Meet Iris Shen, the 17-year-old Texas student who tested potential blood-cancer drugs in clams; one treatment behaved similarly to human-cell tests and her research won $150,000

In what is dubbed America’s longest-running and most distinguished science and math competition, a 17-year-old has won the third prize. Iris Shen, a native of Woodlands, Texas, received $150,000 for testing a potential cancer drug in clams to see if they could serve as an animal model for blood cancer drug discovery. In the clams,…

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Invasive Argentine ants are defending other pests in California’s citrus groves and vineyards, troubling farmers and leaving natives hungry

An invasive species of ants travelled across continents to America and is now defending other insects. According to a report by econews, Argentine Ants have been protecting aphids, mealybugs, scales, whiteflies and psyllids against the predators and parasites that would normally keep their population under control. This unlikely alliance has turned the ants into a…

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She lost a grandson and dozens of guinea pigs in a house fire; today, she runs a Massachusetts sanctuary caring for nearly 400 abandoned guinea pigs | World News

She lost a grandson and dozens of guinea pigs in a devastating house fire in 2019. Years later, Kimie Smothermon is running a Massachusetts sanctuary where hundreds of guinea pigs now depend on her every day. At the Guinea Pig Sanctuary in Salisbury, between 350 and 400 guinea pigs are housed at the facility, with…

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Microgravity: Four medaka fish flew aboard Columbia in 1994 to test whether vertebrates could reproduce without gravity; they laid 43 eggs and eight baby fish hatched in space

The tank was kept at a water temperature of 24°C. The fish also followed a cycle of 14 hours of light and 10 hours of darkness. (Photo: JAXA) In July 1994, four small medaka fish travelled into space as part of an experiment that tested whether fish could reproduce in microgravity. The experiment was carried…

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Florida sank a 324-foot former New York sludge tanker off Pompano Beach; the wreck became an underwater casino reef with card-dealing sharks, poker tables and marine life

The tanker was built in 1967 and was towed from New York to Florida in early 2016 after a 10-year search for a suitable vessel. A 324-foot tanker that once carried sludge is about to get a remarkable second life beneath the waves. An old ship off the coast of Pompano Beach, Florida later turned…

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This Ohio home built entirely underground hits the market for $850,000 with a grass-covered roof that the owners literally have to mow | World News

A remarkable home in Huron, Ohio, has gone on the market for $850,000 with a design that makes it look as though the landscape has swallowed the house. Built into the side of a hill, the earth-sheltered property is about 90% underground, according to listing agent Laurie Brill. Its concrete roof is covered with dirt…

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American bison had been hunted to extinction in Mexico; 160 years later the country introduced 47 bison in 2025 and the ecosystem is slowly restoring itself

After being absent from the grounds for approximately 160 years, the American bison has made a grand comeback to the landscapes of Coahuila, Mexico. According to a report by AS, the reintroduction of dozens of bison in part of the Chihuahuan Desert is positively impacting the surrounding ecosystem in numerous ways, said the body that…

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Alaska eradicated rats from a 6,869-acre Aleutian island more than two centuries after they arrived in a shipwreck; within two years some native bird populations had increased 200% or more and missing seabirds began returning

Alaska eradicated rats from a 6,869-acre Aleutian island More than two centuries after a shipwreck brought non-native rats to a remote Alaskan island, removing the invasive rodents has led to a rapid recovery of wildlife across the 6,869-acre island in the Aleutian archipelago. According to monitoring reports and press releases from the United States Fish…

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In 2021, Alabama students began placing discarded Christmas trees along Gulf Coast dunes to trap sand; each year about 200 students now add roughly 3,000 native plants around them

Discarded Christmas trees Discarded holiday trees collected from living rooms across Alabama are finding a second life along the Gulf of Mexico, forming the foundation of a student-led coastal restoration campaign. Discarded Christmas trees collected from homes across Alabama are getting a second life along the Gulf of Mexico, helping form the base of a…

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Ohio mother was in Costa Rica when 18-year-old son died in car crash; hospital never contacted her, she later learned his body parts were removed as ‘anatomical gifts’ without consent

Andrea Mauk with her son Damon and husband Edward. (Photo: Andrea Mauk) For Andrea Mauk, the phone call telling her that her 18-year-old son Damon had died was already a moment no mother should ever have to endure. But while she was thousands of miles away in Costa Rica, grieving a son she could not…

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