Environment

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.

Health & Medicine

Health problems persist in Flint 10 years after water poisoning

Flint, Mich., residents still show health impacts long after a switch in their drinking-water source exposed them to toxic lead and other pollutants.

Health & Medicine

9 things to know about lead’s health risks — and how to curb them

Lead has been linked to lower IQ, behavior problems, mental-health disorders, strokes and more health impacts. There are ways to reduce your exposure.

Microbes

Let’s learn about useful bacteria

Bacteria do many useful jobs almost everywhere on Earth, from the soil to the seafloor to our stomachs.

Environment

Bottled water hosts many thousands of nano-sized plastic bits

The finding emerges from tests of a new tool that identified smaller-than-ever tiny plastic bits in three brands of bottled water.

Oceans

Analyze This: Climate change may worsen the spread of ocean noise

Some parts of the ocean may become five times as loud in the future.

Animals

Which way is up? Insects may lose track near artificial lights

Flying insects may use light to figure out where the sky is. But artificial lights can send them veering off course, high-speed video suggests.

Climate

Warmer seas trigger skyrocketing ice loss in 3 Antarctic glaciers

Destabilized by waves and vanishing sea ice, one of the glaciers lost 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) of ice in 16 months — a possible hint of worse to come.

Life

Has the Endangered Species Act saved species from extinction?

After 50 years, this landmark law has kept many species alive — but few wild populations have recovered enough to come off the “endangered” list.