Though wildlife trafficking has been effectively disrupted since the first World Wildlife Day -- established 50 years ago today via the 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora -- a newly published case study on one of the world's rarest tortoise species, the...
Scientists Use Satellites To Track Earth ‘Greening’ Amid Climate Change
North Carolina State University researchers used satellite imagery and field sensors to estimate worldwide changes in plant leaf growth due to global warming.
Additive to Make Slurry More Climate-Friendly
Livestock farming produces large quantities of greenhouse gases, especially methane, which is particularly harmful to the climate.
Fluorescent protein sheds light on bee brains
An international team of bee researchers has integrated a calcium sensor into honey bees to enable the study of neural information processing including response to odors. This also provides insights into how social behavior is located in the brain.
Insights into the evolution of the sense of fairness
A sense of fairness has long been considered purely human -- but animals also react with frustration when they are treated unequally by a person. In a study with long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis), researchers have now confirmed an alternative explanatory approach. A combination of social disappointment with the human experimenter...
Genomic study of indigenous Africans paints complex picture of human origins and local adaptation
An international team of researchers analyzed the genomes of 180 indigenous Africans from a dozen ethnically, culturally, linguistically, and geographically diverse populations. The results shed light on the origin of modern humans, historical migrations, linguistic evolution, and local adaptation, and lay the groundwork for more people to benefit from precision...
Coastal Water Pollution Transfers to the Air in Sea Spray Aerosol and Reaches People on Land
New research led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has confirmed that coastal water pollution transfers to the atmosphere in sea spray aerosol, which can reach people beyond just beachgoers, surfers, and swimmers.
Keto vs Vegan: Study of Popular Diets Finds Over Fourfold Difference in Carbon Footprints
A new study from Tulane University which compared popular diets on both nutritional quality and environmental impact found that the keto and paleo diets, as eaten by American adults, scored among the lowest on overall nutrition quality and were among the highest on carbon emissions.
Robot Provides Unprecedented Views Below Antarctic Ice Shelf
High in a narrow, seawater-filled crevasse in the base of Antarctica’s largest ice shelf, cameras on the remotely operated Icefin underwater vehicle relayed a sudden change in scenery.
Wisconsin cave holds tantalizing clues to ancient climate changes, future shifts
A newly published study of a stalagmite found in Cave of the Mounds reveals previously undetected history of the local climate going back thousands of years. Researchers describe evidence for an ice age punctuated by massive and abrupt warming events across much of the Northern Hemisphere.