News by Subject Biology

A new study of the life-cycle GHG emissions from passenger cars sharply distinguishes the climate impacts of electric vehicles and combustion vehicles. It finds that only battery electric vehicles and fuel-cell electric vehicles powered by renewable electricity can achieve the kind of reductions in GHG emissions from transportation that comport with Paris Agreement goals. There is no realistic pathway that relies on combustion-engine vehicles, including hybrids of any sort.

A landmark scientific study involving marine biologists from Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Libya, Italy, Tunisia, the UK, the US and even Malta, documenting instances where native Mediterranean species have preyed upon two highly invasive marine fish - the Pacific red lionfish and the silver-cheeked toadfish - has just been published.

Scientists from UC Davis have developed a tool that is able to differentiate the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse from its non-endangered doppelgänger with up to 99% accuracy.

A new study of COVID-19 shutdowns in the United States reveals pronounced disparities in air pollution -- with disenfranchised, minority neighborhoods still experiencing more exposure to a harmful air pollutant compared to wealthier, white communities.

In the Alpine foothills, in low mountain ranges, or on the seacoast, expansion of wind energy use often meets popular resistance. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and partners from Great Britain and Denmark have now studied what this means for the energy transition. In Patterns, they report that costs per kilowatt hour may rise by up to 7 cents and CO2 emissions may increase by up to 200 g. (DOI: 10.1016/j.patter.2021.100301)

What's a hungry marine microbe to do when the pickings are slim? It must capture nutrients - nitrogen, phosphorus, or iron - to survive, yet in vast expanses of the ocean, nutrients are extremely scarce. One ingenious solution to this challenge is reported this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

A new study shows that DNA duplication has been vitally important throughout the evolutionary history of gymnosperms, a diverse group of seed plants that includes pines, cypresses, sequoias, ginkgos and cycads.

When it comes to transitioning from carbon-based to renewable source energy systems, Americans are on board. They're less keen, however, having these new energy infrastructures built close to their homes.