To save the reefs, save the trees and the soil they grow in
Read now →Soil from the surface can smother reefs. A new study creates a map of corals most susceptible to runoff from land
I am a tropical forest ecologist and PhD student at Wake Forest University. I currently study the disturbance ecology of tropical montane forests, which means I spend a lot of time scrambling up landslides in the Peruvian Andes! My work is important for understanding the structure, composition, and functioning of these dynamic forest ecosystems.
A human-elephant conflict video game may bolster conservation efforts
Read now →The multiplayer game tests conservation strategies for farmers interacting with elephants in Gabon, but its lessons reveal a need for human equity
Elon Musk's climate change prize is empty and worthless
Read now →Those who control vast sums of money could easily fund real changes and simply choose not to
1 peer comment
Watching Earth change from space: an interview with Africa Flores-Anderson
Read now →The National Geographic Explorer and NASA scientist spoke with Massive on how imaging environmental change can change minds
A new kind of climate change book brings emotions to the table
Read now →"All We Can Save" doesn't shy away from doom or hope, encompassing the enormity of climate change
Meet Merit-Ptah, the ancient Egyptian doctor who didn't exist
Read now →Though created by accident, her story fit neatly with burgeoning 20th century feminism
Narwhal DNA captured a survival story the last time the glaciers melted
Read now →But their success in the past likely won't repeat itself now that ice is melting again
Meet Alice Wilson, the Canadian geologist who did the work of five people
Read now →She wasn't allowed to work at remote field sites, so she became the expert in her local rocks and fossils
Scientists recreated a key step for the origin of life at hydrothermal vents
Read now →Simulating alkaline environments from 3 billion years ago showed formation of precursor cells is possible
1 peer comment
There's a straight line from Trump's trade war with China to the destruction of the Amazon
Read now →U.S. exports of soybeans to China have dropped dramatically. Brazil is stepping up to meet Chinese demand — and burning vast areas of the Amazon along the way.
1 peer comment
Climate change is almost too big a problem to study. The solution? Volcanoes.
Read now →Volcanoes blanketed by tropical rainforests are a natural laboratory to study climate change
1 peer comment
Biodiversity loss is the very real end of the world and no one is acting like it
Read now →Radical, wholesale change is needed right this second and cannot be delayed
4 peer comments
How shadowy tax havens skirt conservation efforts
Read now →Dark money foreign investments may bankroll deforestation and overfishing
1 peer comment
"Poached" takes you into the trenches of wildlife crime
Read now →Rachel Love Nuwer explains how and why illegal trade threatens to wipe some of our planet's most charismatic animals off the map forever
Why fieldwork is still crucial for science research
Read now →There are some things it's impossible to discern without ground truthing
1 peer comment
How one invasive plant can change a rainforest
Read now →The mountain apple's entry into Indonesia a century ago still threatens biodiversity there
1 peer comment
'Being Ecological' is a book with admirable aims and a tangled execution
Read now →Prioritizing data over action can be counterproductive – but so is a muddled message
A gold rush in the Peruvian Amazon threatens to fill a vital and diverse ecosystem with mercury
Read now →Bats are the canaries in the Amazonian goldmine
What Pokémon GO can teach conservationists about public engagement
Read now →In six days, players collected as much data as naturalists had in 400 years
Four facts about Marie Tharp, the woman whose art mapped the bottom of the sea
Read now →She discovered the Earth's 'backbone' even though men wouldn't let her on a ship for 17 years
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Floods in Germany are the latest wake-up call in the climate crisis
Read now →Germany has experienced nine flood-rich periods in the past 500 years, but this one is different
Biologists find the world’s southernmost tree on a wind-battered island in Chile
Read now →Wind, and not temperature, is the biggest determinant of where it lives (and where it does not)
Here are some of the first snowflakes ever photographed
Read now →Photographer Wilson 'Snowflake' Bentley took the first picture of a snowflake in 1885
Stones from porcupine guts are a hot commodity on Instagram
Read now →The wildlife trade has moved online, and porcupines are under threat
Black scientists are exposing the racist side of academia on Twitter
Read now →#BlackintheIvory is yet another illustration that academia is rife with racism. It's long past time for change
One person's techno trash is a scientist's research tool
Read now →It's hard to study plant roots, but a plastic CD case makes it easier to observe a plant's underground activities
A real world version of Pokémon Go lets you track orangutans in the jungle
Read now →A new augmented reality smartphone game takes you into Borneo's jungles in search of great apes (and more!)
How to stay calm during a pandemic
Read now →We all have very valid reasons to be anxious right now. Here's how to keep your anxiety in check
Science games and challenges to pass the time while you are stuck at home
Read now →Here are some ways to kill boredom – and contribute to scientific research – while you're doing your part to flatten the curve
Attention, birders! A new tool can help you automatically identify birds you spot, no field guide needed
Read now →This "digital guide" is the product of a collaboration between the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Swarovski Optik
Forget baby shark: grandma whale, the real hero of the ocean, is looking after her grandkids
Read now →New research shows that grandmother orcas greatly improve the survival of their grand-offspring, advancing our understanding of the evolutionary role of menopause
I want a new smartphone, but the human and environmental cost is giving me doubts
Read now →New gadgets are fun. They're also abysmally destructive
A catastrophic power outage darkens California while horny spiders invade
Read now →Tarantulas, fire-inducing weather, and failing infrastructure make for a spooky October story
Captive sea otters (adorably) raise orphaned pups as their own until they are ready to be released back into the wild
Read now →New research from Monterey Bay Aquarium scientists finds that the pups and their own wild babies account for 55% of the growth of a California sea otter population
The best science stories from around the web, hand-curated and eye-read by science writers
Read now →The week's not over yet but it's been pretty good so far
Your salad might bring an unwanted guest to the dinner table
Read now →A new study finds that bagged and canned produce can occasionally (but rarely) come with a side of frog, lizard, bird, or rodent
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"Two men dig for worms in Madidi National Park, Bolivia")
Scientists are producing data without sharing it with people who actually need it
Read now →Paywalls and language barriers make results inaccessible for local managers and residents
5 peer comments
We need genetic engineering to stave off climate change-induced global hunger
Read now →Despite what many say, organic farming will not save us from the worst impacts of climate change
2 peer comments
Climate change once heated the oceans and caused "The Great Dying"
Read now →This time the planet is warming much, much faster
2 peer comments
Climate is getting more extreme in every possible way
Read now →From precipitation to the carbon cycle to natural disasters, the outliers are now the norm.
2 peer comments
Should peer review stop being anonymous?
Read now →Prominent researchers can take the gamble, but junior scientists risk retribution
4 peer comments
Floating detritus is giving new insights into deep-sea corals
Read now →Environmental DNA is a less invasive way to solve long-submerged mysteries
4 peer comments
Can corals be saved? The key may be in their microbes
Read now →Biologists are studying corals with techniques designed for humans
3 peer comments
Science doesn't need to be so complicated. The answer: more sensible statistics
Read now →Let the battle between human psychology and science have statisticians' supervision
2 peer comments
What does California's future look like? Scientists asked trees
Read now →Blue oaks have up to 500 years of climate history written in their rings
1 peer comment
What the Ice Age tells us about how plants will manage in a hotter world
Read now →New research seems to resolve a puzzle of why plants struggled in the past
1 peer comment
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Is light pollution changing how plants do – and don't – grow?
Read now →Plants depend on cycles of light. Now, they're always on
2 peer comments
Toxic chemicals are being freed from melting glaciers
Read now →Scientists are finding decades-old DDT and PCB flowing from the Tibetan Plateau
3 peer comments
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Beetles exploit bacteria labor to grow their exoskeletons
Read now →New research has revealed a "symbiotic organ" in weevils, showing how tiny organisms shape larger life
3 peer comments
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When you smell the roses, do they smell you back?
Read now →Scientists have found that plants like Canada goldenrod deploy defenses against insects on scent
2 peer comments