Viruses, including the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, can get passed from person to person via contaminated surfaces. But can some surfaces reduce the risk of this type of transmission without the help of household disinfectants? Wood has natural antiviral properties that can reduce the time viruses persist on its surface...
At least one in four US residential yards exceed new EPA lead soil level guideline
Roughly one in four U.S. households have soil exceeding the new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's lead screening levels of 200 parts per million (ppm), halved from the previous level of 400 ppm, a new study found. For households with exposure from multiple sources, the EPA lowered the guidance to 100...
When in drought: Researchers map which parts of the Amazon are most vulnerable to climate change
Some areas of the Amazon rainforest are more resilient to drought than others, new research shows. But if not managed carefully, we could 'threaten the integrity of the whole system,' researchers say.
Restored rat-free islands could support hundreds of thousands more breeding seabirds
Archipelago case-study shows that removing invasive rats and restoring native vegetation could help bring back hundreds of thousands of breeding pairs of seabirds lost to tropical islands. Calculating that there are enough fish to sustain restored seabird populations should be an important consideration for restoration projects, scientists say. Restored seabird...
Odors are encoded in rings in the brain of migratory locusts
Researchers describe how odors are encoded in the antennal lobe, the olfactory center in the brain of migratory locusts. Using transgenic locusts and imaging techniques, the researchers were able to show a ring-shaped representation of odors in the brain. The pattern of olfactory coding in the antennal lobe is the...
Large wildfires create weather that favors more fire
A new study shows soot from large wildfires in California traps sunlight, making days warmer and drier than they ought to be.
A high-fat diet may fuel anxiety
New research shows when animals are fed a diet high in saturated fat for nine weeks, their gut bacteria change in ways that influence brain chemicals and fuel anxiety.
Direct evidence found for dairy consumption in the Pyrenees in the earliest stages of the Neolithic
A study on the remains of the Chaves and Puyascada caves, both located in the province of Huesca, Spain, yields the first direct proof of the consumption and processing of dairy products in the Pyrenees already at the start of the Neolithic period, approximately 7,500 years ago, as well as...
Wear it, then recycle: Designers make dissolvable textiles from gelatin
Researchers hope their DIY machine will help designers around the world experiment with making their own, sustainable fashion and other textiles from a range of natural ingredients -- maybe even the chitin in crab shells or agar-agar from algae.
Gonadal function in male mice disrupted by prenatal risk factors
Researchers have consistently shown that prenatal exposure to Di (2-ethyhexyl) phthalate harms the reproductive system in male mice and causes fertility defects. In a new study, scientists have shown that the combination of DEHP and a high-fat diet in pregnant mice can cause more damage to pups than each factor...