A fossil discovered in Illinois has been reexamined more than 60 years after it was collected, revealing that scientists had been looking at a different ancient animal all along. Fossils can tell us a lot about life on Earth, but identifying them is not always easy. Sometimes, scientists need to return to old discoveries with […]
300-Million-Year-Old Fossil Was Hiding a Different Animal Read More »
Reading time: 4 minutes Rainwater is often seen as one of the cleanest and most natural sources of water. Many households collect rain from their roofs and store it in tanks for drinking, cooking, cleaning, or gardening. But new research suggests that rainwater can pick up unwanted contaminants as it travels from the roof into
Rainwater Tanks May Look Clean, But Could Hide Health Risks Read More »
• The claim that Google plans to release up to 64 million bacteria-carrying mosquitoes in Florida and California remains under review. • The reports are linked to Debug, a Google-backed project that releases sterile male mosquitoes to reduce mosquito populations and lower virus transmission risks. • Google submitted applications to the EPA requesting approval to
Will Google release millions of bacteria-carrying mosquitoes across US states? Read More »
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has warned that there is an 80% chance an El Niño event will develop between this month and August. The UN weather agency said that while uncertainty remains over the event’s peak strength and timing, most forecast models indicate it is likely to reach at least moderate intensity, with the
UN Says World Should Brace for a Potentially Strong El Niño Read More »
Researchers investigated the diet and plastic consumption of green sea turtles living in the waters near the Ogasawara Islands, Japan, finding plastics in 7 out of 10 turtles studied. By combining genetic, isotopic, and plastic analyses, they inferred that the plastics had come from regions outside the turtles’ usual migratory routes, highlighting the impact of
Data Reveal Cross-Regional Plastic Pollution in Green Sea Turtles Read More »
The Brazilian government announced in a statement to AFP on Thursday that the last wild individuals of a rare blue parrot—only recently reintroduced to their native habitat—have been found to carry a fatal, untreatable virus. The discovery deals a significant setback to efforts aimed at reestablishing the Spix’s macaw—made famous by the 2011 animated movie
Deadly Virus Strikes the Remaining Wild Blue Macaws in Brazil Read More »
Ithaca, NY— A new study published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B reveals that both territorial behavior and diet play key roles in determining why certain bird species sing more frequently at dawn. Tracking Bird Songs in India’s Biodiversity Hotspot Researchers from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation
New Study Reveals Why Birds Sing Most Actively at Dawn in Tropical Forests Read More »
Researchers studied alpine plant species to explore how flower scent chemistry influences both the diversity of insect pollinators and the bacterial communities on the flowers. Published in New Phytologist, the study shows that high floral scent chemodiversity—the presence of various chemical compounds—attracts a greater diversity of pollinators but reduces bacterial diversity on flowers. Based on
How Does Floral Scent Affect Insect Visitors and Flower Bacteria? Read More »
A team of Taiwan-based scientists has reported a biochemical breakthrough that may transform multiple industries and aid in mitigating climate change. Their study, published in Science, reveals a method to enhance the carbon-fixing pathway and promote plant growth. This breakthrough, which redesigns a core process essential to life, greatly accelerated plant growth. The modified plants
Researchers Discover a New Way to Boost Plant Growth Read More »
Two separate studies published in GigaScience report the nearly complete reference genomes of the central bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps), a dragon lizard native to central eastern Australia and widely kept as a pet in Europe, Asia, and North America. This species is unusual because both genetics and nest temperature determine its sex. Because of this,
Twin Dragons Provide New Insights Into Reptile Sex Determination Read More »
