Ecosystems
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EarthObama administration should lead energy transition
R.K. Pachauri, an engineer and economist by training, is director-general of The Energy and Resources Institute in New Delhi, India, and a corecipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his role as chief of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The IPCC periodically issues consensus reports on the science of climate change. Senior editor Janet Raloff spoke with him about changes he hopes to see from the Obama administration.
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EcosystemsThwarting Tree Poachers
A new federal rule makes it harder to destroy protected forests.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & MedicineHoneybee CSI: Why dead bodies can’t be found
Virus could explain one symptom of colony collapse.
By Susan Milius -
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EcosystemsEating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet by Oliver Morton
HarperCollins, 2008, 460 p., $28.95.
By Science News -
EcosystemsCosts of Choked-Up Waters
Scientists tally the economic toll of fertilizing pollutants on water quality.
By Janet Raloff -
AnimalsFarm chemicals can indirectly hammer frogs
A widely used agricultural weed killer teams up with fertilizer to render frogs especially vulnerable to debilitating parasites.
By Janet Raloff -
EcosystemsSlave ants rebel
Species vulnerable to enslavement may evolve ways to fight their captors.
By Susan Milius -
EcosystemsCoastal dead zones expanding
The number of coastal areas known as dead zones is on the rise. A new tally reports more than 400 of the oxygen starved regions worldwide.
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PlantsBittersweet fruits
A new study provides strong evidence that fruits harm predators with the same chemicals that, for example, give chili peppers their spice.
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EcosystemsNomadic ants hunt mushrooms
A species of ants not well understood surprises researchers with a nomadic lifestyle, roaming the rainforest on fungal forays.
By Susan Milius -
EcosystemsFish Houses
Tanked half-way houses allow people and fish to get acquainted on their own terms — and exhibit their individual personalities.
By Janet Raloff