Five miles offshore from the Golden Nugget casino, Michael F. Crowley, a marine scientist at Rutgers University, heaves three lifeboat-yellow drones off the back of his research vessel. The gliders, as he calls them, are winged and propellerless, like …
Adopted by Neighbors, a VW Camper Spreads Happiness
Sitting in the living room of her family’s 19th-century colonial home, Lesley Fowks recalled the day in 2002 that her son, Ian Brady, burst in with an announcement: the rusting 1977 Volkswagen camper van sitting in the side yard of a nearby house could…
A Race to Save the Orange by Altering Its DNA
The call Ricke Kress and every other citrus grower in Florida dreaded came while he was driving. "It’s here" was all his grove manager needed to say to force him over to the side of the road. The disease that sours oranges and leaves them half …
Letting Go of Our Nukes
President Barack Obama recently called on Russia to join the United States in negotiating a mutual reduction in strategic nuclear warheads that would leave each country with slightly more than 1,000. The number would be up to one-third less than what b…
From Garden State to Vineyard State
Go ahead, make the jokes about New Jersey wine. They’re so easy. But consider this: While you’re sniggering about Tony Soprano and Snooki sipping spumante with notes of petroleum, people with more sophisticated taste – or maybe just those willing to th…
The Size of a Gumball, or Bigger Than Jumbo
Most mornings outside the gates of Tier Haus Farms here, several cars drive up to investigate the contents of an ordinary-looking cooler. Inside are eggs, freshly collected from beyond the gates by Carolyn Gerdes, an owner of the hilly, 70-acre propert…
Scientific Articles Accepted (Personal Checks, Too)
The scientists who were recruited to appear at a conference called Entomology-2013 thought they had been selected to make a presentation to the leading professional association of scientists who study insects. But they found out the hard way that they …
Campaigns on Multiple Fronts Against Whale Hunting
Whaling brings to mind visions of the 19th century. Harpoons into blubber. Captain Ahab versus Moby-Dick. But in some parts of the world, whaling remains very much alive, despite a world moratorium on commercial whaling that took effect in 1986…"…
Nature’s Drone, Pretty and Deadly
African lions roar and strut and act the apex carnivore, but they’re lucky to catch 25 percent of the prey they pursue. Great white sharks have 300 slashing teeth and that ominous soundtrack, and still nearly half their hunts fail…When setting off to…
Spring Delayed, Europe Shivers
"When will this winter ever end?" Thursday’s plaintive headline in Britain’s Daily Telegraph was prompted by forecasts that the big freeze gripping much of Europe is likely to last well into April…"The sea ice is going rapidly. It’s 80 pe…
