An MIT study finds microparticles are less likely to accumulate in sediment infused with biofilms, such as sandy riverbeds or seashores. The work may guide people studying impacts of microplastics or determining priority zones for monitoring and protection.

During hurricanes, it’s not wind but water that poses the greatest risk – causing 86% of storm-related deaths in the past decade, mostly from inland flooding. FAU’s I-SENSE is revolutionizing storm forecasting through its leadership of the Southeast Atlantic Econet, a cutting-edge network of more 190 weather and flood monitoring stations. Spanning from Key West to South Carolina, it delivers real-time data that powers lifesaving forecasts from the National Weather Service.

In a paper published in National Science Review, a Chinese team of scientists highlights the discovery of well-preserved blue-stain fungal hyphae within a Jurassic fossil wood from northeastern China, which pushes back the earliest known fossil record of this fungal group by approximately 80 million years. The new finding provides crucial fossil evidence for studying the origin and early evolution of blue-stain fungi and offers fresh insights into understanding the ecological relationships between the blue-stain fungi, plants, and insects during the Jurassic period.

Field and pot fertilization experiments on foxtail millet and common millet further suggest that the millet grain δ¹⁵N values can serve as reliable indicators of manuring practices, and the relationship between manuring levels and the δ¹⁵N values of archaeological millet remains was proposed. The δ¹⁵N values of ancient millet grains suggest widespread and intensive manuring practices in prehistoric North China.