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Why Evolution Reversed These Insects’ Sex Organs
Among these cave insects, the females evolved to have penises — twice. The reasons challenge common assumptions about sex.
Forests Emerge as a Major Overlooked Climate Factor
New work at the intersection of atmospheric science and ecology is finding that forests can influence rainfall and climate from across a continent.
How Nature Defies Math in Keeping Ecosystems Stable
Paradoxically, the abundance of tight interactions among living species usually leads to disasters in ecological models. New analyses hint at how nature seemingly defies the math.
On Waste Plastics at Sea, She Finds Unique Microbial Multitudes
Maria-Luiza Pedrotti is illuminating the unseen worlds of plastic-eating bacteria that teem in massive ocean garbage patches.
Why Nature Prefers Couples, Even for Yeast
Some species have the equivalent of many more than two sexes, but most do not. A new model suggests the reason depends on how often they mate.
Cores From Coral Reefs Hold Secrets of the Seas’ Past and Future
Layered deposits of coral skeletons hold vast stores of environmental data from thousands of years ago, including annual records of ocean temperatures, water pollution and storm activity.
A Thermodynamic Answer to Why Birds Migrate
New modeling studies suggest that birds migrate to strike a favorable balance between their input and output of energy.
Complex Animals Led to More Oxygen, Says Maverick Theory
For decades, researchers have commonly assumed that higher oxygen levels led to the sudden diversification of animal life 540 million years ago. But one iconoclast argues the opposite: that new animal behaviors raised oxygen levels and remade the environment.
Evolution Saves Species From ‘Kill the Winner’ Disasters
Modelers find evidence that a combination of competition, predation and evolution will push ecosystems toward species diversity anywhere in the universe.