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A newly found Atacama Desert soil community survives on sips of fog
Perhaps the hardiest assemblage of lichens and other fungi and algae yet found has been hiding in plain sight in northern Chile’s Atacama Desert. This newly discovered “grit-crust,” as ecologists have...
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Fossil discoveries suggest the earliest dinosaurs laid soft-shelled eggs
Eggs from the earliest dinosaurs were more like leathery turtle eggs than rigid bird eggs. Studies of fossilized embryos from two kinds of dinosaurs, one from early in dinosaur history and the other...
View ArticleDolphins can learn from peers how to use shells as tools
For some bottlenose dolphins, finding a meal may be about who you know. Dolphins often learn how to hunt from their mothers. But when it comes to at least one foraging trick, Indo-Pacific bottlenose...
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A sparrow song remix took over North America with astonishing speed
Some North American birds are changing their tune. The traditional song of the white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) ends with a repeated triplet of notes. By 2000, however, some birds in...
View ArticleA bacterial toxin enables the first mitochondrial gene editor
Bacterial weaponry has an unexpected use in human cells. A protein secreted by bacteria to kill other microbes has been re-engineered to tweak DNA inaccessible to other gene editors, scientists report...
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Coronavirus-infected cells sprout filaments that may spread the virus
Like a scene out of a sci-fi movie, cells invaded by the coronavirus can sprout probing appendages bedecked with viral bits. Human cells infected with SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19,...
View ArticleA South American mouse is the world’s highest-dwelling mammal
A yellow-rumped leaf-eared mouse has shattered the world record as the highest-dwelling mammal yet documented. The mouse (Phyllotis xanthopygus rupestris) was found 6,739 meters, or 22,110 feet, above...
View ArticleHuman sperm don’t swim the way that anyone had thought
Sperm have long fooled scientists. Instead of swimming straight by twirling their tails like propellers, human sperm flick their tails lopsidedly and roll to balance out the off-center strokes. Over...
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Hurricanes have names. Some climate experts say heat waves should, too
Hurricane Maria and Heat Wave Henrietta? For decades, meteorologists have named hurricanes and ranked them according to severity. Naming and categorizing heat waves too could increase public awareness...
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New coronavirus tests promise to be faster, cheaper and easier
In the United States, the average wait time for COVID-19 test results is about four days. Even worse, 10 percent of individuals don’t receive lab results for 10 days or more. Quick reporting of test...
View ArticleHow do you clean up clingy space dust? Zap it with an electron beam
The NASA Artemis missions aim to send astronauts to the moon by 2024. But to succeed, they’ll need to solve big problems caused by some tiny particles: dust. Impacts on the moon’s surface have crushed...
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Life on Earth may have begun in hostile hot springs
At Bumpass Hell in California’s Lassen Volcanic National Park, the ground is literally boiling, and the aroma of rotten eggs fills the air. Gas bubbles rise through puddles of mud, producing goopy...
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Color-coded radar maps reveal a patchwork of California wildfire destruction
Each year in California, thousands of wildfires ravage hundreds of thousands of hectares of land. Deciphering how well large swaths of vegetation recover over time can be tough from the ground. New...
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How researchers can keep birds safe as U.S. wind farms expand
Wind energy is surging in the United States. In 2020, turbines generated about 8 percent of the country’s electricity — roughly 50 times the share of wind-generated electricity in 2000 —according to...
View ArticleGray wolves scare deer from roads, reducing dangerous collisions
Gray wolves help keep North America’s deer populations in check, and by doing so, may provide an added benefit for people: curbing deer-vehicle collisions. In Wisconsin counties where wolf populations...
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