Brain Food

Courtesy of Rich Hofstetter

Warming temperatures and drought are increasing bark beetle outbreaks worldwide, killing off thousands of miles of forests. The problem is so dire in Russia that foresters have enlisted the help of Flagstaff entomologist and bark beetle expert Rich Hofstetter.

Milliken Lab/Brown University

Flagstaff planetary scientist Christopher Edwards has detected water all over the moon, which could mean new possibilities for space travel using the moon as a basecamp.

Bonnie Stevens

The water we drink when we’re at Grand Canyon National Park comes from a deep aquifer that channels it through a series of caves and sink holes inside the canyon walls.

Astronomers at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff have discovered a rare runaway star: a yellow supergiant. It’s the first time humans have ever observed one as it’s speeding through its galaxy at 300,000 miles per hour—so fast, it could cover the distance between L.A. and New York in 30 seconds. Here’s Lowell astronomer Phil Massey.


A massive alligator juniper tree near Prescott is believed to be the largest and oldest of its kind in the world. It’s survived hundreds, possibly thousands of years of fire and drought. Forester Ben De Blois says the tree’s unique growth pattern makes it hard to tell just how old.