A solar-powered airplane finished crossing the United States on Saturday, landing in New York City after flying over the Statue of Liberty during its historic bid to circle the globe, the project team said. The spindly, single-seat experimental aircraft, dubbed Solar Impulse 2, arrived at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport at about 4 a.m. local time after it took off about five hours beforehand at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Pennsylvania, the team reported on the airplane's website. Such a pleasure to land in New York! For the 14th time we celebrate sustainability," said the project's co-founder Andre Borschberg on Twitter after flying over the city and the Statue of Liberty during the 14th leg of the trip around the globe. The Swiss team flying the aircraft in a campaign to build support for clean energy technologies hopes eventually to complete its circumnavigation in Abu Dhabi, where the journey began in March 2015. The solar cr...
Endangered big cats The University of Georgia's Regenerative Bioscience Center is building what's being called a "frozen zoo," a genetic storage center that their scientists believe will someday save endangered big cats (and eventually other species) from extinction. This ambitious vision comes from RBC Director Steven Stice and animal and dairy science assistant professor Franklin West. Here's how the pair say it will work: Cells from the skin of a sedated animal are extracted in a noninvasive procedure. Researchers convert those cells into stem cells by introducing a series of specialized reprogramming genes. And from there, those stem cells can be made into sperm or eggs. The RBC said sperm has already been created from pig stem cells. Stice and West are positive that big cats, which were chosen because scientists have a firm grasp on their biological makeup, won't be far behind. Working in conjunction with Zoo Atlanta, the team ha...