Tornado-generating beaks and whirlpool-stirring feet help flamingos transform shallow waters into shrimp-swirling death zones — corralling agile prey with the flair of a Las Vegas stage act and the efficiency of a Dyson vacuum. That’s the takeaway from a study published May 12 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that combined high-speed…
Whether we’re considering global trade, new technologies or scientific research, everything seems to become more complex over time. In the past, polymaths became well versed in various disciplines and made important contributions to each. But today it is far more difficult for a person to excel in multiple domains, in part because of greater specialization….
Rivers such as the Chuya in Russia can be a source of carbon dioxide and methane Parilov/Shutterstock Rivers around the world are leaking ancient carbon back into the atmosphere. The finding has taken scientists by surprise and suggests human activities are damaging the natural landscape far more than first thought. Researchers already knew rivers released…
Seismic symphonies of minor earthquakes may affect grand movements on major faults. Small and distant earthquakes can disrupt the growth of slow-slip events — gradual fault movements that can release tremendous amounts of energy at gentle tempos, a new analysis of seismic data suggests. Reported in the May 16 Science Advances, the research shows that…
In 2012 NASA stealthily slipped a morgue into orbit. No press release. No fanfare. Just a sealed, soft-sided pouch tucked in a cargo shipment to the International Space Station (ISS) alongside freeze-dried meals and scientific gear. Officially, it was called the Human Remains Containment Unit (HRCU). To the untrained eye it looked like a shipping…
Glue guns typically use toxic petroleum-based adhesives Shutterstock/Ekaterina43 A by-product of the timber industry has been turned into a safe and reusable hot-gun glue that could replace solvent-based adhesives that are toxic to humans and the environment. Ziwen Lv at Beijing Forestry University in China and colleagues created the glue from a xylan, a component of…
How trees fare under drought depends heavily on their past experiences. In some cases, adversity breeds resilience: Spruce trees that experience long-term droughts are more resistant to future droughts, owing to an impressive ability to adjust their canopies to save water, researchers in Germany report May 16 in Plant Biology. On the other hand, trees…
Most of us would rather not dwell for too long on the subject of mucus. We know it is there, quietly lubricating our insides and presumably doing vital work. It is only when we have a cold that we give it any particular attention – and even then, it is an unpleasant nuisance, something to…
Artist’s impression of the Resilience lunar lander ispace A private spacecraft will attempt to land on the moon this week, in what would be the second successful private landing this year and only the third ever. If Japanese space company ispace pulls off the landing, it will also be the first non-US firm to touch…
An egg mass with adult termites of the invasive Coptotermes gestroi species T Chouvenc, UF/IFAS Florida’s newest termite is two for the price of one, but nobody’s celebrating. Two species of globally invasive, timber-chewing insects are interbreeding there, creating hybrid colonies that could produce incredibly hardy termites that threaten buildings and forests alike. The findings are…
