Environment
Making sex deadly for insects could control pests that carry disease and harm crops
Insects do a lot more harm than ruining picnics. Some insects spread devastating diseases, while others cause staggering economic losses in agriculture. To control some of these pests, scientists are developing males that make sex a deadly event. The stakes are high. Mosquitoes carry viruses such as dengue, West Nile… Read
How to find climate data and science the Trump administration doesn’t want you to see
Information on the internet might seem like it’s there forever, but it’s only as permanent as people choose to make it. That’s apparent as the second Trump administration “floods the zone” with efforts to dismantle science agencies and the data and websites they use to communicate with the public. The… Read
After the fire: Rain on wildfire burn scars can trigger deadly debris flows
While firefighters work to extinguish the Los Angeles-area wildfires, city officials and emergency managers are also worried about what could come next. Rain could help tamp down the fires. But rain can also trigger dangerous floods and debris flows on burned hillslopes. These flows can move with the speed of… Read
Climate misinformation is rife on social media – and poised to get worse
The decision by Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to end its fact-checking program and otherwise reduce content moderation raises the question of what content on those social media platforms will look like going forward. One worrisome possibility is that the change could open the floodgates to more… Read
Plants that evolved in Florida over millennia now face extinction and lack protection
Modern scrub mints, delicate flowering plants that grow mostly in Florida, likely result from ancient hybridization, according to a recent study I published with colleagues. Scrub mints are a clade – a group of organisms that share a common ancestor. They grow exclusively on the North American coastal plain. Many… Read
Climate change making plants less nutritious − that could already be hurting animals that are grazers
More than one-third of all animals on Earth, from beetles to cows to elephants, depend on plant-based diets. Plants are a low-calorie food source, so it can be challenging for animals to consume enough energy to meet their needs. Now climate change is reducing the nutritional value of some foods… Read
High rises made out of wood? What matters in whether ‘mass timber’ buildings are sustainable
A material that’s been around since people built shelters – wood – is increasingly being proposed for low- and mid-rise buildings. Companies behind these “mass timber” projects say that wood is a lower-carbon alternative to steel or concrete and brings other benefits, such as faster construction time and lower cost… Read
Fast fashion may seem cheap, but it’s taking a costly toll on the planet − and on millions of young customers
Fast fashion is everywhere – in just about every mall, in the feeds of influencers on social media promoting overconsumption, and in ads constantly popping up online. Its focus on the continual production of new clothing is marked by speedy fashion cycles that give it its name. Fast fashion is… Read
Microplastics promote cloud formation, with likely effects on weather and climate
Clouds form when water vapor – an invisible gas in the atmosphere – sticks to tiny floating particles, such as dust, and turns into liquid water droplets or ice crystals. In a newly published study, we show that microplastic particles can have the same effects, producing ice crystals at temperatures… Read
Aquaculture could harm animal welfare or protect it, depending on what species the farms raise
The global aquaculture industry has tripled in size since the year 2000, with producers raising a mind-boggling diversity of species, from seaweeds and clams to carp, salmon and cuttlefish. Many of these creatures are undomesticated and lead complex and highly social lives in the wild. The rapid growth in aquaculture… Read
