All Stories by Ilima Loomis
- Oceans
Expedition finds South Pacific plastic patch bigger than India
A giant, floating ‘garbage patch’ in the South Pacific off Chile’s coast is mostly tiny bits of plastic.
- Microbes
Under Antarctic ice, microbes gobble up greenhouse gas
In a lake far beneath the Antarctic ice sheet, scientists have found bacteria that eat methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
- Animals
Giant Antarctic sea spiders breathe really strangely
Sea spiders have many bizarre body systems. Scientists have now discovered that they breathe and circulate oxygen in a way never seen before.
- Oceans
Cool Jobs: Science deep beneath the waves
These scientists probe the sea’s depths, its strange inhabitants, the movement of water and how life evolves in extremes.
- Science & Society
Cool Jobs: Reaching out to E.T. is a numbers game
From figuring out if we’re alone in the universe, to writing messages to aliens, scientists use math in many ways in their search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
- Science & Society
Should we call out to space aliens?
Scientists have been listening to space for decades, hoping to pick up alien signals. Now some have proposed we try broadcasting a welcome call.
- Physics
Cool Jobs: Solar sleuthing
No star is closer than the sun, and yet there’s much science still don’t know about how it actually works. These scientists are helping solve the mysteries.
- Earth
Cool Jobs: Getting to know volcanoes
It’s too hot to explore the insides of a volcano. These scientists examine their lava, their low-frequency rumblings and their ‘vog’.
- Earth
Cool Jobs: Mapping the unknown
Scientists find different ways of exploring places humans will never visit — and drawing maps to help us better understand such mysterious places.
- Physics
Scrubbing bubbles: Secret to ouch-free dental cleanings?
People with sensitive teeth can find routine dental cleanings painful. But bubbles might pave way to no-touch — and pain-free — cleaning for these people.
- Space
An alarm system for Earth crashers
The ATLAS telescope could be a last-minute warning system for asteroids just days away from hitting Earth.
- Animals
What a drag! Fishing gear’s effects on whales
Many whales become entangled in the gear that fishing boats use to catch fish and shellfish. Such debris can have dire impacts on the big mammals.
