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Nursery of Giants Captured in New Spitzer Image

Typically, the bigger something is the easier it is to find. Elephants, for example, are not hard to spot. But when it comes to the massive stars making up the stellar nursery called DR21, size does not add up to visibility. These elephant stars are invisible. How can something so big go undetected? The answer is dust. DR21 is shrouded in so much ...

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GiantsSpitzerImage
Biology

Do Blind People Dream?

Dreams are a universal feature of the human mind. Carl Jung even believed that visions in our dreams offer glimpses into universal archetypes, instinctive primordial images deriving from a collective ... Continue reading

DoBlindPeopleDream
Medicine

Encephalitis and Meningitis

Encephalitis and meningitis are inflammatory diseases of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord and are caused by bacterial or viral infections. Viral meningitis is sometimes called ... Continue reading

EncephalitisandMeningitis
Biology

What Are Stem Cells?

When an egg is fertilized by a sperm cell, it quickly becomes a single cell from which all cells of the body-to-be will be created. This 'mother of all cells' is what biologists call a totipotent stem ... Continue reading

StemCells
Biology

What Is A Coccolithophore?

Like any other type of phytoplankton, coccolithophores are one-celled marine plants that live in large numbers throughout the upper layers of the ocean. Unlike any other plant in the ocean, ... Continue reading

WhatIsACoccolithophore

The Importance of Cave and Karst Systems

ImportanceofCaveaKarstSystemsCave and karst systems are important for two major reasons. First, the overwhelming majority of the nation's freshwater resources is groundwater. About 25% of the groundwater is located in cave and karst regions. The protection and management of these vital water resources are critical to public health and to sustainable economic development. As identified by the National Geographic Society, water resources are a critical concern as society enters the twenty-first century. Second, caves are storehouses of information on natural resources, human history and evolution. Therefore, many avenues of research can be pursued in caves. Recent studies indicated that caves contain valuable data that are relevant to global climate change, waste disposal, groundwater supply and contamination, petroleum recovery, and biomedical investigations. Caves also contain data that are pertinent to anthropologic, archaeologic, geologic, paleontologic, and mineralogic discoveries and resources.

Many researchers have turned to caves as natural laboratories where over eons paleoclimatic evidence has been naturally deposited and is awaiting discovery. For example, the recently discovered Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico has excited scientists with the possibilities of gaining insight into global warming from analyses of materials found there. Cave-dwelling organisms have specialized adaptations such as extreme longevity and enhanced sensory perceptions. The adaptations reveal much about the evolutionary responses to past environmental changes and may provide valuable clues to current climate change. Many caves act as natural traps for flora and fauna, and new species of extinct animals such as a mountain goat and a bush oxen related to the present day muskox (Ovibus moschatus) have been discovered from paleoentological excavations in caves. These discoveries add to the knowledge of paleo-fauna and are an aid to understanding changes in the global climate.

Caves have always been known as repositories of archeological material. Historic and prehistoric cultural remains in caves are extraordinarily diverse. They range from ancient torch smudges on cave ceilings to civil war age saltpeter vats used to make gun powder. In spite of this diversity, the cultural resources have common attributes: they are subtle, elusive, or fragile or all three; and they provide unique and valuable information about the past. Without proper documentation and research of these hidden cultural remains in deep or shallow caves, valuable and important segments of the human history would be lost for all time.