has found the remains of the first airplane ever taken to the Antarctic. The find was made at Camp Denison, which is where the remains of the 1912 expedition plane was found. The expedition is in Antarctica to help conserve huts used by the Australian explorer Douglas Mawson in the early twentieth century. The […]
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According to National Geographic, the coldest place on Earth is the East Antarctic Ice Sheet with temperatures as low as minus 144 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature reading was taken during the polar winter and is the lowest temperature ever recorded on the Earth. Russia’s Vostok Weather Station previously held the record for the lowest recorded temperature. However, that record has […]
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