geekosystem

Oscar the Grouch may want to consider leaving his smelly trashcan hovel on Sesame Street behind in favor of the arid landscape of Arizona's Saguaro National Park. A recent study conducted by the University of Arizona and biologist Erin Zylstra shows that windswept trash -- consisting mostly of plastic bags and latex balloons -- has ended up in the desert. Even more alarming is that the amount of trash in the area actually outnumbers the population of indigenous desert tortoises and western diamondback rattlesnakes, with the very life of these little critters on the line.

As part of its own Great Paper Airplane project, Pima Air & Space Museum built and flew a 45-foot-long paper airplane with a 24-foot wingspan over the Arizona desert. The plane, dubbed Arturo's Desert Eagle, was helped into the sky by a Sikorsky S58T helicopter, and upon reaching 2,703 feet up, was let loose to fly.