Can cold-loving bacteria help to clean up oil spills?
For several decades scientists have been interested in the ability of psychrophilic (cold- loving) microbial communities to degrade the…
Category: Big Questions
How Long Will Human Civilization Last?
Human-caused climate change, ocean acidification and species extinctions may eventually threaten the collapse of civilization, according to…
People power in Kenya greatly improves local fisheries
Harnessing ‘people power’ to manage fisheries in the developing world has significantly benefited local communities and coral…
Stray stars between galaxies add to the cosmic light in the universe
Using an experiment carried into space on a NASA suborbital rocket, astronomers at Caltech and their colleagues have detected a diffuse…
Massive tectonic event may have triggered explosion of animal life
A new analysis of geologic history may help solve the riddle of the “Cambrian explosion,” the rapid diversification of animal…
Competition between related species of lizards can drive evolution really fast
Scientists working on islands in Florida have documented the rapid evolution of a native lizard species — in as little as 15 years…
First detection of dark matter
Cutting-edge paper by Professor George Fraser — who tragically died in March this year — and colleagues at the University of…
Decline in Fish Stocks at Puget Sound Hurts Diving Birds
Birds that dive for fish while wintering in the Salish Sea, located between British Columbia and Washington, are more likely to be in…
Climate change alters cast of winter birds
Over the past two decades, the resident communities of birds that attend eastern North America’s backyard bird feeders in winter have…
Geothermal heating increases the habitability of planets orbiting red dwarfs
Small red stars, known by astronomers as “M-dwarfs”, are the most abundant type of star in the sky and are also the most long-lived of…