Sep 27, 2016 | Earth, Energy & Environment, Life & Non-humans
Could the future of a salt marsh be hidden in the health of its microbes? Scientists say yes. Salt marshes play key roles in reducing the effects of urbanization and climate change. Marshes absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and their microbes break down...
Sep 25, 2016 | Life & Non-humans
Life can be scary for endangered loggerhead sea turtles immediately after they hatch. After climbing out of their underground nest, the baby turtles must quickly traverse a variety of terrains for several hundred feet to reach the ocean. While these turtles’ limbs are...
Sep 22, 2016 | Life & Non-humans
In the 1980s, people living on houseboats in the San Francisco Bay were puzzled by a droning hum of unknown origin that started abruptly in the late evening and stopped suddenly in the morning. A lengthy investigation revealed the culprit: male plainfin midshipman...
Sep 22, 2016 | Life & Non-humans
A newly described species of extinct reptile that roamed Texas more than 200 million years ago had a strikingly dome-shaped head with a very thick skull and a large natural pit on top that lends the appearance of an extra eye, according to a study released Sept. 22 in...
Sep 22, 2016 | Life & Non-humans
Whales are the biggest animals to ever have existed on Earth, and yet some subsist on creatures the size of a paper clip. It’s a relatively common factoid, but, in truth, how they do this is only just being uncovered, thanks to new technologies. What scientists do...
Sep 22, 2016 | Earth, Energy & Environment, Life & Non-humans
The world’s oceans teem with scientific mystery, unknowns that could prove to be tools that will one day protect the planet from global warming. Today, researchers report they’ve tripled the known types of viruses living in waters around the globe, and now have a...
Sep 21, 2016 | Earth, Energy & Environment, Life & Non-humans
Scientists say ocean fossils found in mountains are cause for concern over future sea levels Tiny ocean fossils distributed widely across rock surfaces in the Transantarctic Mountains point to the potential for a substantial rise in global sea levels under conditions...
Sep 20, 2016 | Life & Non-humans
The southern sea otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, continues its climb toward recovery, according to the annual count released today by the U.S. Geological Survey and partners. For the first time, southern sea otters’ numbers have exceeded 3,090, which is the threshold...
Sep 20, 2016 | Life & Non-humans
In a new study that upends the way ornithologists think about a young bird’s diet – but won’t shock parents used to scanning the nutritional profile of their children’s food – Cornell researchers have found that when it comes to what chicks eat, quality trumps...
Sep 19, 2016 | Earth, Energy & Environment, Life & Non-humans
With California in its fifth year of severe drought and many western states experiencing another year of unusually dry conditions, plants are stressed. Agricultural crops, grasses and garden plants alike can get sick and die when factors such as drought and excess sun...
