Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
- Ecosystems
Cheatgrass thrives on the well-lit urban night scene
Middle-grade campers team up with ecologists at Denver University to show that streetlights boost the growth of a reviled invasive species.
- Tech
Synthetic trees could tap underground water in arid areas
They also could also help coastal residents mine fresh water from salty sources.
- Animals
Cloning boosts endangered black-footed ferrets
A cloned ferret named Elizabeth Ann brings genetic diversity to a species that nearly went extinct in the 1980s.
- Animals
Squirrels use parkour tricks to leap from branch to branch
Squirrels navigate through trees by making rapid calculations. They have to balance trade-offs between branch flexibility and the distance between tree limbs.
- Archaeology
Skeletons point to world’s oldest known shark attacks
The newfound remains came from people who had lived thousands of years ago in Peru and Japan, half a world apart.
- Animals
Tiny animals survive 24,000 years in suspended animation
Tiny bdelloid rotifers awake from a 24,000-year slumber when freed from the Arctic permafrost.
- Animals
Some pikas survive winter by eating yak poop
Pikas endure bone-chilling cold on the Tibetan Plateau by using little energy and fueling up on yak poop.
- Environment
Wildfire smoke seeds the air with potentially dangerous microbes
Studies now show that most wildfires don’t kill microbes. That’s fueling worries about what risks these smoke hitchhikers might pose to people.
- Genetics
Explainer: Virus variants and strains
When viruses become more infectious or better able to survive the body’s immune system, they become a type of variant known as a strain.
- Health & Medicine
What is the role of in-person classes in COVID-19’s spread?
New data haven’t shown that schools pose a big coronavirus risk to kids and their families, despite fears that they might.
- Health & Medicine
COVID-19 can infect kids — and risks sickening some severely
Not all are equally impacted. Even among supposedly low risk groups, concerns intensify as the super-contagious delta variant sweeps across the globe.
- Climate
Stores and malls buy into ponds and rain gardens for flood control
An extra bonus: These rainy-day ponds clean up that dirty water running off parking lots.
