In 1940, the Walker sisters sold their 122-acre Tennessee homestead for $4,750; a lifetime lease let them keep living there inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park

In 1940, the Walker sisters sold their 122-acre Tennessee homestead for $4,750; a lifetime lease let them keep living there inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Deep in the heart of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where mist clings to the ridges and the forest hums with life, stands a quiet log cabin. It is the home of the Walker sisters, six unmarried women who refused to leave their mountain home, even as the world changed around them. Their story is…

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In 1898, 17 years after surviving the O.K. Corral gunfight, Virgil Earp claimed 160 acres in Arizona; two years later, he earned title to the land

In 1898, 17 years after surviving the O.K. Corral gunfight, Virgil Earp claimed 160 acres in Arizona; two years later, he earned title to the land

Representative Image (AI-generated) Seventeen years after surviving the famous O.K. Corral gunfight, former Tombstone lawman Virgil Earp embarked on a very different chapter of his life. In 1898, Earp claimed 160 acres of land near Prescott, Arizona, under the federal homesteading system. Because of his previous service in the Union Army during the Civil War,…

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US used dioxin-laden oil for dust control in a town with 2,000 residents, years later it spent $33.1 million for their relocation in order to protect their lives

US used dioxin-laden oil for dust control in a town with 2,000 residents, years later it spent $33.1 million for their relocation in order to protect their lives

At times, things go wrong even when you try with all your might to ensure they are right. It was in the 1970s, that Times Beach, a small town in Missouri, attempted to solve a common problem for dirt roads by spreading residual oil to reduce dust. Years later, it was discovered that some of…

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Spanish explorers brought pigs to America for food in the 1500s; today, millions of feral swine roam at least 35 US states

Spanish explorers brought pigs to America for food in the 1500s; today, millions of feral swine roam at least 35 US states

When Spanish explorers brought pigs to what is now the southeastern United States in the 1500s, the animals were intended as a practical source of food rather than a threat to native ecosystems. Centuries of escapes, free-ranging livestock and later introductions of Eurasian wild boar changed that. According to the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal…

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In 1872, the Lac La Belle sank in a Lake Michigan storm, but its wreck stayed hidden until a 60-year search finally paid off

In 1872, the Lac La Belle sank in a Lake Michigan storm, but its wreck stayed hidden until a 60-year search finally paid off

Representative Image of the Lac La Belle shipwreck resting on the lakebed among aquatic life and quagga mussels (AI-generated image) On the night of October 13, 1872, the steamer Lac La Belle left Milwaukee for Grand Haven, Michigan, carrying 53 passengers and crew along with a cargo of barley, pork, flour and whiskey. About two…

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A small Texas reactor reached criticality in under a year, aiming to produce medical isotopes that US hospitals now import

A small Texas reactor reached criticality in under a year, aiming to produce medical isotopes that US hospitals now import

Representative Image of a modern Texas nuclear reactor supporting advanced isotope production for healthcare (AI-generated image) Every day, more than 40,000 Americans undergo a diagnostic scan that depends on technetium-99m, a radioactive isotope used to image the heart, spot cancer and check kidney function. Every milligram of the molybdenum-99 that produces it currently arrives in…

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A Connecticut cemetery leased unused land for 7,000 solar panels, but the ground beneath them could become habitat for bees and pollinators

A Connecticut cemetery leased unused land for 7,000 solar panels, but the ground beneath them could become habitat for bees and pollinators

Representative Image of a cemetery with solar panels surrounded by wildflowers and native grasses (AI-generated image) At the back of a Catholic cemetery in Torrington, Connecticut, a wide field once sat empty for years, too far from the graves to ever be needed. Then came rows of dark solar panels, built on land owned by…

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Minnesota teen Evan Morris built a low-cost system that detected seizure-like activity in worms and triggered ultrasound; recurrence fell 70.1% in his model

Minnesota teen Evan Morris built a low-cost system that detected seizure-like activity in worms and triggered ultrasound; recurrence fell 70.1% in his model

Evan Morris (Image Credit: Society For Science) Eighteen-year-old Evan Morris of Saint Paul, Minnesota, has developed a low-cost experimental system that could offer researchers a faster way to study how brain stimulation might control seizures. His project, called SILENCE: On-demand seizure suppression via closed-loop sonogenetics, uses genetically modified worms, a computer-controlled detection system and ultrasound…

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Meet Vera Wang, the Hawaii high school senior who built a coconut-based ocean filter as a sophomore; two years later, she found fungi in coconut husks that can biodegrade plastic and sunscreen

Meet Vera Wang, the Hawaii high school senior who built a coconut-based ocean filter as a sophomore; two years later, she found fungi in coconut husks that can biodegrade plastic and sunscreen

Wang’s work, done in the lab of Anthony Amend at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, was recognized at the 2026 Hawaiʻi State Science & Engineering Fair What started as a high school project to clean polluted ocean water has turned into a promising scientific discovery. Hawaii’s Kaiser High School senior Vera Wang was the…

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