New research has uncovered that pollen preserved in 250 million year old rocks contain compounds that function like sunscreen, these are produced by plants to protect them from harmful ultraviolet (UV-B) radiation. The findings suggests that a pulse of UV-B played an important part in the end Permian mass extinction...
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Indigenous territories and protected areas are key to forest conservation in the Brazilian Amazon, study shows
A U.S.-Brazilian study using time series satellite images from 2000 to 2021 reveals the vital role of Indigenous territories and protected areas for forest conservation in the Brazilian Amazon, as well as calls attention to the negative impacts of weakened governmental conservation policies in recent years.
Marine plankton tell the long story of ocean health, and maybe human too
Researchers suggest that rising levels of humanmade chemicals, accumulating in marine plankton, might be used to monitor the impact of human activity on ecosystem health and perhaps study links between ocean pollution and land-based rates of childhood and adult chronic illnesses.
Scientists get fungi to spill their secrets
Using multiplex base-editing, an approach that simultaneously modifies multiple sites in fungal genomes, chemical and biomolecular engineers coax fungi into revealing their best-kept secrets, ramping up the pace of new drug discovery.
Compound Extreme Heat and Drought Will Hit 90% of World Population – Oxford Study
Warming is projected to intensify these hazards ten-fold globally under the highest emission pathway, says the report, published in Nature Sustainability.
Scientists Tackle Rusty Plant Threat
University of Queensland scientists have developed an environmentally friendly RNA-based spray to help combat myrtle rust, which has wiped out many Australian plants.
Atmospheric River Lashes California
Just four days after heavy rain hit California, the state was drenched with another atmospheric river on January 4 and 5, 2023.
Study details impact of prairie dog plague die-off on other species
This study, conducted from 2015-19 in the Thunder Basin National Grassland, may be the first to specifically examine the multispecies impacts of a wide-scale plague outbreak, which reduced the area covered by prairie dog colonies from nearly 25,000 acres to only about 125 acres in the study area. The 2017...
Invasive rats transform reef fish behavior
Scientists have discovered for the first time that invasive rats on tropical islands are affecting the territorial behavior of fish on surrounding coral reefs. The new study shows that the presence of invasive black rats on tropical islands is causing changes in the territorial behavior of the jewel damselfish --...
Weather Whiplash
December 2022 and January 2023 brought winter weather whiplash to the central and eastern United States.