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When a major new study on North American bird populations appeared in the journal Science last week, it included all the trappings of a typical scientific paper, along with one, less conventional addition: The study also came with its own hashtag, #BringBirdsBack.
A newly published report claims that both the market and non-market values of pollinators in Ireland are currently greatly underestimated.
Around 66m years ago, a giant asteroid struck the Earth, causing the extinction of the dinosaurs, ammonites, and many other species.
To keep global heating below 2°C, the world's appetite for meat must change. This will mean reducing meat consumption in most developed countries and limiting the increase in developing countries. But how do you convince people to break the habit of a lifetime?
New Zealand, Australia and Iceland could act as island refuges to save humanity from extinction in the event of a catastrophic global pandemic, researchers have found.
Land use changes, nutrient depletion, and drought can make plant roots grow deeper into the soil. But scientists question how that growth affects carbon in the soil. Could more roots reaching deep soil layers result in more carbon being sequestered?
A more than 600-square-mile iceberg broke off Antarctica in recent days, but the event is part of a normal cycle and is not related to climate change, scientists say.
In response to local and global climate stressors, a type of bright red bacteria has proliferated on reefs worldwide often snuffing the life out of precious corals and changing the reef ecosystem.
Beetles have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to reproduce despite warmer temperatures—according to new research from the University of East Anglia.
Freshwater fish are a highly diverse group representing nearly half of all fish species. Due to accelerating human activities, they are also the most threatened vertebrate group, and are disappearing faster than they can be described. Currently, half of all freshwater fish species are still not ...
The diversity of life was greatly influenced by a collision between space rocks around 470 million years ago, according to a study published in the journal Science Reports.
A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. has found some of the genes that are responsible for differences in behavior between dog breeds. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group describes their study of data from two types of dog-ba ...
In a new study, scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) show that the average March precipitation, over the next ten years in western Europe is predictable using a novel method. The research team also issued a forecast for the coming years.
The UK's Labour Party has pledged to offer voters a Green New Deal at the next election. This is a radical program for decarbonizing society and the economy by 2030, through phasing out fossil fuels, investing in renewable energy and creating a public works program to build the zero-carbon infra ...
When Hurricane Dorian roared up the East Coast during the first week of September, the places where people live and work in several states were under threat. The first line of protection against storm damage was made up of coastal vegetated ecosystems, including nearly 300,000 acres of salt mars ...
If "Why?" is the first question in science, "Why not?" must be a close second. Sometimes it's worth thinking about why something does not exist.
As climate change accelerates, recording shifts in plant flowering times is critical to understanding how changes in climate will impact ecosystem interactions. Currently, when researchers reconstruct historical flowering times using dried herbarium specimens, they estimate first or peak floweri ...
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a special report last week warning of the mounting effects of global warming on the seas, increasing temperatures and acidification, and on the world's melting ice. It noted the potential dangers from sea level rise, water shortages i ...
Back when the Mississippi River flowed wild, its ever-shifting waters acted as a continent-sized earth mover, picking up sand and dirt from the North, depositing it in the Delta region and eventually creating the land that is now south Louisiana.
Imitation is the most sincere of flattery, and for years, humans have been using animals as inspiration for everything from fashion to architecture. In the engineering world, this is called biomimicry. And you may be surprised by how many inventions have truly been inspired by animal design and ...
Uncovering how the first biological molecules (like proteins and DNA) arose is a major goal for researchers attempting to solve the origin of life. Today, chemists at Saint Louis University, in collaboration with scientists at the College of Charleston and the NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolut ...
Evolutionary adaptations like echolocation that are shared by unrelated species arose in part due to identical, independently acquired genetic changes, according to a new Stanford study of whole genome sequences.
After only a few days of searching, experts from the MOSAiC expedition have now found a suitable ice floe where they will set up the research camp for their one-year-long drift through the Arctic Ocean.
Birds call to each other. The chirps fade as the sounds of shoes crunching on the somewhat frozen earth grow louder. Children laugh in the distance. Waves of water crash against each other.
A new study from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has shown that Indian paper wasps distribute themselves non-randomly in their nests, a strategy that may help them exchange food efficiently and avoid the spread of infections. The study was carried out by Ph.D. student Nitika Sharma and Pr ...
How do you identify a soaring scavenger from its flight silhouette, or pinpoint which species of swallowtail has just fluttered by on gossamer wings? These were among the challenges facing the survey teams as they attempted to shine a spotlight on the wildlife treasures concealed within the trop ...
Scientists from Rutgers University and around the world have discovered an antibiotic produced by a soil bacterium from a Mexican tropical forest that may help lead to a "plant probiotic," more robust plants and other antibiotics.
The glacial relict amphipod Gammaracanthus lacustris only occurs in deep and cold waters. A collaborative study by University of Jyväskylä and University of Eastern Finland produced new information on the life cycle and ecology of this rare amphipod.
Female Atlantic right whales lower their voices to a whisper when communicating with their young in order to prevent "eavesdropping" by predators, researchers said Wednesday.
A key figure in the United Kingdom's decision to legislate a climate change target of net zero emissions by 2050 is in Australia.Professor Julia King (Baroness Brown of Cambridge) will give a lecture on the approach the UK is taking with hydrogen, and the policy requirements in developing such a ...
Protected land, including national parks, are a cornerstone of conservation. Once an area is legally protected, it is tempting to assume that it is shielded from further degradation.
Led by Christopher L. Lawson, a PhD Candidate in the School of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Queensland, a group of scientists set out to learn more about the bioenergetics models for shark and rays. “A bioenergetics model describes the energy requirements of an animal and how energy ...
Oaks have a complex evolutionary history that has long eluded scientists. New research, however, provides the most detailed account to date of the evolution of oaks, recovering the 56-million-year history that has made the oaks one of the most diverse, abundant and important woody plant groups t ...
Connecting wildlife habitats has often been perceived as a way to enhance biodiversity. A new article backs up previous evidence with large-scale findings.
A new genetic engineering tool will help open the floodgates of microbial metabolite applications.
Antarctica's ice sheet spans close to twice the area of the contiguous United States, and its land boundary is buttressed by massive, floating ice shelves extending hundreds of miles out over the frigid waters of the Southern Ocean. When these ice shelves collapse into the ocean, they expose tow ...
We’ve all but won the argument on climate change. The facts are now unequivocal and climate denialists are facing a losing battle. Concern has risen up the political agenda, and major economic institutions such as the World Trade Organisation and the Bank of England highlight the increasingly ex ...
Reptiles such as chameleons are famed for changing their colour and amphibians such as frogs often escape the radar. Not this time though.
Diatoms are single-celled algae that occur either solitarily or in colonies of millions, where there is moisture. However, what distinguishes these microscopic creatures from the rest of the algal groups is their enshrining and tortuous cell-wall or 'frustule', which is made up of silica. In oth ...
It is already known that zebrafish can flexibly regenerate their hearts after injury. An international research group led by Prof. Nadia Mercader of the University of Bern now shows that certain heart muscle cells play a central role in this process. The insights gained could be used to initiate ...
Research at Flinders University is investigating and locating vital freshwater hidden beneath the sea.Flinders University Professor of Hydrogeology Adrian Werner is making important advances in assessing freshwater reservoirs that exist beneath the ocean, potentially providing innovative answers ...
Carnivores deliver important benefits for society, but it is their conflicts with humans that account for the majority of academic research publications, according to an international study led by the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), in which a researcher from the University of Granada (U ...
Mountains cover 25 percent of the Earth's surface, and the streams draining these mountains account for more than a third of the global runoff. But the role that mountain streams play in global carbon fluxes has not yet been evaluated; until now scientists have focused mainly on streams and rive ...
They say it's what's on the inside that counts. And so it goes with the planet's surface; from mountain ranges to a river's drainage, the deep Earth has a profound influence on what's happening on top.
Tricking fungi into thinking they're starving could be the key to slowing down our evolutionary arms race with fungal pathogens, as hungry fungi don't want to have sex.
Cooperation is one of the most important abilities for any social species. From hunting, breeding, and child rearing, it has allowed many animals—including humans—to survive and thrive. As we better understand the details on how animals work together, researchers have been focusing on the degree ...
The recent Typhoon Hagibis—the most powerful storm to hit Japan since 1958—caused massive destruction. The reported death toll as of October 22 has climbed to 80, with another 398 injured and 11 people still missing
An international team of scientists involving The University of Western Australia's School of Molecular Sciences, the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology and Lund University has made the surprising discovery that a plant's reaction to rain is close to one of panic.
Birds lay eggs with a huge variety of colours and patterns, from immaculate white to a range of blue-greens and reddish browns.The need to conceal eggs from predators is one factor that gives rise to all kinds of camouflaged and hard-to-spot appearances.
You'd think that losing 25 percent of your genes would be a big problem for survival. But not for red algae, including the seaweed used to wrap sushi.