Ecosystems
Scientists bioengineer plants to have an animal-like immune system
Scientists have bioengineered a hybrid molecule by fusing components from an animal's and a plant's adaptive immune system.
NASA may have accidentally killed the only life we ever found on Mars 50 years ago
Life may have been discovered on Mars almost 50 years ago, but it could have been unintentionally destroyed.
Northern white rhinos are set for extinction. Only a technological moonshot can save them.
Project BioRescue aims to create the reproductive technology necessary to resurrect the northern white rhino. But time is running out.
These giant viruses are unlike any we’ve ever seen before
Scientists have discovered a variety of “giant viruses” unlike any ever seen before in Massachusetts’ Harvard Forest
By 2040, 60% of “meat” won’t come from dead animals
"Novel vegan meat alternatives" and cultured meat will likely become competitors to traditional meat products, the report says.
World’s oldest trees reveal the largest solar storm in history
One of the greatest threats to all our infrastructure is a solar storm, which has the potential to cause a multi-trillion dollar disaster.
A comet impact 13,000 years ago might have wiped out megafauna
Researchers note a "synchronicity" of geochemical signals suggesting that fragments of a comet struck Earth approximately 13,000 years ago.
How years of fighting every wildfire helped fuel the Western megafires of today
The current approach to fire management poses unnecessarily high stakes for forests. Here's why fighting every fire does more harm than good.
Desertification is destroying fertile land. Here’s how we’re fighting it.
Desertification is destroying once-fertile land at an alarming rate, but desert greening techniques are making degraded soil bloom again.
Here’s how growing plants on the Moon could benefit Earth
Making plants grow on the Moon could be instrumental in helping gardens to grow greener on Earth in the face of climate change.