Once a seafarers' scourge, the gribble could be biofuel hero

Mar 9 | News

Tiny marine isopods called gribbles were for centuries the bane of sailors, whose vessels were quickly devoured. Even today, piers and docks are rapidly gnawed away, and researchers have now been attracted to the enzymes in their gut, which can convert wood into sugars without the help of microbes.

Oldest measurement of Earth's magnetic field reveals battle between sun and Earth

Mar 5 | News

According to findings by Univ. of Rochester researchers who visited sites in Africa known to contain extremely old rocks, the Earth’s magnetic field 3.5 billion years ago was only half as strong as it is today. This may mean the Sun took away much of Earth’s hydrogen and water.

A bleak outlook for social science?

17 hours ago | News

Social science is at the center of every major challenge the world faces, yet faces a tough future, according to a panel of senior academics and politicians speaking in London this week. They were taking part in a debate hosted by the British Academy and SAGE to explore how social science research...

Giant sequoias yield longest fire history from tree rings

18 hours ago | News

A 3,000-year record from 52 of the world's oldest trees shows that California's western Sierra Nevada was droughty and often fiery from 800 to 1300, according to new research. Scientists reconstructed the region's history of fire by dating fire scars on ancient giant sequoia trees, Sequoiadendron...

Prescribed burns may help reduce US carbon footprint

Mar 17 | News

The use of prescribed burns to manage Western forests may help the United States reduce its carbon footprint. A new study finds that such burns, often used by forest managers to reduce underbrush and protect bigger trees, release substantially less carbon dioxide emissions than wildfires of the...

A blue mystery

Mar 17 | News

As one of the "generic geologists" on a dig called the Dakhleh Oasis Project, associate professor Jennifer Smith was asked to sample the alum from ancient mines and to determine whether it could be the source of the blue in the "blue painted pottery" found at sites dating from the New Kingdom. It...

An organic approach to pest control -- releasing super-sexed (but sterile) male insects

Mar 17 | News

An improved method for sustainable pest control using "super-sexed" but sterile male insects to copulate with female ones is being developed by agricultural researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The scientists thus hope to offer yet another efficient and promising avenue for supplying...

40 percent of surface disinfectants ineffective in eliminating viruses that cause gastroenteritis

Mar 17 | News

Some 40 percent of commercial disinfectants used to clean surfaces are believed to be ineffective in eliminating noroviruses, a group of viruses responsible for more than half of all food-borne gastroenteritis outbreaks. According to a recent study published by Université Laval researchers in the...

Sharks from deep waters of Cantabrian Sea are opportunist hunters

Mar 17 | News

A team of Spanish researchers has studied the diet of three species of sharks living in the deep waters in the area of El Cachucho, the first Protected Marine Area in Spain, which is located in the Cantabrian Sea off the coast of Asturias. These animals feed on the resources available in their...

High Arctic species on thin ice

Mar 17 | News

A new assessment of the Arctic's biodiversity reports a 26 percent decline in species populations in the high Arctic.

Mastery of rare-earth elements vital to America's security

Mar 16 | News

Used in everything from batteries to electric motors, rare earth elements are vital to America's security, Karl A. Gschneidner Jr., a senior metallurgist at the US Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory, told members of the Investigations & Oversight Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science...

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A clean energy America…is it coming or not?

Feb 24 | RDBlog

Almost a year ago, the buzz during the downturn was that the economic stimulus will help boost jobs in a sort of national improvement program reminiscent of the 1930s. Our coal would be phased out. Our grids would get smart. Our cars would get hybridized.

Build-up over the Y chromosome

Jan 15 | RDBlog

The Y chromosome—it is the one genetic factor that determines whether you will be a male or female and now it is also evolving faster than expected. However, what does this new discovery actually mean to the world of genetics without opening a debate that may cause gender disagreements?

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