Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Humans
Warming Marches in
People may argue about why Earth is warming, how long its fever will last and whether any of this warrants immediate corrective action. But whether Earth is warming is no longer open to debate. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has just published domestic examples to reinforce what Americans witnessed last month — either on TV or in their own backyards.
- Life
Bat-killing fungus is a European import
Tracing the origins of the strain that causes white-nose syndrome in U.S. animals to Europe, scientists show that infection ups arousal rate during hibernation, depleting energy stores.
- Humans
Bat killer is still spreading
Since 2006, some 6 million to 7 million North American bats have succumbed to white-nose syndrome, a virulent fungal disease. That figure, issued in January by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, at least sextupled the former estimate that biologists had been touting. But the sharp jump in the cumulative death toll isn’t the only disturbing new development. On April 2, scientists confirmed that white-nose fungus has apparently struck bats hibernating in two small Missouri caves. The first signs of clinical disease have also just emerged in Europe.
- Earth
Stop-and-go plate tectonics
Early on, ancient crustal plates may have dived deep into the Earth, time and again, giving a halting start to the planetary remodeling process.
- Humans
Yet another study links insecticide to bee losses
Since 2006, honeybee populations across North America have been hammered by catastrophic losses. Although this pandemic has a name — colony collapse disorder, or CCD — its cause has remained open to speculation. New experiments now strengthen the case for pesticide poisoning as a likely contributor.
- Humans
Weighing the costs of conferencing
A provocative editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association questions the value of attending scientific conferences. It’s a theme that reemerges every few years. And in times of tight budgets, the idea seems worth revisiting.
- Life
Pesticide-dosed bees lose future royalty, way home
Unusual field tests reveal how common insecticides, even at nonfatal doses, can erode colonies and threaten the future of bumblebees and honeybees.
- Life
Fossils show signs of earliest burrowing
Worms’ seafloor tunneling more than a half-billion years ago could have stirred up evolutionary forces.
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- Life
The farther the better for corals after oil spill
Deepwater organisms may be slow to recover from Gulf accident.
- Humans
Growth-promoting antibiotics: On the way out?
Sixty-two years later — to the day — after Science News ran its first story on the growth-promoting effects of antibiotics, a federal judge ordered the Food and Drug Administration to resume efforts to outlaw such nonmedical use of antibiotics.
- Life
Industrial roar changes nearby plant reproduction
Trees and wildflowers register the effects as animals flee (or not) from grinding engines.
