Animals
Wayward baby puffins get help from a community-led Puffling Patrol
Fitted with ID tags or tracking devices, birds from one Iceland colony give scientists an eye into puffins’ largely unknown lives at sea.
Environment
More Stories in Environment
- Earth
Meet the sneaky and surprisingly dangerous squall-line tornado
These destructive, radar-dodging twisters often form at night. Emerging data from the U.S. Southeast might soon make forecasting the tornadoes possible.
- Earth
As Yellowstone’s supervolcano slumbers, another big danger lurks
Superheated water beneath Yellowstone could fuel hydrothermal explosions with the force of an atomic bomb. And lessons from the past suggest they could happen today.
- Tech
Lasers help put the cork on spilled oil
Treating cork with lasers made the material able to quickly sponge up oil while repelling water, scientists in China and Israel found.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Methane
Used to cook food and heat homes, this potent greenhouse gas accounts for 30 percent of the warming of our climate.
- Environment
To limit pollution, new recipe makes plastic a treat for microbes
Microplastics made from fossil fuels take centuries to disappear. But the plant- and algae-based plastic can break down in weeks to months.
- Chemistry
Air pollution can make it harder for pollinators to find flowers
Pollutants that build up in night air can break down the scents that attract pollinating hawkmoths to primrose blooms, disrupting their pollination.
- Chemistry
Turning jeans blue with sunlight might help the environment
When dipped in indican and exposed to sunlight, yarn turns a deep blue. This process is more eco-friendly than the current denim dyeing method.
- Earth
Experiment: Can plants stop soil erosion?
Soil erosion washes pollutants into streams and rivers — but plants may help limit that.
- Environment
Scientists Say: Carbon capture
Carbon capture technology tackles climate change by stomping out carbon dioxide at the source.
