What is air pollution? Learn how greenhouse gasses, smog, and toxic pollutants effect climate change, and human health
Princeton geneticist solves long-standing finch beak mystery
Bridgett vonHoldt is best known for her work with dogs and wolves, so she was surprised when a bird biologist pulled her aside and said, “I really think you can help me solve this problem.” So she turned to a mystery he’d been wrestling with for more than 20 years.
Press release: The inevitability of global warming. Single option is fixation on clean energy sources
12 years is before the world disaster. That’s how much time is left to stop global warming. This is the conclusion reached by the authors of the Special Report on Global Warming at 1.5° C of the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Eastern European Association of the Greens hold a round table on 15th of November in Vilnius, Lithuania in order to discuss the forecasts of the UN and express organization’s opinion how to get away from these scenarios.
Divining roots—revealing how plants branch out to access water
New research has discovered how plant roots sense the availability of moisture in soil and then adapt their shape to optimise acquisition of water.
The discovery could enable crops to be bred which are more adaptive to changes in climate conditions, such as water scarcity, and help ensure food security in the future.
Florida monarch butterfly populations have dropped 80 percent since 2005
A 37-year survey of monarch populations in North Central Florida shows that caterpillars and butterflies have been declining since 1985 and have dropped by 80 percent since 2005.
Social animals have more parasite infections but lower infection-related costs
Animals living in large groups tend to have more parasites than less social animals do, but according to a new study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, they may also be better protected from the negative effects of those parasites.
Mice give predators the cold shoulder
Starve or be eaten? For small animals, this challenge must be faced every day. Searching for food is a risky business, and small animals must balance their need to eat as much as possible against the risk of being eaten themselves. New research from Western Sydney University shows how mice, and likely other small prey, resolve this problem with the help of an energy-saving mechanism known as torpor.
Indonesia tsunami: How a volcano can be the trigger
Nobody had any clue. There was certainly no warning. It’s part of the picture that now suggests a sudden failure in the west-southwest flank of the Anak Krakatau volcano was a significant cause of Saturday’s devastating tsunami in the Sunda Strait.
Recycling: Where is the plastic waste mountain?
A year ago, experts warned that the UK could face a mountain of waste plastic as China imposed a ban on waste imports.
World’s coffee under threat, say experts
The first full assessment of risks to the world’s coffee plants shows that 60% of 124 known species are on the edge of extinction.