Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
This honeybee parasite may be more of a fat stealer than a bloodsucker
Inventing decoy bee larvae prompts a back-to-basics rethink of a mite ominously named Varroa destructor.
- Tech
Desalination pours more toxic brine into the ocean than previously thought
Desalination plants help offset the world’s growing water needs, but they also produce much more supersalty water than scientists realized.
- Climate
A drill built for Mars is being used to bore into Antarctic bedrock
An autonomous drill originally designed for work on Mars has its first mission in Antarctica.
- Oceans
Floating seabirds provide a novel way to trace ocean currents
Seabirds idly drifting with ocean currents provide a novel way to track and understand how these flows change with time and location.
- Particle Physics
Readers ask about electrons’ roundness, a science board game and more
Readers had questions about electrons’ roundness, a camera that measures light intensity in decibels and more.
- Environment
4 ways to tackle ocean trash besides Ocean Cleanup’s broken system
Here are three approaches to reducing ocean pollution that might be more effective than a controversial plan to fish trash out of the Pacific.
- Environment
Satellites make mapping hot spots of ammonia pollution easier
There’s a more accurate way to estimate ammonia emissions.
- Agriculture
A new way to genetically tweak photosynthesis boosts plant growth
A new chemical road map for a process called photorespiration in plant cells could reduce energy waste to increase plant productivity.
- Earth
Erosion has erased most of Earth’s impact craters. Here are the survivors
Earth’s largest known impact crater measures 160 kilometers in diameter. The newest, yet to be confirmed, stretches a still-whopping 31 kilometers.
- Climate
Half a degree stole the climate spotlight in 2018
Climate attribution studies and new data on global warming targets put climate change in the spotlight this year.
- Earth
Greenland crater renewed the debate over an ancient climate mystery
Scientists disagree on what a possible crater found under Greenland’s ice means for the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis.
- Climate
New research may upend what we know about how tornadoes form
New data on the birth of tornadoes suggest that the twisters don’t form from the top down.
