HS-LS2-2
Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales.
- Plants
These ferns may be first plants known to work together as ants do
Staghorn ferns grow in massive colonies where individual plants contribute different jobs. This may make them “eusocial,” like ants or termites.
- Health & Medicine
Will we all need COVID-19 booster shots?
Experts say not yet, but booster vaccines may be coming as new SARS-CoV-2 virus variants keep emerging.
- Animals
Common parasite may help mussels survive heat waves
By whitening shells, the organism helps the shellfish stay cool on sunny days, a new study suggests.
- Animals
Most species of beetles pee differently than other insects
Scientists uncover their unique system for balancing ions and water. The findings may hint at why beetles are the most diverse animals on Earth.
- Environment
Pond scum can release a paralyzing pollutant into the air
New study finds blooms of blue-green algae can seed the air with a poisonous pollutant.
- Earth
Only 3 percent of Earth’s land is unchanged by people
A sweeping survey of land-based ecosystems finds that very few still support all the animals they used to. Reintroducing lost species could help.
- 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
How bees play telephone to form a swarm
Honeybees use pheromones and flapping wings to tell each other where to find the queen — so they can all be together. Learn more with this web comic.
- Ecosystems
Urchin takeover underlies California’s vanishing kelp forests
Some 95 percent of kelp forests along its northern coast are gone. Meanwhile, sea otters are helping slow the loss of surviving kelp farther south.
- Health & Medicine
Urban pollution can pose unseen risks to kids’ immunity and more
A trio of new studies links immune changes and high blood pressure to inhaling bad air.
- 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.
- Plants
Scientists may have finally found how catnip repels insects
The plant deters mosquitoes and fruit flies by triggering a chemical receptor that, in some animals, senses pain and itch.
