Surprising amounts of mercury settling into deep-sea trenches may provide a fuller picture of the metal’s path through the environment, but pulling it to the surface is no easy feat.
animals
Posted inNews
Glacial Ice Offers Polar Bears a Precarious Climate Refuge
An isolated polar bear population in southeastern Greenland survives in fjords, despite spotty sea ice. But this pocket of bears is not a sign of how the species could be saved.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Fluid Dynamics of Tiny, Ancient Marine Animals
Water flow simulations using 3D models of fossils yield new clues to the evolution of organisms known as medusozoans.
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Scientists Tune In to Blue Whale Feeding Rhythms
New acoustic sensing technology is allowing scientists to track blue whale movements in real time, a breakthrough that could help save whales’ lives.
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Rain Makes Skulls Bigger—in Mice
New research shows how regional weather, shaped by towering mountain ranges, might influence the size and shape of local rodents.
Posted inScience Updates
A Post-Impact Deep Freeze for Dinosaurs
New research supports the hypothesis that dinosaurs were done in by climate change after an asteroid impact kicked up a massive plume of sulfur gases that circled the globe for several decades.
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Volcanic Winters Ushered in the Jurassic Reign of the Dinosaurs
Sediment cores from northwestern China reveal freezing conditions during the Late Triassic killed off many forms of life—but not dinosaurs.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Plant-Nibbling Insects May Make It Cloudier and Cooler
Insects that eat plant leaves could change the local atmosphere, but current climate models do not account for this impact.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
The Shapes of Shrimp Farms Affect Their Groundwater Pollution
New findings may help decisionmakers optimize shrimp farm layouts, which could help improve coastal water quality.
Posted inNews
Seashells and Penguin Bones Reveal Thwaites Glacier’s Quiet Past
Antarctica’s Thwaites and Pine Island Glaciers are melting faster than they have in the past 5,500 years, new evidence shows. Against expectations, their pasts have been remarkably stable.