Earth
- Animals
Whale blowholes don’t keep out seawater
Whales’ blowholes aren’t as protective as scientists had thought. They not only can let in water but also pollutants.
- Chemistry
New solution for carbon dioxide: Turn it into ‘green’ fuel
Chemists have created a new way to convert carbon dioxide into ethanol. It might one day help remove excess CO2 — a greenhouse gas — from the air.
- 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.
- Tech
Here’s the summer science you might have missed
From sizzling Siberia and ‘smart’ toilets, to new uses for astronaut pee, more than COVID-19 made news this summer.
- 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.
- Health & Medicine
Dust can infect animals with flu, raising coronavirus concerns
Dust particles kicked up from some virus-contaminated surface can become a source of new infections, rodent data show.
- Agriculture
Scientists Say: Carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are molecules with carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. Animals break down these chemicals in food to get energy.
- Space
Scientists Say: Solar
What do solar energy, the solar year and solar flares have in common? They’re all related to the sun.
- Environment
Pesticides contaminate most food of western U.S. monarchs
Monarch caterpillars eat only milkweeds. A new study finds widespread pesticide use has tainted these plants across the insect’s western U.S. breeding grounds.
- Climate
Siberian heat wave that caused an oil spill made more likely by climate change
The six-month heat wave in Siberia during the first half of 2020 would not have happened without human-caused climate change, researchers find.
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