Having Black teachers and other educators of color improves students' classroom experiences, research shows. They often serve as role models, set high academic expectations and teach material that connects to students' lives outside of schools.
A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences demonstrates how radiocarbon dating can reveal the maximum lifespan of Mediterranean hardwoods, uncovering hidden links between human history and long-term ecosystem dynamics. By analyzing mature and ancient oak trees across Italy, researchers found that a millennium of age is attainable from the Mediterranean coast to mountain environments.
Americans rarely marry outside of their race or class in a nation where residential segregation is relatively common. It is a dynamic widely viewed as a contributing factor to income inequality and intergenerational social mobility.
European fallow deer have faced a dramatic loss of genetic diversity since the last interglacial period. This was revealed by 120,000-year-old fossils from central Germany's Neumark-Nord site in Saxony-Anhalt, analyzed by researchers from the University of Potsdam, the MONREPOS Research Center and Museum in Neuwied, and Leiden University. Their results have been published in the journal iScience. Modern fallow deer thus represent just a fraction of their Ice Age ancestors' variety. The study highlights how climate and human actions substantially reshaped a once-diverse species and may help inform conservation action.
When you picture a cave, you probably think of an environment devoid of life. But for most caves on Earth, this couldn't be further from the truth.
Industrial-scale mining in Africa to support global supply chains is leading to unprecedented deforestation across the continent, with 34 hectares of forest removed for every single hectare of active mine site.
The classical drug discovery paradigm begins with a known molecular target: a protein whose modulation is expected to reverse the course of a disease. However, in many pathologies, such a target does not always exist or is not sufficiently characterized.
Chloromethane is a gas that is toxic to humans and contributes to the depletion of the ozone layer. It is produced during the combustion of coal, biomass and other raw materials. Natural sources such as algae, plants and fungi also release it. A research team led by biologist Prof. Julia Kurth from the University of Münster has discovered and characterized a previously unknown enzyme system in anaerobic bacteria of the species Acetobacterium dehalogenans. This system converts the gas into nontoxic substances. The results, published in the journal Nature Communications, are of interest for environmental remediation, climate research and biotechnology.
The plumbing systems of volcanoes are vast and complex. But they aren't consistent, even in the same volcano. A Cornell-led collaboration found very different mechanisms behind two historic eruptions of Mount Etna in Italy. Understanding these dynamics—combined with the techniques that revealed them—can help geologists assess the risk of future eruptions.
A landmark climate case is being heard by the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights. The request was brought by the Pan African Lawyers Union and other African civil society organizations. They've asked the court to issue advice on what responsibilities African governments have to protect their countries against the climate crisis and move away from an economy that harms the environment.
