HS-LS2-2
Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales.
- Ecosystems
Newfound desert soil community lives on sips of fog
Lichens and other fungi and algae team up to form a 'grit-crust' on the parched soil of Chile’s Atacama Desert. Those species slake their thirst with moisture from coastal fog.
- Health & Medicine
Explainer: What is a coronavirus?
Coronaviruses are a diverse family of disease-causing agents. Some cause the common cold. Newer ones have emerged to pose more serious threats to people.
- Environment
Australian fires have imperiled up to 100 species
As massive wildfires consume huge swaths of Australia’s bush, untold species — many of them found nowhere else — are now threatened with extinction.
- Life
Why some whales become giants and others are only big
Being big helps whales access more food. But just how big a whale can get is influenced by whether it hunts or filter-feeds.
- Brain
Scientists’ brains shrank after a long stay in Antarctica
The isolation of a long-term mission at an Antarctic research station shrunk part of crew members’ brains, a small study suggests.
- Microbes
Globetrotting microbes in airplane sewage may spread antibiotic resistance
Along with harder-to-kill microbes, airplane sewage contains a diverse set of the genes that let bacteria evade antibiotics.
- Climate
5 things to know about the climate-saving benefits of tree planting
A recent analysis of the benefits of massive efforts to plant more trees triggered a firestorm of controversy.
- Microbes
Drug-resistant germs kill some 35,000 Americans each year
The new mortality rate may be way low, some experts say. Also troubling are two new germs that have emerged as big and urgent threats.
- Health & Medicine
By the numbers: How infectious measles and other diseases spread
A number called R0 measures how contagious an infectious disease is. It helps explain why measles is so dangerous.
- Life
Explainer: Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes
Prokaryotes tend to be small and simple, while eukaryotes have embraced a highly organized lifestyle. These divergent approaches to life have both proved very successful.
- Animals
Hunting hidden salamanders with eDNA
The Japanese clouded salamander is an elusive beast. To find a new population, three teens turned to high-tech methods.
- Environment
‘Boot camp’ teaches rare animals how to go wild
Animals raised in captivity cannot safely re-enter the wilds without first understanding how to find food and avoid becoming a predator’s lunch. Scientists are helping some species learn this.
