The males of many species impress potential mates with brilliant plumage, massive antlers, or expensive cars. Water striders, however, don’t go in for courtship. For these smoothly gliding pond insects, mating is a wrestling match in which the male grips the female’s head and pins her down while she struggles to throw him off. Now…
Vegetation, such as a patch of prairie or a forest stand, is more productive in the long run when more plant species are present, a new University of Minnesota study shows. The unprecedented long-term study of plant biodiversity found that each species plays a role in maintaining a productive ecosystem, especially when a long time…
The ability of U.S. scientists to monitor changes in the planet’s climate, natural hazards, and land surface continues to deteriorate, warns a report from the U.S. National Academies’ National Research Council (NRC). Aging satellites are being replaced too slowly, the report concludes, and by 2020 the country may have only 25% of its current observing…
The editor of the world-leading scientific journal Nature says current procedures to assess and censor medical research potentially of use to terrorists need to be improved. Dr. Philip Campbell made his remarks to BBC News following the publication of controversial research into the bird flu virus H5N1. Two research papers have raised the concern of anti-terrorist…
Plants flowering 8.5 times faster than predicted; changes have knock-on effect for food chain, ecosystems
This spring, billboards sprouted across the country like cranky, God-hating daffodils. They proclaimed the bad news that God does not exist, that belief is bad for your soul, that religion enslaves — and they were met with predictable upset. Anthony Pinn reflects on the the state of the (A)theist conversation.
The South Korean health ministry announced that research into stem cells and regenerative medicine will receive a funding boost of 33 billion won (U.S. $29 million) in 2012, four times that given in 2011. Overall, six different ministries will invest 100 billion won in stem-cell research this year. Until last year, public investment in stem…
To slow climate change the world will either have to put the brakes on economic growth or change the way the world’s economies work, scientists say. A study by University of Michigan researchers assessed the effects of several factors on year-to-year changes in atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide. Researchers looked at two natural phenomena believed…
Grand theories of social evolution have, in the past, proved to be useless as guides to events, but that has in no way dented the popularity of such theories. These theories show the continuing appeal of scientism—the modern belief that scientific inquiry can enable us to resolve conflicts and dilemmas in contexts where traditional sources…
A global science assessment panel for biodiversity, modelled on the International Panel on Climate Change, was launched in Panama City in April. The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystems (IPBES) was agreed to in June 2010 by more than 230 government representatives from more than 80 countries. Its aim is to influence global policy by…