News by Subject Earth Science

The problem of access to safe drinking water in most parts of Bangladesh is a persistent challenge. Now, a team of scientists from Uppsala University, Sweden, and Dhaka University, Bangladesh, shows that a locally growing and previously unexploited green macroalgae species could be used to extract cellulose nanofibers, which can then be formed into paper sheets with tailored pore size that are utilized for point-of-use water treatment.

A common birthplace of new genes, the male testes are a hotspot for biological innovation. Within these organs, scientists have found a trove of virgin genetic sequences--and a better understanding of how evolution moves forward.

Tropical Storm Krosa continued to erode after it moved into the Sea of Japan and satellite data showed it as a ragged and shapeless storm on August 16, 2019.

A new study from the University of Helsinki using miniaturized satellite-based tags revealed that during drier periods desert bats must fly further and longer to fulfil their nightly needs. According to researchers this signals their struggle in facing dry periods.

The molecular mechanism used by many bacteria to kill neighboring cells has redundancy built into its genetic makeup, which could allow for the mechanism to be expressed in different environments.

The amount of water injected for conventional oil and gas production exceeds that from high-volume hydraulic fracturing and other unconventional oil and gas production by more than a factor of 10, according to a new report. Conventional methods of oil and gas production have been used since the late 1800s. An assessment of the environmental impacts of the petroleum industry should examine the conventional production methods, as well as fracking.

When Earth's species were rapidly diversifying nearly 500 million years ago, that evolution was driven by complex factors including global cooling, more oxygen in the atmosphere, and more nutrients in the oceans. But it took a combination of many global environmental and tectonic changes occurring simultaneously and combining like building blocks to produce rapid diversification into new species, according to a new study by Dr. Alycia Stigall, Professor of Geological Sciences at Ohio University.

Scientists have recovered the first genetic data from an extinct bird in the Caribbean, thanks to the remarkably preserved bones of a Creighton's caracara from a flooded sinkhole on Great Abaco Island.