Rainfall in the driest parts of Chile’s Atacama Desert in 2017 resulted in hypersaline lagoons that killed the majority of microbes adapted to millions of years of arid conditions.
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The Many Unknown Facets of Plastics in Ecosystems
Few studies have examined lakes or wide swaths of ocean areas, leaving critical data gaps in how plastic pollution affects wildlife and moves across food webs.
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Election Results Offer Hope for Climate Action
The Democrats’ control of the House of Representatives promises to provide checks and balances on the Trump administration, environmental leaders say.
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Could Life Be Floating in Venus’s Clouds?
If present, microbes could explain evolving patterns in the planet’s atmosphere when observed in ultraviolet light.
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Three Statewide Environmental Ballot Questions to Watch
Voters today will decide the fate of measures to increase renewable energy use, require larger buffer zones between people and oil and gas development, and establish a statewide carbon emissions fee.
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How Did Life Recover After Earth’s Worst-Ever Mass Extinction?
Ocean animals at the top of the food chain recovered first after a cataclysm at the end of the Permian period. The extinction was triggered by events resembling the changes brewing in today’s oceans.
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Girl Scouts Can Now Earn Space Science Badges
Young Girl Scouts can be explorers, adventurers, and investigators as they work toward badges that teach them about the Sun, the solar system, and the stars.
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Free Flight Time for Projects in Atmospheric Sciences
Got an urgent or innovative project that involves collecting airborne data? A research flight company is donating an estimated $100,000 of its resources to help you.
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Peruvian Mountain Birds Take an “Escalator to Extinction”
As the climate warms, tropical birds living in the mountains are retreating to higher elevations to avoid the heat. What happens when they run out of mountain slope to escape to?
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Countries Urge Increased International Research in the Arctic
A joint statement from countries with interests in the Arctic emphasizes the need for scientific collaboration in this rapidly changing region but sidesteps attributing climate change to human activities.