Scientists have found the oldest known piece of our planet.
A blue zircon crystal, found on a sheep ranch in Australia, is about 4.4 billion years old.
The gem is about twice the width of a human hair.
Science
Stephen Hawking Says “Black Holes” May Actually Be “Grey”
Stephen Hawking is a physicist, an expert in the science called physics, and generally regarded as a genius for his work in helping us better understand the universe.
Microplastics Threaten Marine Life In The Great Lakes
Tiny pieces of plastic – each about the size of a grain of sand – are posing a huge threat to marine life in the Great Lakes.
For the past two summers, researchers from an organization called 5 Gyres have been collecting water samples from the Great Lakes.
They used fine-mesh nets to skim the surface of the water.
When they looked at what they had collected, they found thousands of tiny plastic beads, each less than a millimetre.
At first the scientists didn’t know where these “microbeads” came from. Then they used an electron microscope to compare them to products such as face and body washes or toothpaste that people use to help scrub and polish our skin and teeth.
US Group Says Canadian Lobster Traps Are Endangering Whales
Canada has failed to protect the North Atlantic Right Whale by allowing the use of old-fashioned methods to catch lobsters and crabs, according to an environmental group in the United States.
Many Canadians who fish for lobsters and crabs use nets, traps and ropes that can tangle up whales and accidentally capture other sea creatures, they say.
The magazine on earth is published by The Natural Resources Defense Council in the US.
In a recent article they said Canada has no regulations to protect the endangered right whale from the old-fashioned fishing methods.
Canada Announces Protection For Endangered Birds
Environment Canada has issued an emergency protection order that will limit construction activity and loud industrial noise near the habitat of an endangered bird species.
The greater sage-grouse is a shy bird that lives in southeastern Alberta and Saskatchewan.
There are fewer than 150 adult birds left in Canada, and environmentalists believe the species could be extirpated (locally extinct) within five years unless it is protected.
The birds’ natural habitat is long prairie grass, but much of this grassland has been destroyed by agriculture and oil and gas development over the past hundred years.
In December 2013, Environment Canada – the government department responsible for the environment – issued an order that prohibits any activity that would disrupt the birds’ habitat during the spring mating season.
Student Doctor Finds Real, Life-Threatening Illness In “Patient-Actor”
A student doctor recently saved the life of an unusual patient, in a very unusual way.
Ryan Jones, a medical student at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, was practicing diagnosing illnesses.
As part of his training, he and other student doctors had to diagnose an actor who was playing the part of an ill patient.
The actor would act out symptoms of an illness he pretended to have, and the medical student had to figure out what the illness was.
Of course, the actors didn’t really have any illness—they were just pretending.
Except, in the case of Jim Malloy, he really did have the illness and didn’t know it.
Endangered Animals Making A Comeback In Canada
Seven Canadian species that were once considered endangered or nearly extinct are beginning to flourish again, thanks to efforts by conservationists.
Canadian Geographic magazine reported in its December 2013 issue that populations of endangered whooping cranes, North Pacific humpback whales, eastern wild turkeys, swift foxes, sea otters, wood bison and peregrine falcons have increased in recent years.
Most of them are no longer considered endangered.
Several factors contributed to the disappearance of these species, including loss of habitat, pesticides, disease and over-hunting.
The “Comet Of The Century” Set To Put On A Show
Comet ISON is about to put on a show.
Scientists around the world are watching as ISON streaks, ever-faster, towards the sun.
NASA has been studying ISON since December, when it was more than 800 million kilometres away.
Experts are calling Comet ISON as “the comet of the century.”
What is a comet? Here’s how astrophysicist Julie Abraham describes a comet: “It’s basically a big ball of dirty ice in orbit around the sun that gradually melts or burns up, spewing out debris and water in a plume blown out behind it.”
Scientists Find 60 New Species In Suriname Rainforest
Scientists have discovered 60 species of previously unknown plants and animals living in a remote rainforest in southeastern Suriname.
Suriname is a small country on the northeastern coast of South America, just north of Brazil.
It is located in a geographic area called the Guiana Shield, which contains more than one-quarter of the world’s rainforest.
An expedition of 16 field biologists spent three weeks in Suriname in 2012, exploring the remote, mountainous rainforest region.
Thirty indigenous men helped transport their food and equipment by boat and guided team through the forest.
MAVEN Spacecraft Takes Off For Mars
This week, a “robotic explorer” left Earth on its way to Mars.
It should get there next September. Mars is more than 700 million kilometres away.
The explorer is going to Mars to try to solve some of the planet’s mysteries.
For instance, why is Mars now a cold, dry planet when it started out warm and wet?
The Associated Press reports that “the early Martian atmosphere was thick enough to hold water and possibly support microbial life.”
Scientists at NASA want to know what happened to change that.
