How to fix India's burning issue: turn unwanted straw into bio-energy pellets

Apr 30, 2017 14:12 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science

Each year, fires rage across northern India, as farmers burn off their unwanted straw. The impact is enormous. From October into November, massive clouds of smoke streak across Punjab and neighbouring states, blown by the...

Space Science Series

How many people actually believe in astrology?

Apr 30, 2017 14:06 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science

Astrology and horoscope columns are a familiar feature of tabloid newspapers, womens magazines and the web. They claim, controversially for some, that there is a meaningful relationship between celestial and terrestrial...

Earth Day Protest Highlights Desperate Situation Of Science And Existing Hope

Apr 24, 2017 07:02 am UTC| Science

A few days ago, the world celebrated Earth Day. It was meant to be a time when humanity recognized the importance of Mother Nature, highlighting its plight in some form of solidarity. However, what ended up happening is...

Degrees of separation: companies shed degree requirements to promote merit over qualifications

Apr 18, 2017 06:04 am UTC| Insights & Views Science

At the end of 2016, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed that close to two-thirds of all Australians had completed a degree or apprenticeship. The growth in the number of people attending a university or...

Death metal: how nickel played a role in the world's worst mass extinction

Apr 17, 2017 01:40 am UTC| Science

Around 250 million years ago, life on Earth nearly came to an end, in a mass extinction between the Permian and Triassic periods known as the Great Dying. Some 90% of the species in the oceans and 70% of vertebrate...

Space Science Series

Proof: Saturn moon Enceladus is able to host life – it's time for a new mission

Apr 14, 2017 01:56 am UTC| Science

Ever since studies started suggesting that chemical reactions between water and rock on Saturns moon Enceladus could provide enough energy in the water to feed microbial life, scientists have been searching for proof that...

"Pathogen hunters": citizen scientists track plant diseases to save species

Apr 10, 2017 13:42 pm UTC| Science

Plant diseases threaten food security and sustainability. They affect ecosystems and change natural environments. They cost money, too. An enormous amount is spent globally each year to control these diseases; the damage...