Humans are fascinated by our planet's distant past. Since human recorded history only goes back a few thousand years, we probe Earth's "memory" in various ways to uncover its secrets. One of these methods is to hunt for traces from the past, also known as "proxies," which help scientists understand what Earth was like long ago.

New research published in the journal Ecology conclusively shows that certain physical traits of flowers affect the health of bumblebees by modulating the transmission of a harmful pathogen called Crithidia bombi. In particular, the research, conducted by scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, shows that the length of a flower's corolla, or the flower's petals, affects how this...

A University of Cincinnati adjunct professor flew to Indonesia this year to visit some old friends, Harapan and Andalas.

Stake out in Pennsylvania's Cook State Forest at the right time of year and you can see one of nature's great light shows: swarms of fireflies that synchronize their flashes like strings of Christmas lights in the dark.

Climate change will increase opportunities to see rainbows, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Mānoa. The study's authors estimate that by 2100, the average land location on Earth will experience about 5% more days with rainbows than at the beginning of the 21st century.

Over 34 million people in the U.S. don't have enough food. More diverse and adaptable crops are needed to address challenges in food production made worse by climate change. Small, sweet berries called groundcherries may not feed the country, but along with other related "orphan crops," they could strengthen food supplies. Unfortunately, these distant relatives of tomatoes aren't ready for...

The early months of the COVID-19 pandemic were marked by far higher death rates among Black people than white people in the United States. Before 2020 ended, however, differences between the two groups had nearly equalized.

New research from Colgate University changes our understanding of seasonal thawing in parts of Antarctica, as scientists have learned that summer thawing occurs nearly a month earlier, and stays thawed for a full two months longer than previously believed.

Oxygen-starved ocean "dead zones," where fish and animals cannot survive, have been expanding in the open ocean and coastal waters for several decades as a result of human agricultural and industrial activity. Trying to predict the scale and location of future dead zones, scientists have looked to the past for historical clues.

Twilight observations with the US Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a Program of NSF's NOIRLab, have enabled astronomers to spot three near-Earth asteroids (NEA) hiding in the glare of the sun. These NEAs are part of an elusive population that lurks inside the orbits of Earth and Venus. One of the asteroids is the largest object...

New Charles Darwin University (CDU) research suggest that people are less likely to use social media as an information source during a natural disaster, instead using traditional media and authorities' websites for critical information.

Polar cod is an important part of the food web of the Arctic. Sarah Maes (KU Leuven) and Fokje Schaafsma (Wageningen Marine Research) investigated the diet of polar cod from the Barents Sea, with the help of colleagues from the KU Leuven and the Alfred Wegener Institute. They did this by combining traditional microscopy with DNA analysis. The study resulted in new insights regarding the diet of...

The deep sea contains more than 90% of the water in our oceans, but only about a third of all fish species. Scientists have long thought the explanation for this was intuitive—shallow ocean waters are warm and full of resources, making them a prime location for new species to evolve and thrive. But a new University of Washington study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...

Cancer immunotherapies, such as immune checkpoint inhibition therapy, have been attracting attention in recent years as new methods for treating cancer. However, immune checkpoint inhibition therapy is only effective in 20%–30% of cancer patients, so developing better drug delivery systems to induce anticancer cellular immunity is necessary.

First, the good news: The amount of planet-warming gases Californians released into the atmosphere in 2020 was 9% less than the previous year—a record decline mostly because of motorists driving less amid the COVID-19 lockdown.

The beauty of live-imaging studies is the specimen is alive, allowing dynamics such as cell division and embryonic development to be recorded over time.

Big changes may be coming this spring for many San Diego restaurants and retail stores, because city officials say they plan to follow through on a long-delayed ban on polystyrene foam food containers, coolers, pool toys and similar products.

A new University of California, Davis, study analyzing romantic first impressions shows that compatibility and popularity among the dating pool are influential in shaping who people pursue as potential romantic partners.

With the Colorado River reservoirs continuing to decline, federal officials announced plans Friday to revise their current rules for dealing with shortages and will pursue a new agreement to achieve larger reductions in water use throughout the Southwest.

A federal effort to expand safety measures to protect endangered right whales from boat collisions in the Atlantic Ocean is receiving a big thumbs down from the maritime industry.

You might catch a glimpse of fireballs in the sky this week. The "meteors of Halloween" are back for the first time since 2015, according to NASA astronomers.

In western Montana's Mission Mountains, whitebark pine trees have been hit hard by blister rust, an invasive disease.

It's a tale as old as time. A parasite feeds on another species, taking what it needs and eventually leaving a host-organism corpse in its wake.

Hair loss is undesirable for many men—and women—because one's hairstyle is often closely tied to their self-confidence. And while some people embrace it, others wish they could regrow their lost strands. Now, researchers reporting in Nano Letters have used artificial intelligence (AI) to predict compounds that could neutralize baldness-causing reactive oxygen species in the scalp. Using the...