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Ecology

12/02/2018 / By Lance D Johnson

Antidepressant use is posing a very real threat to the environment, experts warn

One of the greatest threats to the environment and wildlife is the accumulation of pharmaceutical drugs in the water and soil. Improperly discarded pharmaceuticals enter the sewage system and pollute the water. Hormone replacement drugs and contraceptives, even at trace levels, are now feminizing fish. Pharmaceutical chemicals often remain stable, even after passing through people […]

11/30/2018 / By Edsel Cook

An engineering feat: Different types of silk in a spider web allow it to effectively capture prey

To human eyes, a spiderweb looks beautiful yet delicate. However, the strands are tough enough to survive contact with much larger animals. At the same time, they are also small enough to evade the notice of the prey that the web is intended to reveal and ensnare. Intrigued by this duality, a group of researchers […]

11/25/2018 / By Frances Bloomfield

New satellite data from NASA show how carbon links everything on Earth

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has released satellite data gathered by the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2). This carbon dioxide-monitoring satellite has collected over two-and-a-half years’ worth of information that, according to NASA scientists, show how carbon links together everything on Earth. From human activities to weather hazards to biological processes, carbon is present […]

11/24/2018 / By Isabelle Z.

SHOCK: 50% of freshwater insects are contaminated with microplastics

We tend to hear quite a bit about fish suffering from plastic contamination, with images of whales washing up on beaches with stomachs full of plastic bottles becoming an all-too-common sight these days. However, even animals that aren’t big enough to ingest water bottles are still suffering from plastic pollution. Recent research highlighted the shocking […]

11/24/2018 / By Russel Davis

Brain size linked to ecology: Scientists discover it wasn’t a complex social network that grew the prehistoric human brain; it was how far they traveled

Social group size has nothing to do with the evolutionary process that increased the human brain’s size, a new study reveals. The scientific community has previously believed that the expansion of peer-to-peer and social interaction, more commonly known as the social brain hypothesis, may have contributed to the increase in brain size by enabling early humans to move […]

11/21/2018 / By Edsel Cook

New research looks at the self-healing properties of tiny seashore creatures

Limpets are known for their ability to cling to a surface, so much so that people use the word to describe a person with similar qualities. However, the little mollusks have more things in common with humans than you would expect. An article in Science Daily stated that limpets repair damage done to their shells […]

11/12/2018 / By Ralph Flores

Can natural antioxidants be used to stabilize the properties of some biodiesels?

Antioxidants have become one of the most popular buzzwords when it comes to human health, and for good reason: They protect the body from aging and inflammation, and can even help us with weight loss. However, a study published in the Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences indicates that they could soon be used for cars, […]

11/06/2018 / By Edsel Cook

Contact lenses contributing to the microplastic pollution of our waterways

If you are getting rid of your old contact lenses, put them in the trash instead of flushing them out of sight. Discarded lenses in wastewater might be raising the amount of toxic microplastics that contaminate waterways and aquatic life, an article in Science Daily stated. Nothing lasts forever. This is especially true for contact […]

10/28/2018 / By Lance D Johnson

Are bioplastics really as eco-friendly as they’re touted to be?

Approximately 165 million tons of petroleum-based plastic now pollute the ocean. Another nine million tons of plastic are added to the seas each year. Only nine percent of plastic is recycled. It takes at least 500 years for traditional plastic to decompose, as toxic chemicals break down and leach into the environment. In the rush […]

10/17/2018 / By Edsel Cook

Sugarcane is an eco-friendly option for the improved production of biomass in marine algae

Taiwanese and Vietnamese researchers tested hydrolized sugarcane bagasse as a carbon-rich substrate for Schizochytrium microalgae. They wanted to determine if sugarcane bagasse is an inexpensive means of boosting the biomass and lipids produced by the microalgae, which are being considered for use in the production of biofuel. The study was supported by Ton Duc Thang University and […]

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