By Jason Bruck Human actions have taken a steep toll on whales and dolphins. Some studies estimate that small whale abundance, which includes dolphins, has fallen 87% since 1980 and thousands of whales die from rope entanglement annually. But humans also cause less obvious harm. Researchers have found changes in the stress levels, reproductive health […]
By Elliot Douglas A glacier in New Zealand is believed to have lost so much ice over the last three years that it could provide drinking water for every resident of the country over the same period, a research institute announced Wednesday. Scientists say the Brewster Glacier on the South Island lost 13 million cubic […]
By Rebecca Staudenmaier For the first time, scientists have discovered microplastics inside small organisms living in the soil in Antarctica, according to a new study published on Wednesday. “Plastics are thus entering the short Antarctic terrestrial food webs and represent a new potential stressor to polar ecosystems already facing climate change and increasing human activities,” […]
By Jeremy Deaton Experts disagree about how fast the United States can replace coal and gas-fired power plants with zero-carbon electricity. Some say we can shift to 100 percent clean power by 2050 with little friction and minimal cost. Others say that’s unrealistically optimistic. Scientists on both sides of the argument agree that it’s possible […]
By Paul Bierman and Amanda H. Schmidt For most of the past 60 years, the United States and Cuba have had very limited diplomatic ties. President Barack Obama started the process of normalizing U.S.-Cuba relations, but the Trump administration reversed this policy, sharply reducing interactions between the two countries. Scientific cooperation is a bright spot […]
By Jacob L. Steenwyk and Antonis Rokas From the mythical minotaur to the mule, creatures created from merging two or more distinct organisms – hybrids – have played defining roles in human history and culture. However, not all hybrids are as fantastic as the minotaur or as dependable as the mule; in fact, some of […]
A healthy coral reef is a noisy place. “You’ve got this constant crackling sound. … That’s the sound of snapping shrimp,” says Steve Simpson of the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. “Then on top of that, pops, grunts, growls, trumpeting sounds, whooping sounds … and these are generally made by fish that are […]
The climate crisis has caused Japanese cherry blossoms to bloom in October and sped the arrival of spring in much of the U.S. But it turns out that humans aren’t the only animals who can trick plants into flowering early. Scientists have discovered that bumblebees can cause plants to flower as much as 30 days […]
Not even underground ecosystems are safe from human pollution. New research published in PLoS ONE May 6 examined how water runoff from the surface impacted the communities of microbes in the Monte Conca cave system in Sicily. The answer? Quite a lot. Potentially human-introduced bacteria made up less than 4 percent of the microbial community […]
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