Quiet, please: Hatchery salmon raised amid noise are less likely to return to spawn
Fish hatcheries are a critical part of the effort to restore salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest. But hatchery fish are less likely than wild ones to return from the ocean to spawn—and one reason may be hatchery noise.
Blue Origin, for the first time, is expected to raise private capital
The company is raising $10 billion, leading to a valuation of $130 billion.
Another success for Hayabusa 2 as it completes a flyby of asteroid Torifune
Hayabusa 2's primary mission is now well in the past. JAXA's asteroid-sampling spacecraft rendezvoused with asteroid Ryugu in June 2018. It studied the asteroid for 1.5 years and gathered a sample that was returned to Earth in December 2020.
JWST's 'overmassive' early black holes may not be so massive after all
Astronomers studying a population of unusually X-ray-silent and overmassive black holes discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope have found that they may not be as massive as they appear. The new paper, outlining a plausible scenario that would produce such black holes, was published in Astronomy & Astrophysics on June 19.
Robin study suggests fleeing isn't necessarily wildlife's first response to wildfire smoke
Research by Oregon State University biologists suggests that toxic air stemming from wildfires won't necessarily prompt animals to flee in search of better breathing conditions. The study of American robins led by OSU's Jamie Cornelius is one of the few to examine how wildfire smoke, an increasingly common phenomenon as annual fire seasons become longer and more intense, affects animal b
Social media influencers who match racial, ethnic identity of their audiences have a bigger—and unhealthy—impact
Food marketers increasingly use people for paid promotions who share the racial and ethnic identities of their target audiences because such "identity congruence" is seen as persuasive. This strategy has migrated to social media, where it can reach millions of users daily, including youth who may be less likely to recognize it as advertising.
The oldest deliberately collected fossil ichthyosaur was discovered in Roman Britain around 1,800 years ago
Around 1,800 years ago, a fossilized spinal bone lay on the windswept beaches of Roman Britain until a curious passerby picked it up and carried it far away, only to drop it in a pit.
Sensors, early starts: How Spain keeps working when heat hits
The morning sun beats down on Antonio Reina as he tends a public garden in Barcelona, but he works reassured that a simple wristband protects him in the summer heat.
What to know about the total solar eclipse due in August
Day will briefly turn into night across a swath of northern Spain on Aug. 12, when the moon will completely cover the sun during a rare total solar eclipse.
'Unique event': Solar eclipse fever fills empty Spain
As a child, Enrique Bordallo would gaze in awe at the starry night sky in rural Spain. Next month's solar eclipse has now made his passion a popular obsession.
How climate change affects interactions between owls and their prey
A study published in Ecography has assessed how climate change may be destabilizing interactions between predators and prey in the wild—specifically, how owl–prey interactions have responded to environmental variability and resource availability over 24 years in the semi-arid ecosystem of Bosque Fray Jorge National Park in Chile.
Why the "smallest" giant telescope may be the world's best
When it comes to exploring the Universe, most of the publicity gets taken up by space telescopes: the most fragile and expensive tools in our astronomical arsenal. While it's true that space telescopes are profoundly powerful — and often explore windows that are closed to us down here on the ground, as Earth's atmosphere makes many classes of observation impossible — the vast majority of what we k
How tall and short trees can coexist in old growth forests
Forests are shaped by light competition. The trees that grow the tallest have access to the most sunlight, blocking the rays and rendering the shaded space around them inhospitable to shorter trees below. In this stem exclusion phase of forest succession, the shorter trees often die. Yet scientists have observed that in old-growth forests, trees of vastly different sizes successfully coexist, prov
Sponsorship is key to career progression but less than one in four relationships work
A research report launched today reveals that sponsorship is a critical part of progression into senior leadership roles because it teaches individuals how advancement actually works in practice. But only a small proportion of sponsorship relationships—less than a quarter—are characterized by the mutual trust, candid feedback and active advocacy that really boost leaders' careers.
Quantum vacuum could help break molecular bonds with less energy, simulations suggest
A team of researchers led by Felipe Herrera, a professor at the University of Santiago and a researcher at the Millennium Institute for Research in Optics (MIRO), has identified a quantum phenomenon that enables chemical bonds to be broken using significantly less energy than is normally required.
Opportunities across childhood best predict degrees, earnings for low-income youth
A new study led by a Boston College researcher has found that experiencing educational opportunities in all stages of childhood and adolescence is the best predictor of higher educational attainment and earnings for disadvantaged American youth, as opposed to the impact of learning access during any single phase.
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft wakes from its longest hibernation in good health
Following its longest hibernation period ever of nearly a year, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has emerged in good health and is ready to begin transmitting science data gathered in the distant Kuiper Belt far beyond Pluto.
Island life changed how Brazil's Noronha skink reproduces, but the lizard's strategy might be failing
Visitors to the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, located about 340 miles (545 kilometers) off the coast of Pernambuco in northeastern Brazil, soon notice a small lizard. Seemingly ubiquitous, it roams among rocks, trails and urbanized areas, approaching people and stealing food in plain sight when it can, and rarely flees.
Saturn-ring-like laser emission from chiral polymeric microspheres
Controlling light within microscopic spaces is crucial for next-generation optical devices such as photonic integrated circuits and localized sensors. Microspheres formed of luminescent π-conjugated polymers act as optical resonators that confine and amplify light via whispering gallery modes (WGMs), and they are promising candidates for microscale organic lasers and photonic applications. However
Galaxy mergers aren't always obvious
The galaxy Centaurus A is about 11 million light-years away and is the fifth-brightest galaxy in the sky. Because it's so bright, it's been studied extensively by amateur and professional astronomers alike. Also called NGC 5128, it's a starburst galaxy, meaning it's forming stars at a rapid rate.
Weak connection: Why influencers sometimes fail to influence
Conventional wisdom holds that targeting the best-connected individuals in a social network is an effective way to nudge a wider group of people to change their behavior. For example, public health officials launching a campaign to improve nutrition might target a community's leaders on the assumption that they wield the most influence. The effectiveness of this approach, however, depends on
Young women are identifying as less straight; young men, not so much
Young women are moving away from exclusive heterosexuality faster than young men.
Fishing for DNA: How a cup of river water can reveal secrets about human health, pollution and biodiversity
The DNA in a single cup of water can track wildlife, monitor pollution and survey pathogens in waterways and their surroundings, all at the same time.
Where rivers face collapse: New tool shows where conservation dollars can do most good
Freshwater ecosystems are under growing pressure worldwide, but conservation resources are limited. A framework developed by IIASA researchers and partners can help identify where conservation could prevent biodiversity loss and where restoration efforts are likely to have the greatest ecological impact across the United States and Europe.
Unique fossil record of marine mollusks helps scientists predict extinction risk—before it's too late
Scientists are increasingly worried we may be witnessing the start of the "sixth mass extinction"—the first to be caused by human activities.
Michigan sees explosive outbreak of diarrheal parasite with over 700 cases
Cases have risen quickly as officials are working to identify a common source.
Fungi communicate with one another in the presence of metal pollution in forests
VUB researcher Maarten Ottaway investigated how trees and their invisible underground allies—the fungi—respond to soil pollution. His Ph.D. sheds new light on an age-old partnership that is crucial for healthy forests, and on how that partnership holds up under the pressure of metal pollution.
When managing your money, take a chatbot's 'confidence' with a grain of salt
Consider the following scenario. Suzy is 63, recently retired and trying to decide when to start receiving Social Security and how to manage her retirement savings to minimize the tax hit.
Satellite record reveals US tidal wetland productivity rose 6% in 20 years
Carbon sequestration, climate regulation, biodiversity support and shoreline protection: These are all benefits provided by tidal wetlands. As the climate changes, the amount of carbon captured by these vital ecosystems may be changing as well.
Isotope probing shows soil is packed with dormant viruses lying in wait
A single gram of soil contains between 10 million and 1 billion viruses. Most of those viruses do not infect plants, animals or people, but they do target bacteria and other microbes. Because of their influence on microbial communities, viruses can affect nutrient cycling and soil health. Understanding how they behave is therefore crucial to supporting agriculture, food production and water qualit