Disease-resistant seedlings of an endangered tree species are doing well during their first season in a western Quebec forest, according to the conservation group that planted them. Butternut trees are native to Canada and can be found in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. But over the last 30 or so years, canker disease has wiped out … Read more
It’s a rare sighting: A small oblong insect coloured a bright Barbie pink. It’s a pink katydid, a grasshopper-like insect with a recessive gene that turns them from their usual pale green to bright pink. Geoff Pekor is an insect enthusiast who makes a hobby out of looking for these, and other unusual insects at … Read more
Plant biologist Marcus Samuel has been working for more than a decade to improve the climate resilience of crops. At his research greenhouse at the University of Calgary, he uses cutting-edge gene editing techniques to produce hardier varieties of plants able to withstand temperature fluctuations, floods and frosts. But while he has worked on canola, … Read more
On March 25, American officials published an urgent announcement: Dairy cows in Texas, Kansas, and New Mexico were falling sick. The cows had low appetites, and produced less milk than normal. Some farms also discovered wild bird carcasses on their grounds. Tests on a cow throat swab and raw milk samples all confirmed an unusual finding: … Read more
The moon’s newest arrival, a privately owned vessel not carrying people, was said to be “alive and well” a day after making the first U.S. landing in half a century, but flight controllers were still trying to get a better handle on its bearings. Intuitive Machines reported Friday that it’s communicating with its lander, Odysseus, … Read more
A private lander touched down on the moon Thursday but managed just a weak signal back, as flight controllers scrambled to gain better contact with the first U.S. spacecraft to reach the lunar surface in more than 50 years. Tension mounted in the company’s command centre in Houston, as controllers awaited a signal from the spacecraft … Read more
A robotic lander built by a private company suffered a technical problem on its way to the moon on Monday, threatening to upend the first U.S. soft lunar landing in over 50 years. The issue with the lander’s propulsion system followed a successful launch of a new Vulcan rocket debuted by a joint venture of … Read more
