Unusual Fossils Call for Unusual Explanations
May 15, 2019
Some recent fossil finds require creative storytelling, but the science is the data –not the story.
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Humans Can Selectively Wipe Out Certain Animals
July 9, 2018
The human impact on animals is well known today and is becoming apparent in history, too. Implications for ancient history are considered.
Beavers Clean the Soil
May 12, 2018
Without beaver dams, loss of nutrients from soil would increase, and pollutants from upstream erosion would afflict waterways.
Tiny Life Benefits the Whole World
April 19, 2018
Some very small organisms can produce global effects, such as the tiny crustaceans that stir the oceans every night. What would the oceans be like without life? If minerals, gases and nutrients had to mix by diffusion, the process would be very slow. Wind and currents could help somewhat. Now, Houghton et al., publishing in […]
City Trees Give More in Ecosystem Services Than They Cost
March 25, 2018
City planners need to plant more trees in urban areas, but the benefits go beyond beautifying pavement. Urban areas occupy 4% of the land surface of the planet, says Theodore A. Endreny in a Comment article in Nature Communications. That may strike readers as surprising, given most people’s attention to cities for work, travel and […]
Viruses From Distant Lands Fall from the Sky
February 21, 2018
Every day, billions of viruses are carried by high winds from continent to continent.
Bacteria Rule the Earth
December 14, 2017
Bacteria are inescapable. They're everywhere. Fortunately, many of them are here for good.
Dangers of Viewing Animal Death as Helpful
June 21, 2017
It's one thing to say an ecosystem can take care of recycling a carcass. It's another to say the ecosystem needs the carcass to thrive.
Seamounts: No Speciation Here, Mate
November 7, 2016
These isolated habitats should be ideal labs for studying Darwin's origin of species, but the evidence just isn't there.
Spiders Play Silk Harps
September 7, 2016
Spider webs are so finely-tuned, they are like musical instruments that the creatures can strum or listen to.
The Healing Powers of Nature
August 23, 2016
Independent studies celebrate the ability of nature to improve human health and well-being.
Non-Darwinian Biological Change
August 11, 2016
Scientists find many examples of biological change that do not fit the mutation-selection paradigm.
Genetic Evolution Falsified
May 22, 2015
Hundreds of your genes work just fine in yeast and plankton, after supposedly a billion years of evolution separating us.
Instant Islands and Ecology
May 19, 2015
A new volcanic island near Japan recalls the rapid colonization of Iceland's Surtsey island in 1963.