June 15, 2025 Underground fungi may be one of Earth s most powerful and overlooked allies in the fight against climate change, yet most of them remain unknown to science. Known only by DNA, these "dark taxa" make up a shocking 83% of ectomycorrhizal species fungi that help forests store carbon and thrive. Their hotspots lie in tropical forests and other underfunded regions. Without names, they re invisible to ...
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June 13, 2025 Despite falling global mercury emissions, mercury levels in Arctic wildlife continue to rise. A new study reveals that ocean currents are delivering legacy mercury pollution from distant regions like China to the Arctic, where it accumulates in animals and ...
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June 13, 2025 Scientists have discovered that your breathing pattern is as unique as a fingerprint and it may reveal more than just your identity. Using a 24-hour wearable device, researchers achieved nearly 97% accuracy in identifying people based solely on how they breathe through their nose. Even more intriguingly, these respiratory signatures correlated ...
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June 12, 2025 Mercury contamination is surfacing as a serious concern in parts of Georgia and South Carolina, particularly in regions like the Okefenokee Swamp. University of Georgia researchers found alarmingly high levels of the neurotoxic metal in alligators, especially in older individuals and even hatchlings suggesting the toxin is passed both up the food chain and through generations. These ancient ...
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June 15, 2025 Atmospheric rivers, while vital for replenishing water on the U.S. West Coast, are also the leading cause of floods though storm size alone doesn t dictate their danger. A groundbreaking study analyzing over 43,000 storms across four decades found that pre-existing soil moisture is a critical factor, with flood peaks multiplying when the ground is already ...
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June 14, 2025 A pioneering study reveals how archaeologists' satellite tools can be repurposed to tackle climate change. By using AI and satellite LiDAR imagery from NASA and ESA, researchers have found a faster, more accurate way to map forest biomass critical for tracking carbon. This innovative fusion of space tech and machine learning could revolutionize ...
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June 13, 2025 Where do microplastics really go after entering the environment? MIT researchers discovered that sticky biofilms naturally produced by bacteria play a surprising role in preventing microplastics from accumulating in riverbeds. Instead of trapping the particles, these biofilms actually keep them loose and exposed, making them easier for flowing water to carry away. This insight could help target ...
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June 12, 2025 Ancient carbon thought to be safely stored underground for millennia is unexpectedly resurfacing literally. A sweeping international study has found that over half of the carbon gases released by rivers come from long-term, old carbon sources like deep soils and weathered rocks, not just recent organic matter. This surprising discovery suggests Earth s vegetation is playing an even bigger role in ...
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June 3, 2025 Collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could be triggered with very little ocean warming above present-day, leading to a devastating four meters of global sea level rise to play out over hundreds of years according to a new study. However, the authors emphasize that immediate actions to reduce emissions could still avoid a catastrophic ...
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June 2, 2025 New research adds to our understanding of how rapidly rising sea levels due to climate change foreshadow the end of the Great Barrier Reef as we know it. The findings suggest the reef can withstand rising sea levels in isolation but is vulnerable to associated environmental stressors arising from global climate ...
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June 2, 2025 Researchers have recreated the world's oldest synthetic pigment, called Egyptian blue, which was used in ancient Egypt about 5,000 years ...
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May 30, 2025 A new species of velvet worm, Peripatopsis barnardi, represents the first ever species from the arid Karoo, which indicates that the area was likely historically more forested than at present. In the Cape Fold Mountains, we now know that every mountain peak has an endemic species. This suggests that in unsampled areas there are likely to be additional novel diversity, waiting to be ...
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