When it comes to storing carbon in the ground, fungi may be key. Soils are a massive reservoir of carbon, holding about three times as much carbon as Earth’s atmosphere.…
Category: Earth
Bubble-blowing drones may one day aid artificial pollination
Drones that blow pollen-laden bubbles onto blossoms could someday help farmers pollinate their crops. Rather than relying on bees and other pollinating insects — which are dwindling worldwide as a…
Insects’ extreme farming methods offer us lessons to learn and oddities to avoid
To picture this farm, imagine some dark blobs dangling high up in a tree. Each blob can reach “about soccer ball size,” says evolutionary biologist Guillaume Chomicki of Durham University…
Engineered honeybee gut bacteria trick attackers into self-destructing
Deadly, fat-sucking mites and wing-wrecking viruses, take note. Specially engineered gut microbes can defend honeybees by tricking their enemies into self-destruction. Rod-shaped Snodgrassella bacteria, common in bee guts, were engineered…
Can forensics help keep endangered rosewood off the black market?
Jian Zhong Wang’s home in the southern Chinese city of Nanning is an inviting place. Light spills in through large bay windows, which offer a stunning view of the garden…
Too much groundwater pumping is draining many of the world’s rivers
Humankind’s collective thirst is slowly desiccating landscapes worldwide, a study of groundwater finds. Water stored in aquifers underground makes up the vast majority of accessible freshwater on Earth. Its abundance…
Many cosmetics contain hidden, potentially dangerous ‘forever chemicals’
A new chemical analysis has revealed an ugly truth about beauty products: Many may contain highly persistent, potentially harmful “forever chemicals” called PFAS. PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances,…
A new technique could make some plastic trash compostable at home
A pinch of polymer-munching enzymes could make biodegradable plastic packaging and forks truly compostable. With moderate heat, enzyme-laced films of the plastic disintegrated in standard compost or plain tap water…
The U.S.’s first open-air genetically modified mosquitoes have taken flight
The first genetically modified mosquitoes that will be allowed to fly free outdoors in the United States have started reaching the age for mating in the Florida Keys. In a…
Wildfires launch microbes into the air. How big of a health risk is that?
As climate change brings more wildfires to the western United States, a rare fungal infection has also been on the rise. Valley fever is up more than sixfold in Arizona…
