A sweeping analysis of marine fossils from most of the past half-billion years shows the usual rules of body size evolution change during mass extinctions and their recoveries. The discovery is an early step toward predicting how evolution will play out on the other side of the current extinction crisis.
Record-breaking Texas drought more severe than previously thought
In 2011, Texas experienced one of its worst droughts ever. The dry, parched conditions caused over $7 billion in crop and livestock losses, sparked wildfires, pushed power grids to the limit, and reduced reservoirs to dangerously low levels. And according to a recent study led by geoscientists, the drought was...
Early human activities impacted Earth’s atmosphere more than previously known
An international team of scientists used data from Antarctic ice cores to trace a 700-year old increase in black carbon to an unlikely source: ancient Maori land-burning practices in New Zealand, conducted at a scale that impacted the atmosphere across much of the Southern Hemisphere and dwarfed other preindustrial emissions...
Catalysts found to convert carbon dioxide to fuel
The goal of tackling global warming by turning carbon dioxide into fuel could be one step closer with researchers using a supercomputer to identify a group of 'single-atom' catalysts that could play a key role.
Earth’s ‘solid’ inner core may contain both mushy and hard iron
New research suggests that Earth's 'solid' inner core is, in fact, endowed with a range of liquid, soft, and hard structures which vary across the top 150 miles of the inner core.
Honeybees’ waggle dance reveals bees in rural areas travel farther for food
By decoding honeybees' waggle dances, which tell other bees where to find food, researchers have found that bees in agricultural areas travel farther for food than those in urban areas.
Scientists can switch on plants’ response to light
Scientists have figured out how plants respond to light and can flip this genetic switch to encourage food growth, even in shade. The discovery could help increase food supply for an expanding population with shrinking opportunities for farming.
‘Living medicine’ created to treat drug-resistant infections
Researchers have created 'living medicine' to treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria growing on the surfaces of medical implants. The researchers created the treatment by removing a common bacteria's ability to cause disease and repurposing it to attack harmful microbes instead. The findings are an important first step for the development of new...
New way to image whole organisms in 3D brings key skin color pigment into focus
To understand the biological underpinnings of skin and hair pigmentation and related diseases such as albinism or melanoma, scientists and doctors need quantitative, three-dimensional information about the architecture, content and location of pigment cells. Researchers have developed a new technique that allows scientists to visualize every cell containing melanin pigment...
Hydrogel tablet can purify a liter of river water in an hour
Scientists and engineers have created a hydrogel tablet that can rapidly purify contaminated water. One tablet can disinfect a liter of river water and make it suitable for drinking in an hour or less.