New research into the life and times of a New England salt marsh fundamentally changes our understanding of how salt marshes acquire the sediment that keeps them viable. This research has wide-ranging implications for managing New England's coastline as it struggles to keep up with development, sea-level rise and other...
Rapid changes to the Arctic seafloor noted as submerged permafrost thaws
A new study has documented how the thawing of permafrost submerged underwater at the edge of the Arctic Ocean is affecting the seafloor.
Researchers ID sex pheromone of invasive giant hornet
Scientists have developed a method for tracking the Asian giant 'murder' hornet's presence and possibly accelerating its removal. The researchers identified the major components of the Asian giant hornet queen's sex pheromone, an achievement that could be used as bait to trap and track the insects.
Deciphering gut microbiome ‘chatter’ to combat IBD
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a life-long, chronic condition characterized by sporadic bouts of gut inflammation causing debilitating symptoms. Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis -- the latter affecting around 1 in 400 people - are the two most common types of IBD. Current treatments are ineffective and seriously impact the...
Surfing towards coastal ecosystem protection
Scientists believe a strategy used to protect popular surfing spots could now be more widely adopted to help preserve endangered coastal environments.
‘Sky is not the limit’ for solar geoengineering
There are practical limits to the height at which aerosols may be deployed in the atmosphere to deflect incoming sunlight and countervail global warming. Very high-altitude injections might be more effective, but such climate intervention comes with substantially increased costs and safety risks, according to new research.
Microbes and minerals may have set off Earth’s oxygenation
Around 2.3 billion years ago, oxygen began building up in the atmosphere, eventually reaching the life-sustaining levels we breathe today. A new hypothesis suggests a mechanism for how this may have happened.
Scientists make leap forward for genetic sequencing
Researchers reveal new details about a key enzyme that makes DNA sequencing possible. The finding is a leap forward into the era of personalized medicine when doctors will be able to design treatments based on the genomes of individual patients.
How do blind cavefish survive their low-oxygen environment?
Cavefish have obvious adaptations such as missing eyes and pale colors that demonstrate how they evolved over millennia in a dark, subterranean world. Now researchers say these incredible fish have an equally remarkable physiology that helps them cope with a low-oxygen environment that would kill other species.
How to make the TB vaccine more effective
Briefly blocking a key molecule when administering the only approved vaccine for tuberculosis vastly improves long-term protection against the devastating disease in mice, researchers report.