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Lyrid meteor shower peaks this weekend: How to catch a glimpse of the celestial event The Lyrid meteor shower is underway. But with a nearly full moon in the sky during the peak, it might be tough to see clearly.The Lyrids occur every year in mid-to-late April.This year's peak activity happens Sunday into Monday, with 10 to 20 meteors expected per hour. Viewing lasts through April 29. MYSTERIOUS FIREBALLS SEEN STREAKING ACROSS CALIFORNIA SKY Here's what to know about the Lyrids and other meteor showers .Multiple meteor showers occur annually, and you don't need special equipment to see them.Most meteor showers originate from the debris of comets. The source of the Lyrids is the comet Thatcher.When rocks from space enter Earth's atmosphere , the resistance from the air makes them very hot. This causes the air to glow around them and briefly leaves a fiery tail behind them - the end of a "shooting star."The glowing pockets of air around fast-moving space rocks, ranging from the size of a dust particle to a boulder, may be visible in the night sky.Meteor showers are usually most visible between midnight and predawn hours, and don't require special equipment. Just look up.It's easier to see shooting stars under dark skies, away from city lights. Meteor showers also appear brightest on cloudless nights when the moon wanes smallest."Look to the northeast and just keep staring at the same spot in the sky" to see the Lyrids, said University of Warwick astronomer Don Pollacco. "It's always impressive when you see these things."The clearest sighting for the Lyrids is in the Northern Hemisphere, but moonlight will interfere with viewing, according to the American Meteor Society.Under ideal conditions, "the meteors often appear very bright with bluish trails and often the trails seem to hang around for a few seconds in the sky," said Pollacco.The meteor society keeps an updated list of upcoming large meteor showers, including the peak viewing days and moonlight conditions.The Eta Aquarids meteor shower peaks in early May with best viewing in the Southern Hemisphere. The shower is caused by debris from Halley's comet. Earth Day was founded over 50 years ago, putting a heightened focus on the environment ever since Millions of people around the world will pause on Monday, at least for a moment, to mark Earth Day . It's an annual event founded by people who hoped to stir activism to clean up and preserve a planet that is now home to some 8 billion humans and assorted trillions of other organisms.Here are answers to some common questions about Earth Day and how it came to be:Earth Day has its roots in growing concern over pollution in the 1960s, when author Rachel Carson's 1962 book "Silent Spring," about the pesticide DDT and its damaging effects on the food chain, hit bestseller lists and raised awareness about nature's delicate balance. HERE ARE SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT EARTH DAY'S POPULARITY. WHO CREATED THE HOLIDAY? But it was a senator from Wisconsin, Democrat Gaylord Nelson, who had the idea that would become Earth Day. Nelson had long been concerned about the environment when a massive offshore oil spill sent millions of gallons onto the southern California coast in 1969. Nelson, after touring the spill site, had the idea of doing a national "teach-in" on the environment, similar to teach-ins being held on some college campuses at the time to oppose the war in Vietnam.Nelson and others, including activist Denis Hayes, worked to expand the idea beyond college campuses, with events all around the country, and came up with the Earth Day name.A history of the movement by EarthDay.org, where Hayes remains board chair emeritus, says the date of the first Earth Day - April 22, 1970 - was chosen because it fell on a weekday between spring break and final exams and the aim was to attract as many students as possible.It's not a federal holiday. But many groups use the day to put together volunteer events with the environment in mind, such as cleanups of natural areas. You can see a list of events worldwide, or register your own event, at EarthDay.org.It has. The overwhelming public response to the first Earth Day is credited with adding pressure for the U.S. Congress to do more to address pollution, and it did, passing landmark legislation including the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. More broadly, it's seen as the birth of the modern environmental movement. In later years, Earth Day expanded to become a truly global event. It now claims to have motivated action in more than 192 countries.In 2000, Earth Day began taking aim at climate change, a problem that has grown rapidly more urgent in recent years.This year's Earth Day is focusing on the threat that plastics pose to our environment, with a call to end all single-use plastic and find replacements for their use so they can quickly be phased down. 'Peculiar' black hole discovered in Milky Way, scientists say Astronomers have discovered a black hole with a mass about 33 times greater than that of our sun , the biggest one known in the Milky Way aside from the supermassive black hole lurking at the center of our galaxy.The newly identified black hole is located about 2,000 light-years from Earth - relatively close in cosmic terms - in the constellation Aquila, and has a companion star orbiting it, researchers said on Tuesday. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles.Black holes are extraordinarily dense objects with gravity so strong that not even light can escape, making it difficult to spot them. This one was identified through observations made in the European Space Agency's Gaia mission, which is creating a huge stellar census, because it caused a wobbling motion in its companion star. Data from the European Southern Observatory's Chile-based Very Large Telescope and other ground-based observatories were used to verify the black hole's mass. DISCOVER THE UNIVERSE'S OLDEST BLACK HOLE, DEFYING THE MYSTERIES OF SPACE "This black hole is not only very massive, it is also very peculiar in many aspects. It is really something we never expected to see," said Pasquale Panuzzo, a research engineer at the French research agency CNRS working at the Observatoire de Paris and lead author of the study published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.For instance, the black hole, called Gaia BH3, and its companion are traveling within the galaxy in the opposite direction of how stars typically orbit in the Milky Way.Gaia BH3 probably formed after the death of a star that was more than 40 as massive as the sun, the researchers said.Black holes that result from the collapse of a single star are called stellar black holes. Gaia BH3 is the largest-known stellar black hole, according to astronomer and study co-author Tsevi Mazeh of the Tel Aviv University in Israel. 'SMOKING GUN EVIDENCE': WHAT A 'MONSTER' BLACK HOLE WAS DISCOVERED DOING THAT CONCERNED SCIENTISTS Stellar black holes are dwarfed in size by the supermassive black holes inhabiting the center of most galaxies. One such black hole called Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A*, is located at the heart of the Milky Way. It possesses 4 million times the mass of our sun and is located about 26,000 light-years from Earth.Gaia BH3's progenitor star was composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium. Stars in the early universe had such a chemical composition, known as low metallicity. This star had formed relatively early in the universe's history - perhaps 2 billion years after the Big Bang event.When that star exploded at the end of its lifespan - called a supernova - it blasted some material into space while the remnant violently collapsed to form a black hole.The discovery of Gaia BH3, according to Panuzzo, supports stellar evolution models showing that massive stellar black holes can be produced only by a low metallicity star like this one's progenitor star.Gaia BH3's companion star, just as old as the other one was, is about 76% of the mass of the sun and a bit colder, but around 10 times more luminous. It orbits the black hole on an elliptical path at a distance varying between about 4.5 times the distance between Earth and the sun - a measure called an astronomical unit (AU) - and 29 AU. By way of comparison, Jupiter orbits around five AU from the sun and Neptune around 30 AU."The surprising result for me was the fact that the chemical composition of this companion star does not show anything special, so it was not affected by the supernova explosion of the black hole," Observatoire de Paris astronomer and study co-author Elisabetta Caffau said.Scientists are not sure just how big stellar black holes can be."The maximum mass for a stellar black hole is a matter of active scientific debate," Panuzzo said. NASA confirms object that struck Florida home came from pallet of batteries intended to burn up in atmosphere NASA confirmed on Monday that an object that crashed into a Naples, Florida, home last month was a piece of hardware from the International Space Station that was supposed to burn up on re-entry before reaching the surface of Earth.Alejandro Otero said a piece of equipment from the International Space Station hit his Naples home, posting photos of the object on X in response to an astronomer who was tracking where and when the equipment would enter the Earth's atmosphere.Otero told the astronomer it looked like one of the pieces had missed Fort Myers, and landed inside his home."Tore through the roof and went thru 2 floors," he posted on X, adding that it almost hit his son. FLORIDA MAN SAYS SPACE OBJECT CRASHED INTO HIS HOUSE. WHY NASA IS TAKING HIM SERIOUSLY Other posts by Otero included Nest security video footage of the mid-afternoon crash in addition to photos of the cylindrical object."It didn't look like anything I had ever seen before," Otero told Fox News. "It looked like it had been burned up and scraped, and it was a heavy piece for its size."was contacted about the object and launched an investigation into identifying it and determining the cause of the crash. HOW NASA JUST MADE HISTORY USING A CAT VIDEO The space agency previously noted that in March 2021, ground controllers used the International Space Station's robotic arm to release a cargo pallet that contained aging nickel hydride batteries from the space station after new lithium-ion batteries had been delivered and installed as part of power upgrades to the orbital outpost.NASA said the total mass of the released hardware was about 5,800 pounds, and it was expected to fully burn up as it entered Earth's atmosphere March 8.But the object Otero discovered in his home was part of the cargo and survived re-entry to Earth, NASA found. INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ASTRONAUTS REDEFINE 'THE RIGHT STUFF' FOR THE MODERN ERA said the investigation found the debris was a stanchion from the NASA flight support equipment used to mount batteries on the cargo pallet.The object, NASA added, is made of metal alloy Inconel, is about 4 inches long and 1.6 inches in diameter, and weighs 1.6 pounds.The space agency plans to conduct a further investigation into how the object survived re-entry. The study will include looking at engineering models to estimate how objects heat up and break apart on re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. NASA'S PLAN TO BRING MARS SAMPLES TO EARTH UNDERGOES REVISION DUE TO BUDGET CUTS did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital on the matter.Still, NASA turned to its website to release a statement on the investigation."NASA remains committed to responsibly operating in low Earth orbit, and mitigating as much risk as possible to protect people on Earth when space hardware must be released," the statement read. Megan Myers of Fox News Digital contributed to this report. NASA's plan to bring Mars samples to Earth undergoes revision due to budget cuts NASA's plan to bring samples from Mars back to Earth is on hold until there's a faster, cheaper way, space agency officials said Monday.Retrieving Mars soil and rocks has been on NASA's to-do list for decades, but the date kept moving forward, as costs ballooned. A recent independent review put the total cost at $8 billion to $11 billion, with an arrival date of 2040, about a decade later than advertised.NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said that's too much and too late. He's asking private industry and the space agency's centers to come up with other options to revamp the project. With NASA facing across-the-board budget cuts, he wants to avoid gutting other science projects to finance the Mars sample project . NASA FINDINGS FROM THE LAST YEAR INCLUDING EXTRAORDINARY ASTEROID SAMPLES, GALACTIC DISCOVERIES "We want to get every new and fresh idea that we can," he said at a news conference.NASA's rover Perseverance already has gathered 24 core samples in tubes since landing in 2021 at Mars' Jezero Crater, an ancient river delta. The goal is more than 30 samples to scour for possible signs of ancient Martian life.The space agency wants to get at least some of the collected samples to Earth sometime in the 2030s for no more than the $7 billion. That would require a spacecraft that goes to Mars to get the tubes and launches off the planet. Then it must rendezvous with yet another spacecraft that would bring the samples to Earth.NASA's science mission chief, Nicky Fox, refused to speculate at the news conference when the samples might arrive at Earth, given a new program and timeline, or even how many samples might be returned. That information will be included in any proposals, she said."We've never launched from another planet, and that's actually what makes Mars sample return such a challenging and interesting mission," Fox said.Scientists are eager to analyze pristine samples from Mars in their own labs, far superior to the kind of rudimentary testing done by spacecraft at the red planet. It will take such in-depth testing to confirm any evidence of microscopic life dating back billions of years when water flowed on the planet, according to NASA.The samples will help NASA decide where astronauts go on Mars in the 2040s, Nelson said.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California , had been in charge of the sample project. It was hit by hundreds of layoffs earlier this year due to all the budget cutbacks. Nelson is seeking ideas from across the space agency, with the revamped program more spread out.NASA hopes to receive any ideas by late fall. Coral reefs around the world are experiencing mass bleaching in warming oceans, scientists say Coral reefs around the world are experiencing global bleaching for the fourth time, top reef scientists declared Monday, a result of warming ocean waters amid human-caused climate change .Coral reef bleaching across at least 53 countries, territories or local economies has been confirmed from February 2023 to now, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and International Coral Reef Initiative said. It happens when stressed coral expel the algae that are their food source and give them their color. If the bleaching is severe and long-lasting, the coral can die.Coral reefs are important ecosystems that sustain underwater life, protect biodiversity and slow erosion. They also support local economies through tourism. LARGEST DEEP-SEA CORAL REEF MAPPED OFF EAST COAST: 'BREATHTAKING IN SCALE' Bleaching has been happening in various regions for some time. In the world's largest coral reef ecosystem, Australia's Great Barrier Reef, bleaching affected 90% of the coral assessed in 2022. The Florida Coral Reef, the third-largest, experienced significant bleaching last year.But in order for bleaching to be declared on a global scale, significant bleaching had to be documented within each of the major ocean basins , including the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.Monday's news marks the second worldwide bleaching event in the last 10 years. The last one ended in May 2017. Brought on by a powerful El Nino climate pattern that heated the world's oceans, it lasted three years and was determined to be worse than the prior two bleaching events in 2010 and 1998.This year's bleaching follows the declaration that 2023 was the hottest year on record."As the world's oceans continue to warm, coral bleaching is becoming more frequent and severe," Derek Manzello, NOAA Coral Reef Watch coordinator, said in a statement.Selina Stead, a marine biologist and chief executive of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, called climate change "the biggest threat to coral reefs worldwide." She said scientists are working to learn more about how coral responds to heat and to identify naturally heat-tolerant corals, but said it is "critical the world works to reduce carbon emissions."One reef that fared better than others last year was the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, which was afforded some protection by its location in deeper water in the Gulf of Mexico about 100 miles off the Texas coast . Sanctuary officials didn't immediately respond to messages Monday seeking the latest on the health of the sanctuary's corals. Your favorite coffee may be more than half a million years old That coffee you slurped this morning? It's 600,000 years old.Using genes from coffee plants around the world, researchers built a family tree for the world's most popular type of coffee, known to scientists as Coffea arabica and to coffee lovers simply as "arabica."The researchers, hoping to learn more about the plants to better protect them from pests and climate change, found that the species emerged around 600,000 years ago through natural crossbreeding of two other coffee species. SHOULD YOU DRINK COFFEE FIRST THING IN THE MORNING, OR WAIT A WHILE? EXPERTS REVEAL CAFFEINE GUIDANCE "In other words, prior to any intervention from man," said Victor Albert, a biologist at the University at Buffalo who co-led the study.These wild coffee plants originated in Ethiopia but are thought to have been first roasted and brewed primarily in Yemen starting in the 1400s. In the 1600s, Indian monk Baba Budan is fabled to have smuggled seven raw coffee beans back to his homeland from Yemen, laying the foundation for coffee's global takeover.Arabica coffee, prized for its smooth and relatively sweet flavor, now makes up 60% - 70% of the global coffee market and is brewed by brands such as Starbucks , Tim Horton's and Dunkin'. The rest is robusta, a stronger and more bitter coffee made from one of arabica's parents, Coffea canephora.To piece together arabica coffee's past, researchers studied genomes of C. canephora, another parent called Coffea eugenioides, and more than 30 different arabica plants, including a sample from the 1700s - courtesy of the Natural History Museum in London - that Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus used to name the plant.The study was published Monday in the journal Nature Genetics. Researchers from Nestlé, which owns several coffee brands, contributed to the study.The arabica plant's population fluctuated over thousands of years before humans began cultivating it, flourishing during warm, wet periods and suffering through dry ones. These lean times created so-called population bottlenecks, when only a small number of genetically similar plants survived.Today, that renders arabica coffee plants more vulnerable to diseases like coffee leaf rust, which cause billions of dollars in losses every year. The researchers explored the makeup of one arabica variety that is resistant to coffee leaf rust, highlighting sections of its genetic code that could help protect the plant.The study clarifies how arabica came to be and spotlights clues that could help safeguard the crop, said Fabian Echeverria, an adviser for the Center for Coffee Research and Education at Texas A&M University who was not involved with the research.Exploring arabica's past and present could yield insight into keeping coffee plants healthy - and coffee cups full - for future early mornings. Fitness drinks: Scientists weigh in on the benefits and potential risks of ingredients Functional beverages - or drinks promoted as offering mental or physical benefits beyond hydration - are growing in popularity around the world. Hundreds of companies have jumped into the market, hoping to get some buzz with trendy and sometimes unfamiliar ingredients.Here are some of the latest ones found in functional beverages and what scientists say about them.Adaptogens are plants and mushrooms that may help your body respond to stress, anxiety and fatigue or enhance feelings of well-being. KIDS WHO CONSUME ENERGY DRINKS ARE MORE PRONE TO MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS, STUDY FINDS Examples include American and Asian ginseng (an herb), ashwagandha (an evergreen shrub), eleuthero (a shrub), Rhodiola rosea (a flowering plant) and chaga (a mushroom).The Cleveland Clinic says adaptogens are known to trigger chemical reactions that can return the body to a more balanced state. Side effects from adaptogens are rare but depend on the plant. Studies show that adaptogens work best for a short duration (less than six months) because the body can build a resistance to them, making them ineffective over time.Also known as "smart drugs," nootropics are substances that can improve human thinking, learning and memory. Among the most common nootropics are caffeine, L-theanine (an amino acid found in tea), creatine (an amino acid naturally found in meat and fish), Bacopa monnieri (an herb), Gingko biloba (a tree) and lion's mane (a mushroom). Some adaptogens may also have nootropic properties, like ashwagandha.In a study last year in the journal Plants, researchers said that most plant-based nootropics are not immediately effective after a single dose and must be taken for an extended period before any measurable improvement occurs. One problem in research on these natural substances has been standardizing the form they are taken in and the dosage, the study said. Side effects are rare and usually mild, but users should consider their overall health and whether nootropics could affect any other medications before ingesting them.Probiotics are foods or supplements that contain live microorganisms intended to maintain or improve the "good" bacteria in a person's gut or other parts of the body. They are naturally found in fermented foods like yogurt, kefir, cottage cheese, kombucha and sauerkraut. Prebiotics are food for the bacteria and other organisms that live in the gut. Prebiotics can be found in whole grains, bananas, greens, onions, garlic, soybeans and artichokes.The Cleveland Clinic says probiotics, in theory, work alongside the beneficial microbes in the human body to fight off harmful bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites. Researchers know that unhealthy microbiomes can contribute to chronic diseases like irritable bowel syndrome. They may also influence mood, pain tolerance and fatigue. The Cleveland Clinic and the Mayo Clinic say there is a lot of active research into the microbiome and the impact of probiotics and prebiotics, but not enough evidence to draw solid conclusions about their effectiveness. Side effects are rare except for people with weak immune systems, whose bodies might not be able to fight off a probiotic that inadvertently contains harmful microbes.CBD, or cannabidiol, is an active ingredient in cannabis. While it is one of hundreds of components in marijuana, CBD doesn't cause a high by itself. CBD has been used to treat epilepsy and may also help alleviate anxiety, insomnia, chronic pain and addiction. Side effects could include nausea, fatigue and irritability.In an article published in April, Harvard Medical School said CBD appears to be a helpful, relatively non-toxic option for managing anxiety and other issues. But it said more research is needed to pinpoint effective doses. African weather system generating rumors of UFOs and 80-foot waves, blamed on software 'error' Alien and conspiracy theorists showed up in full force last week after a weather modeling software "error" showed an anomaly the size of Texas moving up the African coastline while generating waves bigger than 80 feet high.Ventusky is an application that presents weather and meteorological data to allow people to monitor developments anywhere in the world.According to the company's website, the app is available to anyone in the world and has the ability to illustrate movement of particles to show wind data, and more.Last week, the application showed a cluster of waves reaching over 80 feet in height and spanning a distance wider than the state of Texas, moving up from Antarctica and toward the coast of Africa for about 24 hours before disappearing. RUSSIAN UFO ENGAGEMENTS, SECRET 'TIC TAC' REPORT AND 3 KEY FIGURES SLIP UNDER RADAR AT CONGRESSIONAL HEARING Video of the weather pattern got the rumor mill going, with people claiming it was anything from a massive underwater sea creature to a spaceship under the sea. X user @528vibes posted the video which garnered over 748,000 views, saying, "An anomaly moving underwater - the size of Texas."With a length of about 801 miles and a width of 773 miles from its widest two points, Texas, according to WorldAtlas.com, has an area of about 268,600 square miles. PENTAGON UFO REPORT FINDS NO ALIEN EVIDENCE: 'IF US WON'T FESS UP, OTHER NATIONS WILL,' EXPERT WARNS The video was also shared on YouTube by MrMBB333."As bizarre as some of the footage you are about to see in this video is, it's all real," he posted. "These are real-life encounters of 'something' the viewer saw, recorded and was unable to identify."By Sunday afternoon, the video had been seen 80,000 times, with followers debating what the massive black spot on the map was."Everyone knows Godzilla comes from the sea," one user wrote.Another said, "Ok, who released the Kraken?" 'UFO REVOLUTION' DOCUSERIES SHOWS UAP FLYING OVER MILITARY BASE, 'BLOWS UP DECADES OF CONSPIRACIES': EXPERT Other followers said the mysterious matter could be H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu, or even linked the blob to a giant sea creature awoken by April 8th's solar eclipse.But others suggested there may have been some sort of glitch with the software, as the mass on the map moved over a major shipping channel and there were no reports of large waves in the area by the seafarers.Ventusky saw the buzz the map created and quickly addressed the situation, debunking the conspiracy floating in the ether."Despite numerous reports of UFOs or Atlanteans launching from the ocean, yesterday's image of giant waves near Africa was due to a model error," the company wrote. "Fortunately, our provider, the German Meteorological Institute @DWD_Presse, has already resolved it, and the forecast is fine."The company added that the model takes in copious amounts of data from ships and buoys throughout the ocean, and problems can occur with such large databases.Still, it could take time to find out what caused the error last week, the company wrote.But despite the company's attempts to defuse the situation, sleuths continued, forcing Ventusky to try to prove their point once more."A significant number of people still do not believe that the giant waves off Africa were just an error and prefer UFO theories," Ventusky wrote. "What can we do as a visualization platform? Add more sources! Therefore, we are incorporating another wave model from respected source, Météo-France."Ventusky CEO and founder David Prantl did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital on the matter. Fireball lights up New Jersey sky days after eclipse and earthquake A bright fireball was seen dropping from the night sky over New Jersey early Wednesday, capping an eventful week of natural phenomena in the area following Monday's solar eclipse and last week's earthquake. The fireball, which many say was a meteor or a falling star, was captured on video lighting up the dark sky in several New Jersey towns. The American Meteor Society, which allows contributors to report "fireballs" reported dozens of sightings at around 3:45 a.m. with sightings being logged across the Garden State as well as in parts of some parts of Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania. MYSTERIOUS FIREBALLS SEEN STREAKING ACROSS CALIFORNIA SKY Doorbell camera video captured by Michelle Griffith, a resident of Millville, New Jersey, shows the moment the flash of light illuminates the sky, reports Fox 5 . The fireball is only in shot for a few seconds and expands as it falls before disappearing. Several reports stated witnesses seeing a "bright green flashing ball" falling from the sky. Another New Jersey resident in Wall Township, posted her security footage to a local Facebook page showing the bright falling light at the same time.One commenter in the group was convinced the fireball was a meteorite."Meteorite. Due to the elevated iron magnesium and nickel content in them, they tend to burn green when burning in the atmosphere," the woman wrote."Beautiful!" wrote another. "I've seen one or two of these over the years. Great catch!" EYE INJURIES AFTER SOLAR ECLIPSE SURGE FOLLOWING PHENOMENON The sightings come about a week before the Lyrids Meteor Shower is set to begin.The Lyrids meteor shower, which peaks in late April, is one of the oldest known meteor showers and has been observed for 2,700 years, according to NASA. It occurs when particles of dust are shed by the long-period Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher.Wednesday's sightings followed Monday's solar eclipse which had more than 90% coverage in parts of the state.Last Friday, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck near Lebanon , New Jersey, about 45 miles west of New York City and 50 miles north of Philadelphia, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Meanwhile, last week  in California, skygazers were left stunned when they witnessed a series of bright fiery lights streaking across the clear night sky.A U.S. Space Command spokesperson later told Fox News Digital that the fiery shower was from the Chinese Shenzhou 15 Orbital Module rocket that was scheduled to re-enter the earth's atmosphere near Los Angeles. Florida scientists save baby coral from predators using boba straws South Florida researchers trying to prevent predatory fish from devouring laboratory-grown coral are grasping at biodegradable straws in an effort to restore what some call the rainforest of the sea.Scientists around the world have been working for years to address the decline of coral reef populations . Just last summer, reef rescue groups in South Florida and the Florida Keys were trying to save coral from rising ocean temperatures. Besides working to keep existing coral alive, researchers have also been growing new coral in labs and then placing them in the ocean.But protecting the underwater ecosystem that maintains upwards of 25% of all marine species is not easy. Even more challenging is making sure that coral grown in a laboratory and placed into the ocean doesn't become expensive fish food. LARGEST DEEP-SEA CORAL REEF MAPPED OFF EAST COAST: 'BREATHTAKING IN SCALE' Marine researcher Kyle Pisano said one problem is that predators like parrot fish attempt to bite and destroy the newly transplanted coral in areas like South Florida, leaving them with less than a 40% survival rate. With projects calling for thousands of coral to be planted over the next year and tens of thousands of coral to be planted over the next decade, the losses add up when coral pieces can cost more than $100 each.Pisano and his partner, Kirk Dotson, have developed the Coral Fort, claiming the small biodegradable cage that's made in part with drinking straws boosts the survival rate of transplanted coral to over 90%."Parrot fish on the reef really, really enjoy biting a newly transplanted coral," Pisano said. "They treat it kind of like popcorn."Fortunately the fish eventually lose interest in the coral as it matures, but scientists need to protect the coral in the meantime. Stainless steel and PVC pipe barriers have been set up around transplanted coral in the past, but those barriers needed to be cleaned of algae growth and eventually removed.Pisano had the idea of creating a protective barrier that would eventually dissolve, eliminating the need to maintain or remove it. He began conducting offshore experiments with biodegradable coral cages as part of a master's degree program at Nova Southeastern University. He used a substance called polyhydroxyalkanoate, a biopolymer derived from the fermentation of canola oil. PHA biodegrades in ocean, leaving only water and carbon dioxide. His findings were published last year.The coral cage consists of a limestone disc surrounded by eight vertical phade brand drinking straws, made by Atlanta-based WinCup Inc. The device doesn't have a top, Pisano said, because the juvenile coral needs sunlight and the parrot fish don't generally want to position themselves facing downward to eat.Dotson, a retired aerospace engineer, met Pisano through his professor at Nova Southeastern, and the two formed Reef Fortify Inc. to further develop and market the patent-pending Coral Fort. The first batch of cages were priced at $12 each, but Pisano and Dotson believe that could change as production scales up.Early prototypes of the cage made from phade's standard drinking straws were able to protect the coral for about two months before dissolving in the ocean, but that wasn't quite long enough to outlast the interest of parrot fish. When Pisano and Dotson reached out to phade for help, the company assured them that it could make virtually any custom shape from its biodegradable PHA material."But it's turning out that the boba straws, straight out of the box, work just fine," Dotson said.Boba straws are wider and thicker than normal drinking straws. They're used for a tea-based drink that includes tapioca balls at the bottom of the cup. For Pisano and Dotson, that extra thickness means the straws last just long enough to protect the growing coral before harmlessly disappearing.Reef Fortify is hoping to work with reef restoration projects all over the world. The Coral Forts already already being used by researchers at Nova Southeastern and the University of Miami, as well as Hawaii's Division of Aquatic Resources.Rich Karp, a coral researcher at the University of Miami, said they've been using the Coral Forts for about a month. He pointed out that doing any work underwater takes a great deal of time and effort, so having a protective cage that dissolves when it's no longer needed basically cuts their work in half."Simply caging corals and then removing the cages later, that's two times the amount of work, two times the amount of bottom time," Karp said. "And it's not really scalable."Experts say coral reefs are a significant part of the oceanic ecosystem. They occupy less than 1% of the ocean worldwide but provide food and shelter to nearly 25 percent of sea life. Coral reefs also help to protect humans and their homes along the coastline from storm surges during hurricanes. NASA findings from the last year including extraordinary asteroid samples, galactic discoveries NASA is regularly announcing new discoveries and findings. Its research is consistent, and is conducted in space aboard the International Space Station and right here on Earth.Some of NASA's biggest achievements to date include the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope that has made more than a million observations; the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers on Mars; and the Apollo missions that sent the first astronauts to the moon.The findings of NASA are abundant. Here are just a few of NASA's big discoveries from the past year. 2023 SPACE STORIES: A REVIEW OF THE GIANT LEAPS MANKIND MADE IN THE PAST YEAR One of NASA's recent findings was the Bennu asteroid sample . The sample was the result of a seven-year mission and was delivered to Earth via the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on Sept. 24, 2023, in the Utah desert. This sample is part of a 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid, according to NASA."The OSIRIS-REx sample is the biggest carbon-rich asteroid sample ever delivered to Earth and will help scientists investigate the origins of life on our own planet for generations to come," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, per the organization's website. "Almost everything we do at NASA seeks to answer questions about who we are and where we come from. NASA missions like OSIRIS-REx will improve our understanding of asteroids that could threaten Earth while giving us a glimpse into what lies beyond. The sample has made it back to Earth, but there is still so much science to come - science like we've never seen before."This sample is still being studied by scientists today. HEADQUARTERS RELEASES ITS BEST PHOTOS FROM 2023: SEE THE STUNNING PICTURES In August 2023, there was a dust devil captured by the Perseverance rover on Mars.The dust devil was located moving across the western rim of Mars' Jezero Crater, according to Space.com."We don't see the top of the dust devil, but the shadow it throws gives us a good indication of its height," said Mark Lemmon, a planetary scientist at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and a member of the Perseverance science team, per NASA. "Most are vertical columns. If this dust devil were configured that way, its shadow would indicate it is about 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) in height."Why are discoveries like these important? Scientists study them to gain a better understanding of the Martian atmosphere and to improve their weather models, according to NASA.On Jan. 31, 2024, it was announced that a potentially habitable "super Earth" was located 137 light-years away.The planet, named TOI-715b, is fairly close to us in an astronomical sense. It is slightly larger than Earth, measuring about 1 ½ times as wide.The planet orbits a small, reddish star within the "conservative habitable zone," the distance from the star that would provide the planet with a suitable temperature for the formation of liquid water on its surface, according to NASA. Cicada invasion: An 'amazing' American phenomenon and bonanza for anglers Billions of cicadas are expected to start swarming in more than a dozen states in the coming weeks, and while the strange occurrence may be a nuisance for many, scientists say the activities of the noisy flying insects are a natural marvel beholden to northern America - and anglers say the bugs create ideal fishing conditions to net some hefty catches.    After years of living underground as nymphs feeding off the sap of tree roots, the 1- to 2-inch-long bugs will soon emerge from the soil, grow wings and start a frantic mating frenzy lasting several weeks before they will all eventually die near trees. While cicadas are not harmful to humans, they can damage young trees and their dead bodies can pile up and smell.There are around 190 species of cicadas all over the world, but only in the eastern United States can you find the periodical cicadas, which emerge every 13 or 17 years. This year will be the first time in 221 years that two types of cicadas -- brood XIX and XIII -- have risen from the ground at the same time, back when Thomas Jefferson was president , and it is not expected to happen again until 2244.  RARE BROODS OF CICADAS TO ARRIVE SOON: WHEN TO EXPECT THEM AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU The two broods together span parts of 17 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin, according to the United States Forest Service."It is a pretty amazing phenomenon, I mean, it's unique," Eric Benson, a professor emeritus and extension entomologist at Clemson University in South Carolina, told Fox News Digital."They're one of the longest-lived insects that we know and the fact that a bug can be underground for 13 years or 17 years, and then almost at the exact same time, they all come out of the ground synchronized," Benson said. "It's amazing to me. It's one of nature's cooler phenomena in the world."The cicadas that have been under the ground for either 13 or 17 years will emerge out of the ground in their final immature state, Benson added."They'll crawl up on a surface, usually the trunk of a tree, or it could be on the side of your house, a car, a fence or whatever. They're insects, so they have to shed their skin to get to the next stage, and they will go through their final molt where they pull out of their immature skin, and they will be in their adult skin, which will have wings," Benson explained. "And it takes them like a day or so to do that, it's not instantaneous. So they'll molt, expand their wings, harden up and when they're ready they'll fly up into the trees."Within a day or two, things will get interesting. "The males will sing and make noise" at that point, Benson said - a behavior called "coursing." "They get together in large numbers because it's more attractive to the females, they sing in the trees and then the females come over, and it's a giant orgy, a giant mating party," he explained. The cicadas mate and then when the female has fertilized her eggs, she takes what is called an "ovipositor," which looks like a syringe, and she will stick that into the tips of tree branches to deposit her eggs, Benson continued. Female cicadas make slits in small tree branches and usually lay 20 to 30 eggs in each slit. A female can lay 400 to 600 eggs in a lifetime. CICADA INVASION 2024: ARE THESE INSECTS COMING FOR YOUR PLANTS THIS SPRING? The mating males and females will eventually die after mating and fall to the ground - causing a nuisance for some and food for others. However, the fascinating process does not end there. A few weeks after the eggs are deposited, they will then hatch. "And all these tiny baby cicadas that are so small people rarely see them, will either crawl down or fall down to the ground," Benson said. "They'll burrow into the ground, latch onto a tree root very close to where their parents had been and then for this, for the next 13 years or 17 years, they'll feed on the fluids of that tree until everything repeats."Homeowners, however, will be left hoping that the dead carcasses do not land in their gardens as they can smell badly if they die in large numbers together. Their loud sounds while mating can also be disturbing. Similarly, young trees may feel the pinch - females lay their eggs in small tree branches which can harm young trees, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says. The agency advises covering maturing saplings in mesh or netting to keep the insects out. For those who see cicadas as an inconvenience, there are ways to protect trees and shrubs. Kevin Hathorne, the technical director of Terminix Service, a pest control company in South Carolina, advises people to put tight netting over small valuable trees or shrubs when the female cicadas are laying their eggs, so they cannot crawl through.He says homeowners should cover pools, patio furniture or similar items from cicada or their droppings when they are active. Hathorne adds there is no solid research showing that repellents would be effective in keeping the cicadas away.Cicadas, however, can also help to aerate lawns and improve water filtration into the ground while they add nutrients to the soil as they decompose."A savvy gardener will shovel them up and bury them in the ground and use them as fertilizer for their garden," Benson said, noting other benefits such as being food for fish and mammals. "The fly fishermen are very excited because there'll be so many cicadas in the natural areas of the mountains and around rivers and lakes that the fish will go crazy," Benson explained. "So anything that eats a bug, a fish, a lizard, a bird, a skunk, a possum will eat cicadas."Cicadas are not harmful to humans, pets, household gardens or crops, the EPA says. They are also a  valuable food source for birds and mammals . "Even back in history, Native Americans ate cicadas because all of a sudden you're provided with all this amazing protein falling in your lap," he added. The busiest period of activity for cicadas is from the middle of April through early June, Benson explained, and they usually appear after a nice soaking of rain when the temperature of the ground hits 64 degrees. Keep an eye out for these rare broods! Peter Higgs, physicist behind groundbreaking Higgs boson particle prediction, dead at 94 Nobel prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs, who proposed the existence of the Higgs boson particle, has died at age 94 , the University of Edinburgh said Tuesday.The university, where Higgs was emeritus professor, said he died Monday "peacefully at home following a short illness." R&B ICON CLARENCE 'FROGMAN' HENRY DEAD AT 87 Higgs predicted the existence of a new particle - the so-called Higgs boson - in 1964. But it would be almost 50 years before the particle's existence could be confirmed at the Large Hadron Collider.Higgs' theory related to how subatomic particles that are the building blocks of matter get their mass. This theoretical understanding is a central part of the so-called Standard Model, which describes the physics of how the world is constructed.Higgs won the 2013 Prize in Physics for his work, alongside Francois Englert of Belgium.Edinburgh University Vice Chancellor Peter Mathieson said Higgs, who was born in the Scottish capital , was "a remarkable individual - a truly gifted scientist whose vision and imagination have enriched our knowledge of the world that surrounds us.""His pioneering work has motivated thousands of scientists, and his legacy will continue to inspire many more for generations to come." If you missed the fun, look out for these upcoming total solar eclipses Whether you saw the moon completely block the sun, were foiled by cloudy weather or weren't along the path of Monday's total solar eclipse , there are still more chances to catch a glimpse.Here's what to know about upcoming solar spectacles:Total solar eclipses happen about every year or two or three, due to a precise alignment of the sun, moon and Earth. They can occur anywhere across the globe, usually in remote areas like the South Pacific. SOLAR ECLIPSE 2024: PHOTOS OF GOOD BOYS AND GIRLS IN THEIR PROTECTIVE EYEWEAR Save the date: The next full solar eclipse , in 2026, will pass over the northern fringes of Greenland, Iceland and Spain.The next U.S. taste of totality comes in 2033 when an eclipse brushes Alaska and Russia. And in 2044, one will cross Greenland and western Canada, touching swaths of North Dakota and Montana.An eclipse on the scale of Monday's event won't happen again until Aug. 12, 2045."But it will be pretty spectacular," said Mary Urquhart, a planetary scientist at the University of Texas at Dallas. "It's going to go coast to coast."That eclipse will first greet viewers in Northern California, slicing through Utah, Colorado and Mississippi on its way to Cape Canaveral, Florida.You can reuse eclipse glasses to look for sunspots - dark, planet-sized spots that appear on the sun due to tangled magnetic fields.A partial lunar eclipse in September will be visible over Europe and much of Asia, Africa, North America and South America.Several meteor showers and supermoons will also grace the skies through 2024, as they do every year.Space enthusiasts can also visit a local planetarium or science center. The planetarium at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, will stay open the weekend after the eclipse to offer themed shows and a guided sunset meditation."People will want to come back, and want to learn more," said director Dayna Thompson. Solar eclipse quiz: Test how much you know about the 2024 spectacle On Monday, millions of people around the U.S. will be able to see the moment that the moon passes between the sun and the Earth.This celestial phenomenon is referred to as a solar eclipse - and another total solar eclipse isn't expected for another 20 years.Because of this, Americans everywhere are gathering together to view the moon's shadow being cast onto the Earth.Take this solar eclipse quiz and see how much you know about the upcoming event. App users: Click here to get the quiz! To try your hand at more quizzes from Fox News Digital, click here. Also, to take our latest News Quiz - published every Friday - click here.   For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle. Tropical forest loss decreased in 2023 but global threats remain, data shows Tropical forest loss declined last year, but other indicators show that the world's woodlands remain under tremendous pressure, according to an analysis released on Thursday by the Global Forest Watch monitoring project.Destruction of forests helps drive global climate change . Because trees absorb climate-warming carbon dioxide and store it as carbon in their wood, that greenhouse gas is released when the wood rots or burns.This destruction also imperils biodiversity because of how many plant and animal species call forests home. BRAZIL'S AMAZON RAINFOREST FACES SEVERE DROUGHT, AFFECTING FOOD AND WATER SUPPLIES FOR THOUSANDS Here are key takeaways from Global Forest Watch's annual forest loss data.The loss of primary forests - those untouched by people and sometimes known as old-growth forests - in the tropics declined 9% last year compared to 2022.But Global Forest Watch researchers said the destruction remains stubbornly high. The world last year lost about 37,000 square kilometers (14,000 square miles) of tropical primary forest, an area nearly as big as Switzerland and larger than the U.S. state of Maryland.Global Forest Watch is a project of the Washington-based nonprofit research organization World Resources Institute, using satellite imagery. Most of the data is compiled by University of Maryland researchers.Declining forest loss in Brazil and Colombia was largely offset by greater losses elsewhere, Global Forest Watch director Mikaela Weisse told a press briefing."The world took two steps forward, two steps back," Weisse said.Scientists consider tropical primary forests to be among the most precious as their lush vegetation is the most densely packed with carbon. These forests also are treasure troves of biodiversity. The Amazon rainforest, for instance, is home to at least 10% of Earth's known species.Last year's tropical primary forest loss caused greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to half of U.S. emissions caused by the burning fossil of fuels annually, Weisse said.Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Bolivia topped the ranking of tropical countries with the most primary forest loss. That is in spite of destruction in Brazil falling 36%, as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pursued aggressive conservation policies, particularly regarding the Amazon, Weisse said.Neighboring Colombia experienced a 49% drop in forest loss. President Gustavo Petro made environmental preservation a key part of the peace process with armed groups that dominate jungle areas, Weisse noted.Forest destruction in the Democratic Republic of Congo remained relatively stable but high at around 1,930 square miles.In third place, Bolivia experienced record-high primary forest loss for the third year in a row, with destruction surging 27%. Agricultural production and fires drove most of the loss.Deforestation globally rose 3.2% in 2023, according to the report.Forest loss includes natural destruction such as wildfires, pests and windstorms of woodlands that may grow back. Deforestation refers to people permanently converting woodlands to other uses such as agriculture and is harder to measure.More than 140 countries in 2021 committed to end deforestation by the end of the decade, a goal that requires huge declines in destruction each year, World Resources Institute forests director Rod Taylor said."We are far off track and trending in the wrong direction when it comes to reducing global deforestation," Taylor said.Brazil, Indonesia and Bolivia led in deforestation, followed closely by the Democratic Republic of Congo.Tree cover loss increased 24% in all forests globally in 2022, mostly because of enormous wildfires in Canada .Canada's forest loss of more than 80,000 square km (30,900 square miles) was three times higher than any year on record, offsetting a decline in forest loss in the rest of the world."That is one of the biggest anomalies on record," University of Maryland researcher Matt Hansen said.While deforestation in the tropics is a human-caused driver of climate change, the fires in Canada are more of a symptom of global warming, which leads to the hotter, drier conditions that fuel bigger blazes."It's a big deal, and it's a cautionary tale for climate impacts to fire," Hansen said. Florida man says space object crashed into his house. Why NASA is taking him seriously NASA is investigating an object that a Florida resident says came from space and plummeted into his home last month.Alejandro Otero said a piece of equipment from the International Space Station hit his Naples home and posted photos on X in response to an astronomer who was tracking where and when the equipment entered Earth's atmosphere. Otero was on vacation but said the object caused significant damage and nearly stuck his son, local outlet WINK News first reported."My son was home when the piece tore through the roof with a loud crash that could be heard on our security cameras as well," Otero told Fox News. "We cut our trip short to make it back home as quickly as possible, because we really didn't know what happened at the time and it was quite a shock!""It was quite traumatic and there was quite a lot of damage to the house of course," he added. HOW NASA JUST MADE HISTORY USING A CAT VIDEO Otero's social media posts included Nest security video footage of the mid-afternoon crash in addition to photos of the cylindrical object. "It didn't look like anything I had ever seen before," Otero told Fox News. "It looked like it had been burned up and scraped, and it was a heavy piece for its size."The astronomer, Jonathan McDowell, replied to Otero's post saying the time and location were consistent with predictions on where and when the equipment would enter the atmosphere. He also agreed that it appeared to be part of the EP-9 battery pallet."I thought it could have come from space, and sure enough, the research lined up to the batteries that were discharged from the ISS two years earlier," Otero said. In March 2021, announced that an external pallet of batteries had been released from the International Space Station 260 miles above Earth. NASA said the pallet would orbit Earth for around two to four years before burning up in the atmosphere without causing harm.  INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ASTRONAUTS REDEFINE 'THE RIGHT STUFF' FOR THE MODERN ERA A NASA spokesperson told Fox News on Wednesday that the space agency was investigating the object and the causes of the crash."NASA collected an item in cooperation with the homeowner on March 28, and will analyze the object at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida as soon as possible to determine its origin," NASA Deputy News Chief Jennifer Dooren said in a statement. "More information will be available once the analysis is complete."Otero previously pleaded on X last month for NASA's help and for any responsible agencies to cover the damage caused, but told Fox News his insurance is covering the repairs. The Florida resident said the experience terrified his family, but was thankful there weren't any serious injuries. "This is just such an astonishing event that makes us all stop and think about the future," Otero told Fox News. "We have good starting point for a discussion on how to do space in a responsible way, because this near-miss incident is a warning signal to the space community." Colorado man's 50-year snowfall tracking in Rockies garners praise from scientists Four miles from the nearest plowed road high in Colorado's Rocky Mountains , a 73-year-old man with a billowing gray beard and two replaced hips trudged through his front yard to measure fresh snow that fell during one mid-March day.Billy Barr first began recording snow and weather data more than 50 years ago as a freshly minted Rutgers University environmental science graduate in Gothic, Colorado, near part of the Colorado River's headwaters.Bored and looking to keep busy, he had rigged rudimentary equipment and each day had jotted the inches of fresh snow, just as he had logged gas station brands as a child on family road trips. CLIMATE CHANGE THREATENS RIVER BASINS WORLDWIDE AS SNOWPACK DECLINES, STUDY FINDS Unpaid but driven by compulsive curiosity and a preference for spending more than half the year on skis rather than on foot, Barr stayed here and kept measuring snowfall day after day, winter after winter.His faithful measurements revealed something he never expected long ago: snow is arriving later and disappearing earlier as the world warms. That's a concerning sign for millions of people in the drought-stricken Southwest who rely on mountain snowpack to slowly melt throughout spring and summer to provide a steady stream of water for cities, agriculture and ecosystems."Snow is a physical form of a water reservoir, and if there's not enough of it, it's gone," Barr said.So-called "citizen scientists" have long played roles in making observations about plants and counting wildlife to help researchers better understand the environment. THE BEST SNOW-FILLED DESTINATIONS TO VISIT ACROSS THE GLOBE FOR WINTER ENTHUSIASTS Barr is modest about his own contributions, although the once-handwritten snow data published on his website has informed numerous scientific papers and helped calibrate aerial snow sensing tools. And with each passing year, his data continues to grow."Anybody could do it," said the self-deprecating bachelor with a softened Jersey accent. "Being socially inept made me so I could do it for 50 years, but anyone can sit there and watch something like that."Two winters ago, Barr's legs started buckling with frustrating frequency as he'd ski mellow loops through spruce trees looking for animal tracks - another data point he collects. He feared it might be his last year in Gothic, a former mining town turned into a research facility owned by the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, where he worked full time for decades and is now a part-time accountant."I was running out of time to live here," he said. "That's why I went through the hip replacements to prolong it."Two hip replacement surgeries provided an extended lease on high altitude living. Barr cross-country skied more this past December than he did the entire previous winter."Unless something else goes wrong, which it will, but unless it's severe, I think I can last out here a while longer," he said.A lot could go wrong. As Barr sat on a bench beside at the research lab on an unseasonably warm March day, a heavy slab of snow slid off the roof and launched the bench forward, nearly causing him to fall.Not all risks are avoidable, but some are. If the ski track is too icy, he'll walk parallel in untracked snow to get better footing. He grows produce in a greenhouse attached to his home, and most of his non-perishable goods - stocked the previous autumn - are organic. He wears a mask when he's around others indoors."I can't get a respiratory disease at this altitude," he said.For Barr, longevity means more time for the quiet mountain lifestyle he enjoys from his rustic two-room house heated by passive solar and a wood stove. He uses a composting toilet and relies on solar panels to heat water, do laundry and enable his nightly movie viewing.When he eventually retires from the mountains, Barr hopes to continue most of his long-running weather collection remotely.He has been testing remote tools for five years, trying to calibrate them to his dated but reliable techniques. He figures it will take a few more years of testing before he'll trust the new tools and, even then, fears equipment failure.For now, he measures snow in his tried and true way:Around 4 p.m., he hikes uphill from his home to a flat, square board painted white, and sticks a metal ruler into accumulated snow to measure its depth. Next he pushes a clear canister upside down into the snow, uses a sheet of metal to scrape off the rest of the snow, then slides the sheet under the canister to help flip it over. He weighs the snow, subtracting the canister's weight, which lets him calculate the water content.So far, manual measuring remains the best method, scientists say. Automated snow measurements introduce a degree of uncertainty such as how wind spreads snow unevenly across the landscape, explained Ben Pritchett, senior forecaster at the Colorado Avalanche Information Center."Nothing replaces observing snow in person to understand how it's changing," Pritchett said.But Barr's data collection has always been unpaid volunteer work - and that complicates any succession plan when he eventually leaves his home in Gothic."If environmental science were funded like the way we fund cancer research or other efforts, we would absolutely continue that research and data collection," said Ian Billick, executive director for the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. "It would be super valuable."The lab has winter caretakers who could ski the half mile to Barr's home to manually measure new snow at the same site with his same method, but someone would still need to foot the bill for their time.Barr is well aware that his humble weather station is just a snapshot of the Colorado River basin, and that satellites, lasers and computer models can now calculate how much snow falls basin-wide and predict resulting runoff. Yet local scientists say some of those models wouldn't be as precise without his work.Ian Breckheimer, an ecologist with the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, measures snow from space using satellites. Given the distance, Breckheimer needed on-the-ground data to calibrate his model."Billy's data provides that ground truth," Breckheimer said. "We know that his data is right. So that means that we can compare all the things that we think we can see to the things that we know are right."Between measuring the snow and noting animal sightings, Barr created a body of work that no one asked him to assemble and that hasn't brought him a dime.Although it's helped inspire scientists who work with the nearby mountainside lab, Barr said he started measuring snowfall out of a simple desire to relate to the world around him. He felt out of place in the city and choked by social expectations."I didn't fit into anything and it doesn't make me a miscreant," he said. "You have to look for what will work for you. And sometimes that means trying different things and going different places."Just as he engineered a lifestyle that bucks societal norms, Barr hopes the high-tech water forecasting tools scientists have today will lead to unconventional solutions for rationing the dwindling resource."It could lead to things like, well, we really can't have green lawns in the middle of Arizona anymore, because that's not a good use of the limited water resource," Barr said. "And water is more precious than gold." Mysterious fireballs seen streaking across California sky Skygazers in California were left stunned early Tuesday when they witnessed a series of bright fiery lights streaking across the clear night sky.Video shows the mysterious golden objects shooting across the sky in a straight line at around 1:30 a.m. in Moreno Valley, which is about 70 miles east of Los Angeles ."What the hell!," one puzzled onlooker in the video can be heard saying."Oh it's a meteor shower, yeah, look at that s---, what the hell." SPACEX LAUNCHES MASSIVE SUPER HEAVY-STARSHIP ROCKET INTO SPACE IN MOST SUCCESSFUL TEST YET Many people on social media suspected it was debris from the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch the previous evening from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, which carried 22 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit.Others opined it may be from the Chinese Shenzhou 15 Orbital Module rocket that was predicted to re-enter near Los Angeles at 1:45 a.m. local time. FOUR NEW ASTRONAUTS VISIT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION WHERE THEY WILL STAY FOR 6 MONTHS At the end of the 45-second clip, the fiery shower appears to dissipate and die off.Fox News Digital reached out to Space X and NASA for comment but did not receive a response prior to publication.The FAA says it had no reports of unusual aircraft activity in that area. Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist and satellite tracker, told Space.com he believes the debris was from the Chinese orbital module that launched three astronauts to the nation's Tiangong space station in November 2022. It is not designed to come back to Earth safely at the end of its mission with astronauts re-entering via the Shenzhou reentry module.The space website discounted the theory of the fireballs coming from the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch, noting that its hardware lands safely after launch and is reused, although the rocket's upper stage is disposable. NASA ordered by White House to establish new clock system for the moon NASA wants to come up with an out-of-this-world way to keep track of time, putting the moon on its own souped-up clock.It's not quite a time zone like those on Earth, but an entire frame of time reference for the moon. Because there's less gravity on the moon, time there moves a tad quicker - 58.7 microseconds every day - compared to Earth. So the White House Tuesday instructed NASA and other U.S agencies to work with international agencies to come up with a new moon-centric time reference system."An atomic clock on the moon will tick at a different rate than a clock on Earth," said Kevin Coggins, NASA's top communications and navigation official. "It makes sense that when you go to another body, like the moon or Mars that each one gets its own heartbeat." EARTH'S CHANGING SPIN MAY CAUSE TIMEKEEPERS TO SUBTRACT A SECOND FROM WORLD CLOCKS So everything on the moon will operate on the speeded-up moon time, Coggins said.The last time NASA sent astronauts to the moon they wore watches, but timing wasn't as precise and critical as it now with GPS, satellites and intricate computer and communications systems, he said. Those microseconds matter when high tech systems interact, he said.Last year, the European Space Agency said Earth needs to come up with a unified time for the moon , where a day lasts 29.5 Earth days.The International Space Station, being in low Earth orbit, will continue to use coordinated universal time or UTC. But just where the new space time kicks in is something that NASA has to figure out. Even Earth's time speeds up and slows down, requiring leap seconds.Unlike on Earth, the moon will not have daylight saving time, Coggins said.The White House wants NASA to come up with a preliminary idea by the end of the year and have a final plan by the end of 2026.NASA is aiming to send astronauts around the moon in September 2025 and land people there a year later. Rare gene variant believed to play a role in understanding why people are left-hand dominant What do Lady Gaga, Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Paul McCartney and Justin Bieber have in common with Ronald Reagan, Jimi Hendrix, Judy Garland, Fidel Castro and David Bowie? They are all left-handed, a trait shared by roughly 10% of people.But why are some people left-handed while most are righties? That is an area of active research , and a new study sheds light on a genetic component of left-handedness in some people. Researchers identified rare variants of a gene involved in controlling the shape of cells and found them to be 2.7 times more common in left-handed people.While these genetic variants account for only a tiny fraction - perhaps 0.1% - of left-handedness, the researchers said the study shows that this gene, called TUBB4B, may play a role in the development of the brain asymmetry that underlies the determination of a dominant hand. REMAINS OF OREGON TEENAGER IDENTIFIED AFTER 54 YEARS USING ADVANCED GENETIC GENEALOGY In most people, the two halves, or hemispheres, of the brain have slightly different anatomies and are dominant for different functions."For example, most people have left-hemisphere dominance for language, and right-hemisphere dominance for tasks that require directing visual attention to a location in space," said neurobiologist Clyde Francks of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands, senior author of the study published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications."In most people, the left hemisphere also controls the dominant right hand. The relevant nerve fibers cross from left-to-right in the lower part of the brain. In left-handers, the right hemisphere is in control of the dominant hand. The question is: what causes the asymmetry of the brain to develop differently in left-handers?"TUBB4B controls a protein that gets integrated into filaments called microtubules that provide internal structure for cells. The identification of rare mutations in this gene that are more common in left-handers suggests that microtubules are involved in setting up the brain's normal asymmetries, Francks said.The two cerebral hemispheres start to develop differently in the human embryo, though the mechanism has remained unclear."Rare genetic variants in just a handful of people can pinpoint genes that give clues to developmental mechanisms of brain asymmetry in everyone. TUBB4B could be a good example of this," Francks added.The findings were based on genetic data  covering more than 350,000 middle-aged to older adults in Britain in a dataset called the UK Biobank. About 11% were left-handed. WHAT DETERMINES THE SIZE OF OUR FEET? HERE'S WHAT GOES INTO IT - AND WHAT CAN CHANGE IT For most people, the determination of which hand is dominant may come down to chance."We think that most instances of left-handedness occur simply due to random variation during development of the embryonic brain, without specific genetic or environmental influences. For example, random fluctuations in the concentrations of certain molecules during key stages of brain formation," Francks said.Over the centuries, many cultures disparaged left-handedness and tried to force lefties to become right-handed. In English, the word "right" also means "correct" or "proper." The word "sinister" derives from a Latin word meaning "on the left side." And a "left-handed compliment" means an insult masquerading as praise.The prevalence of left-handedness varies in different parts of the world, with lower rates in Africa, Asia and the Middle East compared to Europe and North America, Francks said."This likely reflects suppression of left-handedness in some cultures - making  left-handed kids switch to right-handedness, which also used to happen in Europe and North America," Francks added.The new findings might have relevance in the field of psychiatry. While the overwhelming majority of left-handed people have neither of these conditions, people with schizophrenia are around twice as likely to be left-handed or ambidextrous and people with autism are around three times as likely, Francks said."Some of the genes that function in the developing brain during early life might be involved in both brain asymmetry and psychiatric traits. Our study found suggestive evidence of this, and we have also seen it in previous studies where we looked at more common genetic variants in the population," Francks added. Cicada invasion: Trillions of noisy flying insects to swarm US for first time in 221 years Billions, if not trillions, of two groups of noisy flying insects are expected to emerge from the underground in 17 U.S. states in April in a rare natural phenomenon not seen since 1803. The insects , known as cicadas, are set to spring up and engage in a frantic mating frenzy lasting several weeks before they will all eventually die near trees.But that's not before they lay eggs on forest floors and the cycle of life begins anew. RARE BROODS OF CICADAS TO ARRIVE SOON: WHEN TO EXPECT THEM AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU It will be the first time in 221 years that two types of cicadas -- brood XIX and XIII--  have risen from the ground at the same time, back when Thomas Jefferson was president, and it is not expected to happen again until 2244.The one to two-inch-long bugs possess sturdy bodies, bulging compounded red eyes and membranous wings with a three-inch wingspan.But don't be alarmed, cicadas are not harmful to humans, pets, household gardens, or crops, the Environmental Protection Agency says. In fact, they are a valuable food source for birds and mammals . Cicadas can aerate lawns and improve water filtration into the ground while they add nutrients to the soil as they decompose.Most cicada species come out every year, but in the United States, there are two periodical broods of cicadas that stay underground for either 13 years or 17 years."The co-emergence of any two broods of different cycles is rare, because the cycles are both prime numbers," John Cooley, a cicada expert at UConn told Live Science."Any given 13 and 17-year broods will only co-emerge once every 13 x 17 = 221 years." Brood XIII cicadas appear on a 17-year cycle, and are restricted mostly to northern Illinois, eastern Iowa, southern Wisconsin and a few counties in extreme northwestern Indiana, according to entomologist Floyd Shockley of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington. Brood XIX emerges on a slightly shorter 13-year cycle, and are widely distributed from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia - a total of 15 states, according to Shockley. The two broods together span parts of 17 states.  RARE 'SIMULTANEOUS EXPLOSION' OF CICADAS EXPECTED FOR FIRST TIME IN 221 YEARS These two broods overlap only in a small area in central Illinois and sometimes in Indiana. They are close enough potentially to have some interbreeding between broods.Female cicadas make slits in small tree branches and usually lay 20 to 30 eggs in each slit. A female can lay 400 to 600 eggs in a lifetime. The eggs hatch from late July to early August. Then the cicadas fall to the ground and immediately burrow underground. They can smell badly if they die in large numbers together.They cannot lay eggs in your skin, Cooley told MassLive."This summer, some will get a chance to witness a phenomenon rarer - and probably louder - than Halley's comet," Cooley said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "You cannot possibly be unaware that periodical cicadas are out, because they're out by the millions and millions, and they're noisy, charismatic, active insects that are just everywhere," Cooley said. Cicadas can be dangerous to young trees, however, as they lay their eggs in small tree branches which can harm the tree, the EPA says. The agency advises covering maturing saplings in mesh or netting to keep the insects out.  Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Strange cicada facts to know before they emerge this spring: Zombie STD, strongest stream in animal kingdom The periodical cicadas that are about to infest two parts of the United States aren't just plentiful, they're downright weird.These insects are the strongest urinators in the animal kingdom with flows that put humans and elephants to shame. They have pumps in their heads that pull moisture from the roots of trees, allowing them to feed for more than a decade underground. They are rescuers of caterpillars.And they are being ravaged by a sexually transmitted disease that turns them into zombies. RARE 'SIMULTANEOUS EXPLOSION' OF CICADAS EXPECTED FOR FIRST TIME IN 221 YEARS Inside trees are sugary, nutrient-heavy saps that flow through tissue called phloem. Most insects love the sap. But not cicadas - they go for tissue called xylem, which carries mostly water and a bit of nutrients.And it's not easy to get into the xylem, which doesn't just flow out when a bug taps into it because it's under negative pressure. The cicada can get the fluid because its outsized head has a pump, said University of Alabama Huntsville entomologist Carrie Deans.They use their proboscis like a tiny straw - about the width of a hair - with the pump sucking out the liquid, said Georgia Tech biophysics professor Saad Bhamla. They spend nearly their entire lives drinking, year after year."It's a hard way to make a living," Deans said.All that watery fluid has to come out the other end. And boy does it.Bhamla in March published a study of the urination flow rates of animals across the world. Cicadas were clearly king, peeing two to three times stronger and faster than elephants and humans. He couldn't look at the periodical cicadas that mostly feed and pee underground, but he used video to record and measure the flow rate of their Amazon cousins, which topped out around 10 feet per second.They have a muscle that pushes the waste through a tiny hole like a jet, Bhamla said. He said he learned this when in the Amazon he happened on a tree the locals called a "weeping tree" because liquid was flowing down, like the plant was crying. It was cicada pee."You walk around in a forest where they're actively chorusing on a hot sunny day. It feels like it's raining," said University of Connecticut entomologist John Cooley. That's their honeydew or waste product coming out the back end ... It's called cicada rain."In the years and areas where cicadas come out, caterpillars enjoy a cicada reprieve.University of Maryland entomologist Dan Gruner studied caterpillars after the 2021 cicada emergence in the mid-Atlantic. He found that the bugs that turn into moths survived the spring in bigger numbers because the birds that usually eat them were too busy getting cicadas.Periodical cicadas are "lazy, fat and slow," Gruner said. "They're extraordinarily easy to capture for us and for their predators."There's a deadly sexually transmitted disease, a fungus, that turns cicadas into zombies and causes their private parts to fall off, Cooley said.It's a real problem that "is even stranger than science fiction," Cooley said. "This is a sexually transmitted zombie disease ."Cooley has seen areas in the Midwest where up to 10% of the individuals were infected.The fungus is also the type that has hallucinatory effects on birds that would eat them, Cooley said.This white fungus takes over the male, their gonads are torn from their body and chalky spores are spread around to nearby other cicadas, he said. The insects are sterilized, not killed. This way the fungus uses the cicadas to spread to others."They're completely at the mercy of the fungus," Cooley said. "They're walking dead." Dogs may actually understand words for their favorite toys, study shows Many dog owners believe their pets understand and respond not only to commands such as "sit" and "stay," but also to words referring to their favorite objects. "Bring me your ball" will often result in exactly that.But science has had trouble determining whether dogs and other animals genuinely activate a mental image in their minds when they hear the name of an object, something that would suggest a deeper grasp of language, similar to the kind that humans have.A new study in Hungary has found that beyond being able to respond to commands like "roll over," dogs can learn to associate words with specific objects - a relationship with language called referential understanding that had been unproven in dogs until now. NEW STUDY SHOWS THE EFFECT OWNING PETS HAS ON OWNERS' BRAINS "When we are talking about objects, objects are external to the dogs, and dogs have to learn that words refer, they stand for something that is external to them," said Marianna Boros, a cognitive neuroscientist and co-lead author of the study conducted by the Department of Ethology of the Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest.The study, which has been peer reviewed, was published last Friday in the science journal "Current Biology." It involved 18 dogs and a non-invasive EEG procedure using electrodes attached to dogs' heads to measure brain activity and register brain waves.Dog owners participating in the study would play an audio clip in which they said the name of their dog's toy - like "ball" or "frisbee" - and then they would show the dog an object. The researchers measured the dogs' brain activity when the object in the recording matched the object that was displayed, and also when it differed."We expected that if a dog really understands the meaning of the object's word, it will expect to see that object. And if the owner shows a different one, there will be a so-called surprise reaction in the brain," Boros said. "And this is exactly what we found."The study found a different brain pattern when the dogs were shown an object that matched the word, compared to when it didn't - suggesting the animals conjured a mental image of an object based on hearing the word for it.Lilla Magyari, also a cognitive neuroscientist and co-lead author of the study, said that while other animals have been shown to have some degree of referential understanding of language, those animals have typically been highly trained to do so.In dogs, she said, the findings show that such capacities appear to be inborn and require no special training or talent.The study supports "theories of language evolution which actually say that referential understanding is not necessarily unique to humans," added Magyari, who is also an associate professor at the University of Stavanger in Norway.While the study has received praise, some experts have expressed doubts about its findings. Behavioral scientist and professor of psychology at Arizona State University, Clive Wynne, said in a post on Facebook that he believes that all the study shows is that dogs respond to stimuli - but that they don't actually understand the meaning of specific words. Scientists believe the first dogs began to be domesticated by humans up to 30,000 years ago, and have lived closely alongside us ever since.But whether dogs acquired their apparent capacity to understand referential language during that evolution remains unclear.Budapest resident Emese Doroszlai said during a walk with her dog in a city park on Wednesday that she usually teaches him commands for specific actions.When told about the study, she said she hasn't given much thought to building her dog's vocabulary or teaching him names for objects.But, she said, maybe the results of the study would change that.

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