Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

  1. Chemistry

    Chemistry: Green and clean

    “Green” means environmentally friendly and sustainable. Green chemistry creates products and processes that are safer and cleaner — from the start.

    By Jennifer Weeks
  2. Animals

    Elephants appear to be super sniffers

    Elephants are not only massive, but also possess the most odor-detecting genes of any animal known, new research shows.

    By Nsikan Akpan
  3. Environment

    Bug-killer linked to decline in birds

    One of the most popular chemicals used to protect crops from bugs may also take a toll on birds, a Dutch study finds. U.S. farmers also rely on these insecticides, a second study finds.

    By Stephen Ornes and Janet Raloff
  4. Microbes

    The Bahamas’ African roots

    Ocean bacteria may have built the Bahama islands, fed by dust blown across the Atlantic from the Sahara Desert.

    By Stephen Ornes
  5. 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.

    By Sharon Oosthoek
  6. Animals

    Keep the lights on for National Moth Week

    Helping scientists is as easy as leaving your porch light on. Photograph the moths you see and upload them to the Internet for science.

    By Bethany Brookshire
  7. Microbes

    The war on superbugs

    Doctors and scientists are exploring ways to stem the growing global crisis of antibacterial resistance.

    By Esther Landhuis
  8. Microbes

    Explainer: What you can do to fight antibiotic resistance

    Doctors and scientists are not the only people who can help preserve the effectiveness of life-saving antibiotics. Even patients have a role to play, as these tips show.

    By Esther Landhuis
  9. Microbes

    The HIV cure — that wasn’t

    Immediate and aggressive drug treatment of a baby born with HIV appeared to have cured the girl. In fact, a follow-up shows, she still has the disease.

    By Janet Raloff
  10. Microbes

    Superbugs: A silent health emergency

    Have antibiotics become too popular? Overusing these medicines fuels resistant germs that pose a global health threat.

    By Esther Landhuis
  11. Animals

    Teen shows salty lionfish are getting fresh

    Lauren Arrington kept spotting lionfish in rivers near her Florida home. Her science fair project probed how much fresh water these ocean fish could stand — and led to a published research paper.

    By Bethany Brookshire
  12. Animals

    Cool Jobs: A whale of a time

    Studying blue whales, spinner dolphins and other cetaceans demands clever ways to unveil the out-of-sight behaviors of these marine denizens.

    By Eric Wagner