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Categories: Ecology: Nature, Space: Astronomy
Published Snakes do it faster, better: How a group of scaly, legless lizards hit the evolutionary jackpot



More than 100 million years ago, the ancestors of the first snakes were small lizards that lived alongside other small, nondescript lizards in the shadow of the dinosaurs.
Published Side effects of wide scale forestation could reduce carbon removal benefits by up to a third



The side effects of large-scale forestation initiatives could reduce the CO2 removal benefits by up to a third, a pioneering study has found.
Published Cooler, wetter parts of Pacific Northwest likely to see more fires, new simulations predict



Forests in the coolest, wettest parts of the western Pacific Northwest are likely to see the biggest increases in burn probability, fire size and number of blazes as the climate continues to get warmer and drier.
Published Webb finds evidence for neutron star at heart of young supernova remnant



NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has found the best evidence yet for emission from a neutron star at the site of a recently observed supernova. The supernova, known as SN 1987A, was a core-collapse supernova, meaning the compacted remains at its core formed either a neutron star or a black hole. Evidence for such a compact object has long been sought, and while indirect evidence for the presence of a neutron star has previously been found, this is the first time that the effects of high-energy emission from the probable young neutron star have been detected.
Published A new beginning: The search for more temperate Tatooines



Luke Skywalker's childhood might have been slightly less harsh if he'd grown up on a more temperate Tatooine -- like the ones identified in a new study. According to the study's authors, there are more climate-friendly planets in binary star systems -- in other words, those with two suns -- than previously known. And, they say, it may be a sign that, at least in some ways, the universe leans in the direction of orderly alignment rather than chaotic misalignment.
Published Carbon emissions from the destruction of mangrove forests predicted to increase by 50,000% by the end of the century



The annual rate of carbon emissions due to the degradation of carbon stocks in mangrove forests is predicted to rise by nearly 50,000% by the end of the century, according to a new study. Mangroves in regions such as southern India, southeastern China, Singapore and eastern Australia are particularly affected.
Published Mice surprise: Researchers discover new native species



Australia can lay claim to two new species of native rodent thanks to a new study. The aptly named delicate mouse was previously thought to be a single species spanning a massive stretch of the country from the Pilbara in Western Australia, across parts of the Northern Territory and through Queensland down to the New South Wales border. We now know there are three distinct species.
Published Brightest and fastest-growing: Astronomers identify record-breaking quasar



Astronomers have characterized a bright quasar, finding it to be not only the brightest of its kind, but also the most luminous object ever observed. Quasars are the bright cores of distant galaxies and they are powered by supermassive black holes. The black hole in this record-breaking quasar is growing in mass by the equivalent of one Sun per day, making it the fastest-growing black hole to date.
Published New realistic computer model will help robots collect Moon dust



A new computer model mimics Moon dust so well that it could lead to smoother and safer Lunar robot teleoperations.
Published Modeling tree masting



The effects of a phenomenon called tree masting on ecosystems and food webs can be better understood thanks to new theoretical models validated by real world observations.
Published Increasingly similar or different? Centuries-long analysis suggests biodiversity is differentiating and homogenizing to a comparable extent



The tendency of communities and the species within them to become more similar or more distinct across landscapes -- biotic homogenization and differentiation -- are approximately balanced, according to a new study. This analysis is the first of its kind to provide a comprehensive assessment of how local and regional biodiversity changes combine across landscapes over centuries.
Published Why are fish getting smaller as waters warm? It's not their gills



A collaborative team of scientists recently found that there is no physiological evidence supporting a leading theory -- which involves the surface area of fish gills -- as to why many fish species are 'shrinking' as waters grow warmer due to climate change. Known as the Gill Oxygen Limitation (GOL) theory, it has been proposed as the universal mechanism explaining fish size and has been used in some predictions of future global fisheries yields. However, the researchers conducted a series of long-term experiments on brook trout and found that, though increased temperatures do lead to significantly decreased body size, gill surface area did not explain the change.
Published Butterfly and moth genomes mostly unchanged despite 250 million years of evolution



Comparison of over 200 high-quality butterfly and moth genomes reveals key insights into their biology, evolution and diversification over the last 250 million years, as well as clues for conservation.
Published New evidence shows UK solar parks can provide for bees and butterflies



A new study shows that UK solar parks, if managed correctly, can provide vital resources to help stem the decline in the nation's bees and butterflies. The new research provides peer-reviewed field data of insect pollinators at solar parks in the UK, covering 15 sites.
Published Citizen science to mitigate the environmental crisis in the marine environment



Citizen science can help to improve conservation and management strategies for Mediterranean marine ecosystems, and to mitigate the impact of the environmental crisis.
Published Black hole at center of the Milky Way resembles a football



The supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way is spinning so quickly it is warping the spacetime surrounding it into a shape that can look like a football, according to a new study. That football shape suggests the black hole is spinning at a substantial speed, which researchers estimated to be about 60% of its potential limit.
Published 'The future is fungal': New research finds that fungi that live in healthy plants are sensitive to climate change



Findings more than a decade in the making reveal a rich diversity of beneficial fungi living in boreal forest trees, with implications for the health of forests.
Published Giant new snake species identified in the Amazon



A team of scientists on location with a film crew in the remote Amazon has uncovered a previously undocumented species of giant anaconda.
Published The cultural evolution of collective property rights



Common pool resources comprise around 65 percent of Earth's surface and vast tracts of the ocean. While examples of successful governance of these resources exist, the circumstances and mechanisms behind their development have remained unclear. Researchers have developed a simulation model to examine the emergence, stability and temporal dynamics of collective property rights.
Published Nature's checkup: Surveying biodiversity with environmental DNA sequencing



A thousand kilometers south of Tokyo, far into the largest ocean on Earth, lies a chain of small, volcanic islands -- the Ogasawara Islands. Nature has been able to develop on its own terms here, far from both humans and the warm Kuroshio current, which acts like a shuttle, moving marine species from Taiwan, over the Ryukyu Islands, and up the Pacific coast of mainland Japan. With upwards of 70 % of trees and many animal species being endemic to the archipelago, the islands have been dubbed 'the Galapagos of the East', as they are valuable as both a biodiversity hotspot and a cradle of scientific discovery.