nature

Humans have made 8.3 billion tons of plastic. Where does it all go?

By Roni Dengler

The plastic debris housed in landfills and natural environments — currently 4.9 billion metric tons — will more than double by 2050, scientists reported Wednesday in Science Advances.

Neonicotinoid pesticides are slowly killing bees

By Roni Dengler

Neonicotinoid pesticides commonly found in agricultural areas kill bees and hurt their ability to reproduce, two separate large-scale studies confirmed Thursday.

China’s blueprint to clean lakes and stop algae blooms is working

By Dave Berndtson

China's success with cleaning lakes offers a blueprint for other industrializing and developing nations, where algal blooms threaten drinking water, kill aquatic life and pose dangers to children, pets and livestock.

6 things you may not know about jellyfish

By Julia Griffin

Jennie Janssen, assistant curator of the Blue Wonders exhibit at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, offers six little-known facts she wants people to know about jellies.

Cats were so nice, they conquered the world twice

By Nsikan Akpan

Cat domestication happened in two waves during ancient times, according to a new genetic analysis.

Your next happy hour buzz, brought to you by bees

By Nsikan Akpan, Matt Ehrichs

Only two species of yeast --- ale yeast and lager yeast -- have been used for traditional beer brewing over the last 600 years. A lab in North Carolina may have found a third in the strangest place: On bees…

Grab your earplugs. Invasive coqui frogs gain foothold in California

By Kerry L. Shaw, Scientific American

Coqui frogs -- voracious, cacaphonous amphibians -- have already disrupted the ecosystem of Hawaii's Big Island. Now they've got a foothold in the Golden State…

The lionfish zapper hits the open seas

By Nsikan Akpan

Last year, we broke the story of a robot being being developed to fight invasive lionfish. This spring, the prototype landed in the open ocean for the first time. Here’s how they took the idea from paper to practice.

As global groundwater disappears, rice, wheat and other international crops may start to vanish

By Dave Berndtson

When water is used to grow crops, it’s no longer visible to the consumer. This study keeps track of where ‘hidden’ water is embedded and where it ends up.

This Earth Day, remembering America’s vanishing farms

By Elizabeth Flock

In the United States, the small American family farm has been in decline since the 1930s. These poems celebrate and remember those disappearing communities.