In a collaborative study led by researchers at the University of Helsinki, analysis of 900 species over a 20-year period showed that biodiversity enhances ecosystem stability and helps safeguard natural communities in a changing environment.
“Raindrops in the Sun’s Corona”: New Adaptive Optics Shows Stunning Details of our Star’s Atmosphere
Scientists develop new optical system that removes blur over fine-structure in the Sun’s corona, revealing clearest images to date.
The ocean seems to be getting darker
Scientists, who have spent more than a decade examining the impact of artificial light at night on the world's coasts and oceans, have shown that more than one-fifth of the global ocean -- an area spanning more than 75 million sq km -- has been the subject of ocean darkening...
Nordic studies show the significance of old-growth forests for biodiversity
Researchers conducted a systematic review of 99 scientific publications that compared the flora or fauna of old-growth forests, managed forests and clearcut sites in boreal Europe. The reviewed studies showed large differences in the species communities inhabiting these forest types. The species richness of full-canopy forests increases as the forest...
Megalodon: The broad diet of the megatooth shark
Contrary to widespread assumptions, the largest shark that ever lived -- Otodus megalodon -- fed on marine creatures at various levels of the food pyramid and not just the top. Scientists analyzed the zinc content of a large sample of fossilized megalodon teeth, which had been unearthed above all in...
Flowers unfold with surprising precision, despite unruly genes
Flowers grow stems, leaves and petals in a perfect pattern again and again. A new study shows that even in this precise, patterned formation in plants, gene activity inside individual cells is far more chaotic than it appears.
Can Plants Hear Their Pollinators?
Research suggests pollinator buzzing sounds lead plants to increase their nectar production.
Coastal Squeeze Is Bad for Biodiversity, and for Us!
Worldwide, coastal areas are squeezed between a rising sea level on one end and human structures on the other.
Penn Engineers Discover a New Class of Materials That Passively Harvest Water from Air
A serendipitous observation in a Chemical Engineering lab at Penn Engineering has led to a surprising discovery: a new class of nanostructured materials that can pull water from the air, collect it in pores and release it onto surfaces without the need for any external energy.
Assembly instructions for enzymes
In biology, enzymes have evolved over millions of years to drive chemical reactions. Scientists have now derived universal rules to enable the de novo design of optimal enzymes. As an example, they considered the enzymatic reaction of breaking a dimer into two monomer molecules. Considering the geometry of such an...