Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
- Earth
Analyze This: Wildfires are pumping more pollution into U.S. skies
Researchers wanted to study the health effects of wildfire smoke. But they realized they didn’t know where it was and how much exposure people had.
- Health & Medicine
Should we use a genetic weapon against mosquitoes carrying malaria?
One gene drive to eliminate malaria seems to work in the lab. Now it’s time to ask local people if they want it released in the wild.
- Animals
If mosquitoes vanished, would we miss them? Vampire spiders might
Vampire spiders get their meals from blood-filled Anopheles mosquitoes. But if those insects disappear, the spiders will likely adapt.
- Animals
Some seabirds survive typhoons by flying into them
Some birds take massive detours to avoid cyclones. But shearwaters caught between land and the storm’s eye sometimes fly toward the storm’s center.
- Animals
Some spikes in malaria cases may be tied to amphibian die-offs
Amphibian deaths from a fungal disease may have led to more mosquitoes — and an increase in malaria cases in Costa Rica and Panama.
- Health & Medicine
How wriggling, blood-eating parasitic worms alter the body
Parasitic worms eat blood and make people sick, but they may also help prevent or treat some diseases.
- Fossils
Dinosaur ‘mummies’ may not be as rare as once thought
Bite marks found on a fossilized dino show that skin can be preserved even when a carcass is not immediately smothered by sediment.
- Animals
Let’s learn about parasites that create zombies
Some parasites turn their victims into mindless puppets that do the parasites’ bidding, even at the cost of their own lives.
- Animals
Analyze This: Octopuses may use favorite arms for grabbing meals
Understanding how octopuses control all their arms could provide clues for engineers building soft robots.
- Science & Society
What’s the fun in fear? Science explores the appeal of scary movies
On its face, the appeal of horror doesn’t make much sense. But scientists are starting to uncover who’s most likely to enjoy scary films and why.
- Animals
Sea creatures’ fishy scent protects them from deep-sea high pressures
TMAO’s water-wrangling ability protects a critter’s critical proteins — including muscle — from crushing under deep ocean pressures.
- Animals
This acrobatic spider flips for its food — literally
An acrobatic hunting trick lets the Australian ant-slayer spider catch prey twice its size, a new study shows.
