Microorganisms may provide hope that peatlands can withstand hotter temperatures in a changing climate, according to a study recently published in the New Phytologist.

The largest study ever conducted on a free-ranging population of rhinoceroses reveals that about one in every seven rhinos in a key South African national park has been infected with Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis), the pathogen that causes bovine tuberculosis (bTB). The finding shines new light on the potential for diseases to disrupt global conservation efforts, and potentially increase risk to...

NASA is launching the first two of six small satellites no earlier than June 12, to study the formation and development of tropical cyclones almost every hour—about four to six times more often than is possible with current satellites. This is the first of three CubeSat launches for NASA's Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats...

A large swathe of the southwestern United States was on alert Thursday for a potentially deadly heatwave that could push temperatures as high as 47 degrees celsius (117 Fahrenheit) over the coming days.

NASA is officially joining the hunt for UFOs.

Thanks to climate change, high-elevation forests in the Central Cascade mountains of the Pacific Northwest are burning more frequently and expansively than in the recent past, prompting researchers and fire managers to question whether forests will be able to recover from these emerging fire patterns and whether they will require human assistance to do so.

Hayabusa2 is an asteroid sample-return mission operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which investigated the asteroid Ryugu. Carbonaceous asteroids like Ryugu are important because they are thought to preserve the most pristine, untainted materials in the solar system: a mixture of minerals, ice and organic compounds. The Haybusa2 mission is the first to collect samples from a...

Researchers have mimicked a corn plant's make-up in the lab to investigate "corn smut," opening the door to finding a cure for the disease. Their study appears in Science.

Researchers at the University of Queensland have found a species of worm with an appetite for polystyrene that could be the key to plastic recycling on a mass scale.

Since the first hot Jupiter was discovered in 1995, astronomers have been trying to figure out how the searing-hot exoplanets formed and arrived in their extreme orbits. Johns Hopkins University astronomers have found a way to determine the relative age of hot Jupiters using new measurements from the Gaia spacecraft, which is tracking over a billion stars.

Following a devastating wildfire in 2018 that raged through Paradise, California, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were found to be contaminating the town's water—and scientists suggest this problem may be widespread in other fire-prone areas. A feature article in Chemical & Engineering News, an independent news outlet of the American Chemical Society, examines how plastic pipes may be a key...

In the lead-up to the release of Webb's first full-color images and spectroscopic data on July 12, the Webb team is now in the last phase of commissioning the science instruments. The first two instrument modes, NIRCam imaging and NIRISS imaging, have been declared ready for science; watch the "Where is Webb" page as the team works their way through the other 15 instrument modes.

While much of public attention on Yellowstone focuses on its potential to produce large supereruptions, the hazards that are much more likely to occur are smaller, violent hydrothermal explosions. Hydrothermal explosions occur when near-boiling water suddenly flashes into steam, releasing large amounts of energy. The energy release fractures the rock downward, often leaving behind a crater. The...

Parents accustomed to home schooling felt more resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic than those whose public-school children were suddenly housebound, according to a Rice University study.

A mirror on the James Webb Space Telescope was struck by a micrometeoroid last month but is expected to continue to function normally, NASA said Thursday.

University of Queensland scientists have cracked a problem that's frustrated chemists and physicists for years, potentially leading to a new age of powerful, efficient, and environmentally friendly technologies.

Phosphorus is an essential but often overlooked resource, which is vital for life on Earth and is extracted from phosphate rock for use in crop fertilizers, livestock feeds and food additives. A major new report by scientists warns that global mismanagement of this finite nutrient is causing twin crises, brought into sharp focus with fertilizer prices skyrocketing in recent months.

A black canister with yellow filter inside—resembling a cross between a trash can and big pool skimmer—was dunked in the Schuylkill River at Bartram's Garden park in Philadelphia and emptied daily from May to June to see what it would catch.

In biology, getting rid of stuff can be just as important as making it. A buildup of cells, proteins, or other molecules that are no longer needed can cause problems, so living things have evolved several ways to clean house.

A deep dive into the 5,500 marine RNA virus species scientists recently identified has found that several may help drive carbon absorbed from the atmosphere to permanent storage on the ocean floor.

A hotter ocean is a hungrier ocean—at least as far as fish predators are concerned. In a new field study published online June 9 in Science, Smithsonian scientists discovered predator impacts in the Atlantic and Pacific peak at higher temperatures. The effects cascade down to transform other life in the ocean, potentially disrupting balances that have existed for millennia.

Interferons are proteins that constitute an important part of our natural defense systems. These proteins also exhibit a remarkable antiviral activity. The recombinant human interferon α2b (rhIFNα2b) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1986. It has been used ever since as an antiviral agent for the treatment of hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Despite its widespread...

The drought currently impacting the upper Colorado River Basin is extremely severe. A new study from federal government and university scientists led by the Bureau of Reclamation and published in Geophysical Research Letters identifies a second-century drought unmatched in severity by the current drought or previously identified droughts.

Humans have used milk to make cheese for millennia. However, climate change and sustainability concerns are prompting us to look towards the plant kingdom for the cheeses of the future. New research from the University of Copenhagen points to the modest yellow pea, which with its high nutritional content and sustainable cultivation attributes, could become tomorrow's plant-based cheese of choice.