A new Comment article by Simon Marvin, Sophia Maalsen and Robyn Dowling published in the journal Nature Cities argues that urban nature is entering a new phase in which ecological processes are increasingly sensed, modeled and continuously adjusted through digital technologies.
Plastic pollution has become a global environmental crisis, with an estimated 11 million tons of plastic entering the oceans each year. As larger plastic debris breaks down into microplastics, these tiny particles are transported throughout marine ecosystems by ocean currents, threatening marine life and ultimately entering the human food chain.
Imagine shining a flashlight across a dark room. You can predict exactly what the light will do: travel in a straight line from one point to another. That seems obvious because, in the world we see around us, light appears to follow a single, clear path.
Helpful microbes that combat harmful pathogens could be the answer to rising antimicrobial resistance—particularly within built environments such as hospitals, homes and schools.
Due to artificial irrigation and rising temperatures, the concentration of salts (including sodium chloride, or "table salt") is increasing in soils worldwide. This is not only an environmental problem but also a challenge for agriculture. For example, increased salinity can disrupt the water balance of most plants (known as glycophytes) or even lead to their death, including crops.
Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have discovered that tiny photosynthetic bacteria band together into protective "herds" when attacked by predators—a survival strategy that could also influence how carbon is stored in the world's waters.
What does it take to catch up with a small, tumbling rock hundreds of thousands of kilometers from Earth? For China's Tianwen-2 mission, the answer was a 400-day chase covering roughly 1 billion kilometers (621 million miles) of deep space—one that has just ended in success. The China National Space Administration has confirmed that the probe has rendezvoused with the near-Earth asteroid Kamoʻoalewa, also known as 2016 HO3, closing to within about 20 kilometers (12 miles) and officially beginning its scientific exploration phase.
Scientists have discovered that marsupial forelimbs (arms) develop much earlier before birth than previously thought, providing new insights into evolutionary innovation and biology.
A new way of converting stubborn plastic waste into high-value chemicals using only water and oxygen has been developed by an international team of scientists.
Researchers have developed a new computational approach that enables more accurate selection of genes that characterize different cellular states from mRNA-seq data, offering a more interpretable way to analyze complex biological data. The study, published in Frontiers in Immunology, involved researchers from the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), IrsiCaixa and the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBEREHD).
