Life

  1. Ecosystems

    Brazil Nut Loss Looms: Harvest may be too heavy to last

    A study of 23 spots in Amazonian forests has raised the question of whether the collection of Brazil nuts—praised as a model of gentle forest use—has reached such levels that it may not be sustainable.

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  2. Plants

    Sweet Lurkers: Cryptic fungi protect chocolate-tree leaves

    A whole world of fungi thrives inside tree leaves without causing any harm, and researchers now say these residents may help fight disease.

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  3. Plants

    Warm-Blooded Plants?

    Research heats up on why some flowers have the chemistry to keep themselves warm.

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  4. Ecosystems

    New Farmers: Salt marsh snails plow leaves, fertilize fungus

    A salt marsh snail works the leaves of a plant in what researchers say looks like a simple form of farming.

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  5. Paleontology

    Proud paleontologists proclaim: It’s a boy!

    Marine sediments deposited about 425 million years ago have yielded what scientists contend is the world’s oldest undoubtedly male fossil.

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  6. Ecosystems

    UK halts badger kill after study of TB

    Partial results from a new study have pushed the United Kingdom to stop its controversial, decades-old policy of killing local badgers if cattle catch TB.

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  7. Ecosystems

    Will Climate Change Depose Monarchs? Model predicts too-wet winter refuges

    A computer analysis suggests that eastern monarch butterflies may not be able to tolerate the increasingly moist climate in Mexico, their current wintering site.

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  8. Paleontology

    Northern Extinction: Alaskan horses shrank, then disappeared

    Horses that lived in Alaska shrank dramatically in body size before they went extinct at the end of the last ice age.

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  9. Plants

    Micro Sculptors

    Snippets of RNA that control biochemical reactions by squelching the creation of specific proteins play a role in the development of leaves.

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  10. Animals

    Not-So-Great Hunter: Said the spider to the fly—Eek! I’m outta here

    The poisonous brown recluse spider may turn out not to be a fearsome hunter so much as a scavenger.

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  11. Animals

    First Impressions: Early view biases spider’s mate choice

    In a new wrinkle on how females develop their tastes in males, a test has found that young female wolf spiders that see a male's courtship display grow up with a preference for that look in mates.

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  12. Paleontology

    Ancient atmosphere was productive

    New laboratory experiments suggest that extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in the era just before the dinosaurs went extinct may have boosted plant productivity to at least three times that found in today’s ecosystems.

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