Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Science Snippets

Want some fun facts and interesting snippets of science? Then you came to the right place. 

Filter Total Items: 252
History of Lake Powell Written in Sediment

History of Lake Powell Written in Sediment

Declining water levels in Lake Powell since 2000 provide a unique opportunity to study the sediments along previous shorelines. Researchers from the...

Read Article
Invasive Green Crabs Pose Threat to Washington’s Shellfish Industry and Tribal Culture

Invasive Green Crabs Pose Threat to Washington’s Shellfish Industry and Tribal Culture

In recognition of National Invasive Species Awareness Week (Feb. 28-March 4), we wanted to call attention to a relatively new threat in the waters off...

Read Article
The Hidden Cost of Disease for Bighorn Sheep—Smaller Horns

The Hidden Cost of Disease for Bighorn Sheep—Smaller Horns

Male bighorn sheep have spectacular horns, making them popular among hikers, photographers and hunters. However, disease threatens the magnificence of...

Read Article
The Case of the Misplaced Skunk

The Case of the Misplaced Skunk

Curators’ Casebook is our ongoing series in which we look at some of the curious cases USGS curators at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural...

Read Article
Wetland Word: Blue Carbon

Wetland Word: Blue Carbon

Coastal ecosystems, like wetlands, may be smaller in size when compared to say, a forest, but they have the ability to sequester more carbon per unit...

Read Article
Wetland Word: Sequestration

Wetland Word: Sequestration

Scientifically speaking, sequestration refers to the capture and storage of an element, like carbon, in the environment.   

Read Article
Water Resources in Minnesota Significantly Improved by Land Restoration

Water Resources in Minnesota Significantly Improved by Land Restoration

Conversion of agricultural lands to wetland and native prairie greatly enhanced the quality of water resources, increased groundwater recharge and...

Read Article
Wetland Word: Hydrophyte

Wetland Word: Hydrophyte

These water-dwelling plants are found in aquatic ecosystems, including wetlands.

Read Article
Wetland Word: Hydric Soil

Wetland Word: Hydric Soil

Soil is more than just a substrate we walk on

Read Article
A Whale by Any Other Name

A Whale by Any Other Name

A new paper from the USGS and Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History documents some of the first scientific descriptions and names given to...

Read Article
New Patent Helps Coalbed Methane Research

New Patent Helps Coalbed Methane Research

Far underground, in a Wyoming well-bore drilled through rock and coal, exciting research is bubbling up. USGS researchers are studying how bacteria...

Read Article
Using Remote Sensing to Turn Trash into Treasure

Using Remote Sensing to Turn Trash into Treasure

There’s an old saying that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. At the USGS, we’re taking another look at old mine waste and tailings to see if...

Read Article
Was this page helpful?