Calling on natural defenses to turn back banana pandemic

In the 1950s, the "Gros Michel" variety of banana was wiped out by Panama disease. The banana crop in some locations was basically eliminated by the disease of fusarium wilt, caused by a pathogen that enters the plant through ...

How a hurricane fueled wildfires in the Florida Panhandle

The wildfires that broke out in the Florida Panhandle in early March 2022 were the nightmare fire managers had feared since the day Hurricane Michael flattened millions of trees there in 2018. It might sound odd—hurricanes ...

Ancestors of whale sharks in Panama may come from distant waters

The world's largest fish, the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), is a plankton-loving giant that can be found alone or in groups in all tropical oceans. However, despite being a highly migratory species, little is known about ...

Geologists discover powerful 'river of rocks' below Caribbean

Geologists have long thought tectonic plates move because they are pulled by the weight of their sinking portions and that an underlying, hot, softer layer called asthenosphere serves as a passive lubricant. But a team of ...

Panama disease breakthrough sparks US funding

QUT researcher and Distinguished Professor James Dale and his team have successfully developed a line of Cavendish bananas resistant to Panama disease tropical race 4 (TR4).

Crocodile evolution rebooted by Ice Age glaciations

Crocodiles are resilient animals from a lineage that has survived for over 200 million years. Skilled swimmers, crocodiles can travel long distances and live in freshwater to marine environments. But they can't roam far overland. ...

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