Wildflowers growing on land previously used for buildings and factories can accumulate lead, arsenic and other metal contaminants from the soil, which are consumed by pollinators as they feed, a new study has found.

An international team of scientists and crew on board Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor (too) was the first to film the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) in its natural environment. The 30-centimeter juvenile squid (nearly one foot long) was captured on video at a depth of 600 meters (1968 feet) by the Institute’s remotely operated vehicle (ROV) SuBastian. The sighting occurred on March 9 on an expedition near the South Sandwich Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. This year is the 100-year anniversary of the identification and formal naming of the colossal squid, a member of the glass squid family (Cranchiidae).

USC Viterbi School of Engineering researchers have discovered a mineral commonly found in seashells could be the key to a safer plastic alternative.

Biologists at NJIT unearth a buried chapter in the evolution of dirt ants, uncovering first fossil evidence that one of Earth's stealthiest insects inhabited the Caribbean millions of years ago.

With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), predictive medicine is becoming an important part of healthcare, especially in cancer treatment. Predictive medicine uses algorithms and data to help doctors understand how a cancer might continue to grow or react to specific drugs—making it easier to target precision treatment for individual patients. Now, researchers at the Institute for Genome Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine set a foundation in two commentaries out this week for going beyond AI to find the best treatments for patients, as well as ethically data sharing to promote reproducible science.

 

A recent study has introduced the next-generation Vegetation Photosynthesis Model (VPM 3.0), delivering a major leap in the accuracy of global gross primary production (GPP) estimates.