Ecosystems

Health & Medicine

Dengue is classified as an urban disease. Mosquitoes don’t care

Infectious diseases are often labeled “urban” or “rural.” Applying political labels to public health misses who is at risk, experts argue.

Science & Society

The U.S. empire was built on bird dung

A mid-1850s act let the United States seize islands rich in bird guano. Those strategic outposts fueled the U.S. rise to power, a researcher says.

Environment

An idea to save Mexico’s oyamel forests could help monarch butterflies too

Climate change is putting monarch butterflies’ overwintering forests in Mexico at risk. Could planting new forests solve that problem?

Animals

Some tadpoles don’t poop for weeks. That keeps their pools clean

Eiffinger’s tree frog babies store their solid waste in an intestinal pouch, releasing less ammonia into their watery cribs than other frog species.

Environment

A biogeochemist is tracking the movements of toxic mercury pollution

Exposing the hidden movements of mercury through the environment can help reduce human exposure.

Life

Mega El Niños kicked off the world’s worst mass extinction

Long-lasting, widespread heat and weather extremes may have caused the Great Dying extinction event 252 million years ago.

Agriculture

Can scientists make fruits and veggies resilient to climate change?

Combining traditional plant breeding with new genomics tools is allowing scientists to grow plants that are better adapted to a warming climate.

Oceans

In a seafloor surprise, metal-rich chunks may generate deep-sea oxygen

Instead of sinking from the surface, some deep-sea oxygen may be created by battery-like nodules that split water into hydrogen and oxygen.

Animals

Tiny saunas help frogs fight off chytrid fungus

Balmy shelters could bolster resistance to the deadly fungus in amphibian populations, but experts caution they won’t work for all susceptible species.

Animals

‘Cull of the Wild’ questions sacrificing wildlife in the name of conservation

In his new book, ecologist Hugh Warwick seeks middle ground in the waging battle that is wildlife management.

Environment

‘The High Seas’ tells of the many ways humans are laying claim to the ocean

The book explains how the race for ocean resources from fish to ores to new medicines — the Blue Acceleration — is playing out.

Animals

Want to see butterflies in your backyard? Try doing less yardwork

Growing out patches of grass can lure adult butterflies and moths with nectar and offer lawn mower–free havens for toddler caterpillars.