Environment

Animals

Freshwater fish are in trouble: Here’s how we can help them

Human activities threaten the survival of many freshwater fish species. Research is now pointing to how we can best overcome those threats.

Environment

More and more, microplastics are collecting in our brains

Over eight years, the mass of microplastics in human brains increased by some 50 percent. There are growing hints that internal microplastics may harm us.

Environment

New water treatment process removes pollutants most now don’t

The two-step water treatment process could cut not only excreted drugs flowing into waterways but also some nutrients that feed harmful algal blooms.

Plants

Could trees ever get up and walk away?

In fantasy, trees can walk, climb and even fight. Real trees move, too. It just happens in extreme slow mo.

Chemistry

Some bacteria in wastewater can break down a common plastic

These microbes can break the carbon bonds that make PET plastics so hard to degrade. This type of plastic makes up almost one-third of plastic waste.

Earth

Scientists Say: Avulsion

As rivers seek out easier routes to the sea, path reroutes can transform our world. This is ‘avulsion’ refers to in geology. In medicine, the word can describe injuries.

Oceans

The world’s largest coral is longer than a blue whale

Scientists found the coral off the coast of the Solomon Islands.

Ecosystems

There’s life beneath the snow — but it’s at risk of melting away

The organisms that make winter homes in this subnivium help forests thrive year-round. But climate change is making this ecosystem disappear.

Materials Science

This teen materials scientist wants to save the Great Salt Lake

Thermo Fisher JIC finalist Sophia Zhang investigated hydrogels that might conserve water in farming — a big stressor of the lake’s water supply.

Tech

To stay cool, some future homes may build on past power-free tech

Accordion-pleated walls and other heat-managing structures could cool homes in hot, dry places naturally — without electricity.

Earth

A landslide in a Greenland fjord echoed around Earth for 9 days

Warming permafrost and glacial melt destabilized a fragile mountain slope, leading to a landslide-triggered tsunami in a fjord. Is this a sign of more to come?

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.