Science & Technology

Local researchers examine blue carbon from Salish Sea to Arabian Gulf

August 30, 2021, 10:32am Northwest

How much of what is called blue carbon that various kinds of shoreline habitats are able store is a question scientists worldwide, including those in Skagit County, are trying to answer. Read story

This long exposure photo shows the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on a resupply mission for NASA to the International Space Station from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center, seen from Merritt Island, Fla., Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. The SpaceX shipment of ants, avocados and a human-sized robotic arm rocketed toward the International Space Station on Sunday.

Astronaut gets special ice cream delivery for 50th birthday

August 30, 2021, 9:51am Life

A space station astronaut is celebrating her 50th birthday with the coolest present ever — a supply ship bearing ice cream and other treats. Read story

Balvi Vasquez pets and talks to a gray whale in San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California, on February 16, 2021.

Something is killing gray whales. Is it a sign of oceans in peril?

August 30, 2021, 6:05am Life

For thousands of years, the gray whales of the eastern Pacific have undertaken one of the longest annual migrations of any mammal — starting in the cold waters of the Arctic, then down past the densely populated coasts and beaches of California before finally finding refuge in the warm, shallow… Read story

As cargo shipments boom, ship strikes imperil whales in California and worldwide

August 30, 2021, 6:00am Life

The 100-foot-long whale dived and circled in the murky, dark waters of the Santa Barbara Channel, looking for a cloud of krill to scoop and catch inside her 20-foot-long jaws. Read story

FILE - In this Oct. 24, 2020, file photo, a Washington state Department of Agriculture worker holds two of the dozens of Asian giant hornets vacuumed from a tree in Blaine, Wash. Authorities say they've found the first Asian giant hornet nest of 2021 in a rural area east of Blaine. State entomologists will now develop a plan to eradicate the nest.

Washington Ag crews remove massive Asian giant hornet nest near Blaine

August 28, 2021, 1:49pm Latest News

Crews returned this week to an Asian giant hornet nest they found earlier this month near Blaine, Washington, and removed more than 1,500 of the world's largest hornets that were in various stages of development. Read story

Lake trout’s genetic map traced

A lake trout swims off Isle Royale, Mich., in Lake Superior.

August 27, 2021, 4:39pm Life

Scientists have traced the genetic makeup of lake trout, a feat that should boost efforts to rebuild populations of the prized fish in the Great Lakes and other North American waters where they’ve been hammered by invasive species, overfishing and pollution, officials said Tuesday. Read story

Local citizen scientists map genetics of Darwin’s Galapagos

Scientists walk with locals as they collect plant samples to extract its DNA as part of the Barcode Galapagos project in the island of San Cristobal, Galapagos, Ecuador, Friday, Aug. 20, 2021. The Barcode Galapagos project trains and pays locals to be "citizen scientists" in an effort to catalogue the genetic code of more plants, animals and microorganisms in the Galapagos.

August 24, 2021, 2:16pm Nation & World

Five months into the pandemic, things were getting desperate for Robin Betancourt, The tourists he depended upon as a boat captain were unable to visit the Galapagos Islands, whose isolation — 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from the mainland — makes alternative employment hard to find. Read story