MS-LS2-1
Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
- Animals
The shocking electric eel!
Electric eels are fascinating animals. Their powerful zaps can act like a radar system, trick fish into revealing their location and then freeze their prey’s movements.
- Animals
Wildlife forensics turns to eDNA
Environmental DNA, or eDNA, tells biologists what species have been around — even when they’re out of sight or have temporarily moved on.
- Chemistry
Slime cities
Biofilms are like tiny cities of bacteria — some harmless, others destructive. Scientists are learning how to keep these microscopic metropolises under control.
- Animals
Pesticides offer bees a risky allure
Honeybees and bumblebees sometimes cannot taste or avoid pesticides called neonicotinoids. And that may expose some of these important pollinators to harm.
- Microbes
Life’s ultra-slow lane is deep beneath the sea
Biologists had suspected the deep seafloor would be little more than barren sediment. But they found a surprising amount of oxygen — and life.
- Animals
News Brief: Rabbit-hunting pythons are altering Everglades
Rabbits may breed rapidly, but not fast enough to compensate for the huge summer appetites of huge pythons roaming Florida’s Everglades.
- Climate
Desert plants: The ultimate survivors
Creosote, mesquite and other desert plants rely on different adaptations to thrive, even when no rain falls for an entire year.
- Animals
Tiny — but mighty — food-cleanup crews
Discarded food wastes can turn city spaces into food courts for disease-carrying rats and pigeons. But a new study shows tiny cleanup crews — especially pavement ants — are doing their best to eliminate such wastes. This, in turn, makes cities less attractive to bigger pests.
- Animals
Rare as a rhino
Most species are rare. Some have always been rare. A problem develops when people are responsible for accelerating a species’ rarity to the point that extinction threatens.
- Animals
Bugs may have made us brainy
Finding and eating bugs when other food was scarce helped primates — including our ancestors — evolve bigger and better brains. At least that’s the conclusion of a new study in Costa Rica.
- Animals
A library of tweets (and howls and grunts)
The Macaulay Library houses a world of animal sounds. And now anyone with an Internet connection can check out this audio collection.
- Animals
Free app tracks fireflies
Scientists are worried about firefly populations. Now you can use a free app to map firefly flashes, and contribute data to tracking the health of this popular summertime bug.
