Ecosystems
- Genetics
Gene drives aren’t ready for the wild, report concludes
A type of genetic engineering called gene drives need more work, a National Academies report concludes.
- Environment
Deepwater Horizon oil spill caused months-long ‘dirty blizzard’
Pollution from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill accumulated on the seafloor for months after the leak was patched.
- Life
Studying cheese reveals how microbes interact
Microbiologist Rachel Dutton uses cheese rinds to study how microbes form communities.
- Ecosystems
Heat may outpace corals’ ability to cope
Corals may soon lose their ability to withstand warming waters.
- Animals
Pied flycatchers cruise nonstop for days to cross the Sahara
Teeny, tiny passerine birds called pied flycatchers fly day and night during their annual migration south across the Sahara.
- Animals
Ant antennae provide chemical ID
Ants use their antennae to identify nest-mates and potential invaders. But antennae also produce the key compounds that ants use to tell friend from foe.
- Animals
Ants’ antennae both send and receive chemical signals
Ants use their antennae to identify nest-mates and potential invaders. But antennae also produce the key compounds that ants use to tell friend from foe.
- Animals
Lethal bat disease moves west
For the first time, the bat-killing white-nose syndrome shows up west of the Rockies.
- Animals
White-nose bat disease jumps the Rockies to Washington state
For the first time, the bat-killing white-nose syndrome shows up west of the Rockies.
- Animals
Female burying beetle uses chemical cue to douse love life
While raising their young, burying beetle mothers produce a chemical compound that limits their male partner’s desire to mate.
- Ecosystems
Australian fairy circles first to be found outside Africa
Strange patterns of grassland bald spots called fairy circles show up in Western Australia.
- Ecosystems
FDA predicts no significant environmental impact from GM mosquitoes
The FDA has taken a step in the process of deciding whether to allow the first test release in the United States of genetically modified mosquitoes to fight diseases such as Zika.
