8,095 results
- Science & Society
Placement of marine reserves is key
A study finds that focusing on the heaviest-fished areas can help meet conservation goals.
- Earth
Ancient marine reptiles losing their cool
Warm-bloodedness may help explain the creatures’ evolutionary success, a new study suggests.
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- Humans
BP gusher left deep sea toxic for a time, study finds
In the early weeks after the damaged BP well began gushing huge quantities of oil and gas, a toxic brew was developing deep below the surface in plumes emanating from the wellhead. Finned fish and marine mammals probably steered well clear of the spewing hydrocarbons. But planktonic young — larval critters and algae that ride the currents — would have been proverbial sitting ducks.
- Chemistry
Chinese would turn cigarette butts into steel’s guardian
People smoke a lot of cigarettes, which leads to a lot of trash. Tom Novotny has done the math: An estimated 5.6 trillion butts each year end up littering the global environment. But Chinese researchers have a solution: recycling. Their new data indicate that an aqueous extract of stinky butts makes a great corrosion inhibitor for steel.
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Yawn
Latest research awakens debate over why people can’t keep their mouths closed.
- Animals
Fearless tadpoles give invaders the edge
Clueless larvae don’t heed the scent of nonnative turtles, giving newcomers an edge over native species, a European study finds.
- Life
Molecular Evolution
Investigating the genetic books of life reveals new details of 'descent with modification' and the forces driving it.
- Life
Ingredients of hagfish slime revealed
Figuring out the ingredients still doesn’t explain how the fishes avoid premature mucus explosions
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Science Past from the issue of May 7, 1960
WHISTLING SWANS DYED TO STUDY MIGRATION ROUTE — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been dyeing whistling swans vivid colors to learn more about their migratory movements. With their wings, tails or other body parts colored blue, yellow, green or red, the swans are easier to observe both when flying and resting on the ground. […]
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In field or backyard, frogs face threats
Amphibians and other sensitive groups encounter chemicals across the landscape.
- Ecosystems
No ‘dead zone’ from BP oil
As aquatic microbes dine, they consume oxygen. When too many congregate at some temporary smorgasbord of goodies, they can use up so much oxygen that a so-called dead zone develops — water with too little oxygen to sustain fish, mammals or shellfish. On Sept. 7, federal scientists reported that despite the massive release of oil from the damaged BP well in the Gulf of Mexico, no such dead zone developed.
