Earth

  1. Agriculture

    Exploiting a genetic quirk in potatoes may cut fertilizer needs

    A gene controlling potato growth limits the plant’s fertilizer uptake. Tweaking related genes could lead to more sustainable potato varieties.

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  2. Animals

    This marine biologist discovered a unique blue whale population in Sri Lanka

    In addition to studying the world’s only nonmigratory blue whales, marine biologist Asha de Vos seeks to change her compatriots’ attitudes toward the ocean.

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  3. Climate

    Fans may not keep older adults cool during heat waves

    Older adults are at higher risk of suffering health consequences during heat waves. Fans may not do enough to prevent that.

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  4. Environment

    An idea to save Mexico’s oyamel forests could help monarch butterflies too

    Climate change is putting monarch butterflies’ overwintering forests in Mexico at risk. Could planting new forests solve that problem?

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  5. Oceans

    How tiny phytoplankton trek long distances upward in the ocean

    Taking in seawater while filtering out dense salts lets unicellular phytoplankton migrate tens of meters vertically toward sunnier seas.

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  6. Science & Society

    There’s a new term for attempting to own the wind: ventography

    Nations established territorial claims underground to access oil and gas. Now they are expanding those claims upward to snag the wind.

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  7. Earth

    What leads rivers to suddenly change course?

    An analysis of satellite data could help predict where rivers will change their course and where their rerouted flows will go.

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  8. Climate

    Climate change fueled the fury of hurricanes Helene and Milton

    Two new studies find climate change amped up sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, fueling the hurricanes' intensity.

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  9. Oceans

    A transatlantic flight may turn Saharan dust into a key ocean nutrient

    Over time, atmospheric chemical reactions can make iron in dust from the Sahara easier for organisms to take in, helping to create biodiversity hot spots.

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  10. Animals

    Some tadpoles don’t poop for weeks. That keeps their pools clean

    Eiffinger’s tree frog babies store their solid waste in an intestinal pouch, releasing less ammonia into their watery cribs than other frog species.

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  11. Physics

    Thunderstorms churn up a ‘boiling pot’ of gamma rays 

    A thunderstorm seen in gamma-ray vision is a complex, frenetic lightshow when viewed from above the clouds.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    A hurricane’s aftermath may spur up to 11,000 deaths

    Hurricanes like Helene may indirectly cause deaths for years. Stress, pollution and a loss of infrastructure could all contribute to tropical cyclone fatalities.

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