Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
- Life
If bacteria stick together, they can survive for years in space
Tiny clumps of bacteria can survive at least three years in outer space. This raises the prospect of interplanetary travel by microbial life.
- Ecosystems
Soggy coastal soils? Here’s why ecologists love them
Coastal wetlands can protect our shores from erosion, flooding and rising sea levels.
- Plants
‘Vampire’ parasite challenges the definition of a plant
Langsdorffia are stripped down to their essentials. Lacking green leaves for photosynthesis, they steal energy and nutrients from other plants.
- Chemistry
Stinky success: Scientists identify the chemistry of B.O.
They turned up the enzyme in bacteria behind that underarm stench. Understanding how it works could pave the way to new types of deodorant.
- Animals
Quacks and toots help young honeybee queens avoid deadly duels
It’s not just ducks that quack. Honey bees do it too. They also toot. Researchers eavesdropped on hives to find out why.
- Health & Medicine
Four summer camps show how to limit COVID-19 outbreak
Schools might take a lesson from these overnight facilities in Maine. They kept infection rates low by testing a lot and grouping kids into ‘bubbles.’
- Animals
A single chemical may draw lonely locusts into a hungry swarm
Swarms of locusts can destroy crops. Scientists have discovered a chemical that might make locusts come together in huge hungry swarms.
- Animals
Some beetles can be eaten by a frog, then walk out the other end
After being eaten by a frog, some water beetles can scurry through the digestive tract and emerge on the other side — alive and well.
- Archaeology
Women like Mulan didn’t need to go to war in disguise
Female skeletons in Mongolia show injuries like those of fighting men — evidence that they could be warriors, too.
- Animals
Are coyotes moving into your neighborhood?
How do coyotes survive in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago? Researchers and citizen scientists are working together to find answers.
- Microbes
Some deep-seafloor microbes still alive after 100 million years!
Some starving microbes nap while awaiting their next meal. For some living miles below the ocean surface, that nap may exceed 100 million years.
- Environment
Busy beavers may be speeding thaw of Arctic permafrost
As climate change continues, busy beavers are expanding their range in Alaska. Their dams could further speed the loss of permafrost there and promote local warming.
