Earth & Sky

Can an eel’s electricity power a toaster?

Dragonflies used to be as big as hawks. Why are they small now?

Most botanists would say ‘both.’

How do hibernating animals know when to wake up?

What does it take to be a star?

Join Project Budburst and share your findings.

If you sneeze at the sun, you might have…ACHOO!

Why doesn’t the stomach digest itself?

What do sunflowers and galaxies have in common?

Have you ever seen a fairy ring?

Why don’t tree branches grow straight up towards the sun?

Why can you have a cockapoo, but not a cockaparrot?

You’re going to see some different dates for this year’s solstice. Read this article and get the right date.

Geophysicist Pamela Martin speaks about her recent study analyzing the environmental impact of an American diet based on meat versus a diet based on vegetables.

Environmental chemist Melissa Schultz talks about how medications we excrete and flush down the toilet are winding up in rivers, possibly harming wildlife.

Astrophysicist Marty Mlynczak has discovered that our planet’s upper atmosphere moves up and down. He describes it as “breathing” the sun’s energy in and out.

Listen to Jerry Melillo, an ecologist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole Massachusetts. He and his colleagues are working to document climate change impacts already occurring in the U.S.

April 26, 2009. For the northern hemisphere, the planet Mercury is now staging its best appearance in the evening sky for all of this year.

Climate scientist Stephen Schneider of Stanford spoke about avoidable and unavoidable climate impacts.

April 21, 2009. The Lyrid meteor shower will peak late night tonight until dawn tomorrow. No matter where you live worldwide, the most Lyrid meteors are expected to fly during the dark hour before dawn.

April 18, 2009. If you’re up before dawn, you can spot the king of planets, Jupiter, near the waning crescent moon in the east in the next few mornings. What we see of the planet are just the cloudtops of its extremely dense atmosphere.

Listen to astronomer Anthony Remijan talk about large molecules that formed in space – ones that might be the building blocks of all life here on Earth.

Architect Werner Lang, of the University of Texas, talks about creating buildings that work better for the 21st century.

Anthropologist Carol Ward said “It’s the interaction with members of our own species – in terms of competition, cooperation, and help that has shaped the evolution of the human brain and human abilities.”