TRASH STASH Scientists have modified a bacterial enzyme to make it even better at breaking down PET, a plastic widely used in disposable water bottles.
Bo Eide/Flickr
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Magazine
In the April 14 SN: Killer heat, mass insect migrations, the latest Saturn updates, rethinking the Nobel Prize, tectonics on Venus, the science of mass shootings, ancient tool trends and more.
Earth & Environment
Topic Image Rail
MIXING IT UP One swimming brine shrimp generates small-scale turbulence (time lapse of suspended particles in green). But large numbers of the animals together may create currents that stir oceans.
Isabel Houghton
BLACK SMOKER A new international agreement places a cap on greenhouse gas emissions from international cargo ships.
Mr Nai/Shutterstock
Earth & Environment
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Climate
News
Cargo ships must cut their emissions in half by 2050
A new international agreement places a cap on greenhouse gas emissions from international cargo ships.News
Seafloor map shows why Greenland’s glaciers melt at different rates
A new high-res look at the seafloor shows how ledges and dips affects whether relatively warm ocean water reaches the ice. -
Earth
News
Efforts to contain Mississippi floods may have made them worse
Intensive management of the Mississippi River has increased the size of its largest floods, suggests a new study.News
Powerful New England quake recorded in pond mud
The newfound sediment signature of the 1755 Cape Ann earthquake could be used to trace other prehistoric temblors. -
Agriculture
News in Brief
Grapevines are more drought-tolerant than thought
Grapevines handle drought better than previously thought. This could inform irrigation management.News
Much of the world’s honey now contains bee-harming pesticides
A controversial group of chemicals called neonicotinoids has a global impact, tests of honey samples show. -
Ecosystems
Feature
When bogs burn, the environment takes a hit
Bogs and other peatlands around the world store outsized amounts of carbon. Climate change and agriculture are putting them at risk.News
Pollution regulations help Chesapeake Bay seagrass rebound
Regulations that have reduced nitrogen runoff into the Chesapeake Bay are driving the recovery of underwater vegetation. -
Toxicology
News
How bees defend against some controversial insecticides
Some bees have enzymes that allow them to resist toxic compounds in some neonicotinoid pesticides.News
The way poison frogs keep from poisoning themselves is complicated
Gaining resistance to one of their own toxins forced some poison dart frogs to make other genetic tweaks, too. -
Pollution
News
Microplastics may enter freshwater and soil via compost
Compost is pinpointed as a source of plastic pollution, but environmental fate and effects unknown.Science Stats
The great Pacific garbage patch may be 16 times as massive as we thought
The giant garbage patch between Hawaii and California weighs at least 79,000 tons, a new estimate suggests. -
Sustainability
News
‘Fossil’ groundwater is not immune to modern-day pollution
Ancient groundwater that is thousands of years old is still susceptible to modern pollution, new research suggests.Wild ThingsMost fish turned into fishmeal are species that we could be eating
Millions of tons of food-grade fish are turned into fishmeal for aquaculture and agriculture. -
Oceans
News
Masses of shrimp and krill may play a huge role in mixing oceans
Hoards of migrating shrimp and krill can cause large-scale turbulence in the ocean, a new study suggests.Science Stats
Ocean heat waves are becoming more common and lasting longer
Over the last 100 years, the world’s oceans have sweltered through a rising number of heat waves.
