Analyze This!
Exploring science through data, graphs, visualizations and more.
- Earth
Analyze This: Nutrients from sewage may harm coastal ecosystems
A new model suggests that 58 percent of coral reefs and 88 percent of seagrass beds are exposed to excess nitrogen from wastewater.
- Materials Science
Analyze This: Hardened wood can make sharp steak knives
Researchers treated wood to make it hard and dense. Out of it, they carved sharp knives and nails that could substitute for ones made of steel.
- Animals
Analyze This: Some female hummingbirds go undercover
Some female white-necked jacobin hummingbirds boast bright blue colors similar to males. That may help females blend in to avoid attacks.
- Animals
Analyze This: Sharks aren’t as scary as what you see on TV
In Shark Week shows, scientists found mixed messages about sharks, insufficient research support and little info on conserving endangered animals.
- Ecosystems
Analyze This: Invasive species cost the world billions each year
A new study estimates that invasive species have cost the world more than $1 trillion since 1970. That’s almost certainly an underestimate.
- Animals
Analyze This: Cows burp less methane after early-life treatment
Calves that receive the 14-week treatment belch less of the greenhouse gas, possibly due to shifts in their gut microbes.
- Animals
Analyze This: Some dogs quickly learn new words
Two dogs picked up new words after hearing them a few times during play, but 20 other pets didn’t fare so well at learning the names of new toys.
- Climate
Analyze This: 2020 ties with 2016 for hottest year on record
Last year capped the warmest decade on record. It coincided with a growing increase of warming greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere.
- Environment
Analyze this: Microplastics are showing up in Mount Everest’s snow
Microplastics have made their way to the snow on Earth’s tallest peak. Most of the plastic likely comes from climbers’ equipment and clothes.
- Oceans
Analyze This: Shipwrecks provide a home for bottom-dwelling fish
Fish have found a habitat in a submarine and freighter that sunk to the seafloor during World War II.
- Animals
Analyze This: Ropes restore a gibbon highway through a rainforest
When endangered Hainan gibbons started making risky leaps across an area mowed down by a landslide, researchers provided them a rope bridge.
- Materials Science
Analyze This: Insect shells could help builders on Mars
When mixed with rocky soil, a compound called chitin makes a strong material. It could be pulled from the shells of insects used for food.
