National Science Foundation

Seagrasses can store as much carbon as forests

(Phys.org) -- Seagrasses are a vital part of the solution to climate change and, per unit area, seagrass meadows can store up to twice as much carbon as the world's temperate and tropical forests.

Space & Earth / Environment

created May 22, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (9) | comments 18 | with audio podcast

Mapping the genomes of crocodiles and alligators -- It's not for the faint of heart

(Phys.org) -- David Ray never turns his back on his research, and with good reason! "If it can't bite you, it's not interesting," he jokes.

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 22, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Mathematical physics reveal nature's formula for survival (w/ Video)

(Phys.org) -- The vascular system of a leaf provides its structure and delivers its nutrients. When you light up that vascular structure with some fluorescent dye and view it using time-lapse photography, details begin to ...

Other Sciences / Mathematics

created May 14, 2012 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (12) | comments 10 | with audio podcast

Dead ahead: Less rainfall for drought-sensitive southern hemisphere regions?

(Phys.org) -- Warming climate may mean less rainfall for drought-sensitive regions of the Southern Hemisphere, according to results just published by an international research team.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created May 21, 2012 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Questions about incredible sea turtle migration answered

Immediately after emerging from their underground nests on the lush beaches of eastern Florida, loggerhead sea turtles scramble into the sea and embark alone on a migration that takes them around the entire ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 15, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Queen of spades key to new evolutionary hypothesis

(Phys.org) -- Sleight of hand is a trait that belongs mainly to humans. Or so scientists thought. Studies of common, microscopic ocean plankton named Prochlorococcus show that humans aren't the only ones w ...

Biology / Evolution

created May 11, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Scientists replicate key evolutionary step in life on earth

(PhysOrg.com) -- More than 500 million years ago, single-celled organisms on Earth's surface began forming multi-cellular clusters that ultimately became plants and animals.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jan 16, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (46) | comments 500 | with audio podcast

This breathalyzer reveals signs of disease (w/ Video)

(Phys.org) -- This invention could give new meaning to the term "bad breath!" It's the Single Breath Disease Diagnostics Breathalyzer, and when you blow into it, you get tested for a biomarker—a sign ...

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

created May 08, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

A spider web's strength lies in more than its silk

While researchers have long known of the incredible strength of spider silk, the robust nature of the tiny filaments cannot alone explain how webs survive multiple tears and winds that exceed hurricane strength.

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Feb 01, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (11) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Peaceful bonobos may have something to teach humans

Humans share 98.7 percent of our DNA with chimpanzees, but we share one important similarity with one species of chimp, the common chimpanzee, that we don't share with the other, the bonobo. That similarity ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Mar 08, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (25) | comments 161 | with audio podcast

A scratched coating heals itself quickly and easily, with light not heat (w/ video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Imagine you're driving your own new car--or a rental car--and you need to park in a commercial garage. Maybe you're going to work, visiting a mall or attending an event at a sports stadium, ...

Chemistry / Polymers

created Apr 20, 2011 | popularity 3.6 / 5 (5) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Size matters: Quantum dots could make solar panels more efficient

(PhysOrg.com) -- Studies done by Mark Lusk and colleagues at the Colorado School of Mines could significantly improve the efficiency of solar cells. Their latest work describes how the size of light-absorbing ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Mar 25, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (11) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Trouble in paradise: Ocean acidification this way comes

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble.---Shakespeare, Macbeth

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 05, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (16) | comments 23 | with audio podcast

Link between air pollution and cyclone intensity in Arabian Sea

Pollution is making Arabian Sea cyclones more intense, according to a study in this week's issue of the journal Nature.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 02, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (7) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Fossil sirenians give scientists new look at ancient climate

(PhysOrg.com) -- What tales they tell of their former lives, these old bones of sirenians, relatives of today's dugongs and manatees.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Apr 21, 2011 | popularity 3.6 / 5 (5) | comments 3 | with audio podcast