Weird Science

A dig in eastern North Carolina last week had a scientist up to his armpits in mud, and led to some great finds for a museum collection, including fossils from the age of dinosaurs. The paleontologist that led the dig is also hoping to someday solve an enduring Onslow County fossil mystery.

Veterans Memorial Reef is a non-profit organization that honors fallen heroes by placing them in an aquatic memorial so they may be laid to rest at sea off the coast of North Carolina. It has partnered with Natrx, which specializes in creating 3-D printed artificial reefs.

A scientist at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences drove to Raleigh-Durham International Airport to pick up an unusual passenger in late April. Research Curator of Herpetology Dr. Bryan Stuart said it seemed that a live tree frog jumped into the suitcase of a traveler from Honduras and took an unplanned trip to North Carolina.

Scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope recently announced the discovery of gases on a faraway planet that may be the same as those produced by ocean plankton on Earth. But a North Carolina astrophysicist is cautioning people to take note that researchers stressed it’s not a discovery of actual living organisms and that the findings should be viewed cautiously until further observations have been completed.

In this month’s Weird Science, PRE’s Annette Weston looks into the much-revered field of paleontology, made famous by Hollywood, but perhaps even less glamorous than you might think.

The artifacts and antiquities on display at an eastern North Carolina museum are virtually a treasure trove of the unusual, but it was something growing in the Cowan Museum of History and Science’s botanical garden that drew PRE’s Annette Weston to Kenansville for this month’s Weird Science.

It is the second oldest federal marine laboratory in the U.S., after Woods Hole.

It’s a bug you’ve probably never heard of before, but it’s a pretty good bet you can find them right in your backyard.

As climate change increases global and oceanic temperatures, creatures are reacting by moving into areas they haven’t before lived. They’re termed “invasive species” and among the suggestions for eradicating them is to sauté, grill, fry, or bake them.

PRE’s Annette Weston set out to discover whether quicksand is something to be worried about in eastern North Carolina or if GenX was set up to believe it would be a much bigger deal in adulthood than it is in reality.