Gene Drives Offer New Hope Against Diseases and Crop Pests

Wildlife and habitat

Scientists Peg Anthropocene to First Farmers
Global decline of large herbivores may lead to an “empty landscape,” scientists say
The extinction of large animals from tropical forests could make climate change worse
After Cecil Furor, U.S. Aims to Protect Lions Through Endangered Species Act
Climate change scenarios point to widespread tree death in Southwest forests, researchers say
US wild bee numbers decline as land is converted for biofuel
Coastal marshes more resilient to sea-level rise than previously believed
Nutrient pollution damages streams in ways previously unknown, ecologists find
Spread of algal toxin through marine food web broke records in 2015
A call for action in the face of a new pathogen threat to North America's amphibians
    Also see: Huge plan underway to save North American salamanders from deadly epidemic
Critically endangered species should be left to breed in the wild
200,000 of Peru’s primates trafficked for pet trade or bushmeat yearly
Report: Mexico's Monarch Butterfly Reserve Lost 24 Acres to Illegal Logging
‘Forgotten forests’ of South Sudan: Camera traps capture first-ever pictures of...
Spotted owls are being wiped out by other owls
Japan whale hunt tensions to flare as Australia considers court action
Belugas blow bubbles based on mood
Starfish Are Still Dying, But Here's Reason for Hope
Minding the gap: City bats won't fly through bright spaces
Another rare sea serpent has washed ashore in Southern California
There’s something fishy about that viral image of what dolphins ‘see’
NIH ends controversial monkey experiments at Poolesville lab

Discoveries about the natural world
 
New research demands rethink on Darwin’s theory of ‘fecundity selection’
A gene for new species is discovered
Land use may weaken amphibians' capacity to fight infection, disease
Enormous array of bacteria discovered on common bird; could have agricultural implications
Could Hippos Be Meat Eaters?
For ticks, researchers find lemur noses to be males only in Madagascar
Here's the Secret to How Snakes Slither
Crows caught on camera fashioning special hook tools
New evidence of tool use discovered in parrots
Penguin huddling found to be more complicated than thought
Spiders travel across water like ships, using their legs as sails and their silk as an anchor
Maintaining salt balance helps insects avoid frosty fate
Dartmouth-led team discovers new acoustic, vibrational duet in crickets
Pivotal role of gut bacteria in insect-to-insect communication identified
Epomis beetles – insect response to amphibian tyranny
Headbanging Aussie bee takes a heavy metal approach to pollination
When labs clash over tardigrade DNA, that’s just science working as it should
Plants crawled onto land earlier than we give them credit, genetic evidence suggests
Wax shield let seeds conquer Earth

Researchers Discover How Ancient Species Survived or Died Off in Their Old Kentucky Home
Researchers Confirm Original Blood Vessels in 80 Million-Year-Old Fossil
Burgess Shale fossil site gives up oldest evidence of brood care
Influence of Earth's history on the dawn of modern birds
Dinosaurs Evolved In A Startlingly Short Time
Volcanic event caused ice age during Jurassic Period
Can electric signals in Earth’s atmosphere predict earthquakes?

Weather and climate

Study: Climate change rapidly warming world's lakes
Climate models overestimate rainfall increases
Methane Emissions in Arctic Cold Season Higher Than Expected
Northern Alaska: North Slope permafrost thawing sooner than expected
Warm nights could flood the atmosphere with carbon under climate change
Current climate models misrepresent El Nino
Greenhouse gases caused glacial retreat during last Ice Age
Philadelphia releases city's first climate-readiness report
'Freak' ocean waves hit without warning, new research shows

Environmental policy

Senate votes to ban microbeads in soap
Toxic substances reform moves forward in US
The Marshall Islands Are Disappearing

Energy

Extreme weather poses increasing threat to US power grid
Could metal particles be the clean fuel of the future?
Germany fires up bizarre new fusion reactor
Scientists develop diesel that emits far less CO2
Some gas produced by hydraulic fracturing comes from surprise source

Water

Our water pipes crawl with millions of bacteria, and that's a good thing (w/video)
When trees die, water slows
Fear at the tap: Uranium contaminates water in the West
In Flint, Mich., lead in children’s blood causes state of emergency to be declared

Air

Coal is king among pollution that causes heart disease, study says

Chemical concerns, radiation, waste management, recycling

Low birth rates: Endocrine-disrupting chemicals are threatening fertility in industrialised countries
Review Of IARC Data On Glyphosate Finds No Evidence Of Carcinogenesis

Agriculture and food, livestock and pets

120 Multistate Outbreaks: Tip of Iceberg in Food-borne Infection
    Related: Salmonella Can Survive in Your Oreos for at Least 6 Months
What happens when a family runs out of food stamps
Disease-resistant pigs latest win for gene editing technology
Millet: The missing link in prehistoric humans' transition from hunter-gatherer to farmer
How sustainable is vertical farming?
Nuts Are a Nutritional Powerhouse
Why you can’t call nuts, avocados, olives, or salmon “healthy”
"Zonulin" is either the key to non-celiac gluten sensitivity or another false lead on a fake disease
Using hot sauce is a really easy way to improve your diet, say experts
Study shows domestication of dogs led to an increase in harmful genetic changes

Health and medicine, human behavior

AMA Calls for Ban on Direct to Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs and Medical Devices
Genetically modified mice reveal the secret to a painless life
Untested, unapproved compounded hormone prescriptions reach 26 to 33 million a year
Brazil declares emergency due to mosquito-borne virus
Immunotherapy breakthrough now approved as standard of care for advanced melanoma
Hormone therapy for prostate cancer tied to possible Alzheimer's risk
Cancer studies clash over mechanisms of malignancy
Simple shell of plant virus sparks immune response against cancer
Expert reaction to study linking antidepressant use during pregnancy to autism
Taking antidepressants during pregnancy increases risk of autism by 87 percent
The Corporate Takeover of the Red Cross
Fecal Transplants Made (Somewhat) More Palatable
Evolutionary war between microorganisms affecting human health, biologist says
The most dangerous pathogens, according to WHO
A brain link to autism
Putting Your Newborn In A Car Seat? 95% Of People Do It Wrong
    Related: Car seats and winter coats can be a dangerous combination
A Paradigm Shift in Multidrug Resistance
Pushy patients downvote doctors for giving antibiotics responsibly
Tests find traditional medicines contain pharmaceuticals, heavy metals and endangered animals
GM Chickens: Where Big Pharma Meets Big Farm
Yet another study shows Tylenol doesn't work so well — this time for flu
Vitamin D could repair nerve damage in multiple sclerosis, study suggests
Enteric nerves of patients with irritable bowel syndrome have reduced sensitivity
A chat with the pediatrician calming babies by shaking their booties
    Also see: How To Calm A Crying Baby - Dr. Robert Hamilton Demonstrates "The Hold" (video)
Stanford researchers genetically engineer yeast to produce opioids
Why focusing on a visual task will make us deaf to our surroundings
Can you actually hear "inaudible" sound?
Study finds 'no-drill' dentistry stops tooth decay
How much TV you watch as a young adult may affect midlife cognitive function
Why do men have better sense of direction than women?
Can your birth month predict disease risk?
Linguists Discover The Best Word Order For Giving Directions

Education

High school graduation rate hits all-time high; 82 percent finish on time
In Philadelphia, 22 percent of adults lack basic literacy
Critical thinking is needed throughout life, not just in science
Arizona GOP taps creationist chemtrail truther to lead education committee (USA! USA!)

Law

Vertebrate decomposition study provides potential new tool for forensic science
FBI to sharply expand system for tracking fatal police shootings
These police recruits are being trained to be guardians, not warriors
Supreme Court won’t review laws banning assault weapons
Japan has exceptionally low crime rates. But there's a dark side to its justice system.
Who’s investigating fake Chinese goods? Fake investigators
How trustworthy are electronic voting systems in the US?
Pennsylvania: Judicial misconduct charges filed against Justice Eakin in porn email scandal
Police in Tokyo plan to use drones of their own to stop illegal drone usage

Archeology, anthropology, art and history

Site of first multi-year European settlement in the U.S. identified
Studies show early human hunters more advanced than previously thought
Unexpected wood source for Chaco Canyon great houses

Stonehenge First Built in Wales, Study Claims
    Compare with: Why bluestones 'were moved from Wales by glaciers NOT prehistoric people'
Scientists find: Religion and politics led to social tension and conflict, then and now
This One Bone Is The Only Skeletal Evidence For Crucifixion In The Ancient World
Thigh bone adds to mystery over 14,000-year-old Homo species
    More info: New species of human may have shared our caves – and beds
After centuries beneath the sea, Colombia says the ‘holy grail’ of treasure ships is finally found
Dutch archaeologists find proof of Julius Caesar-led massacre in the Netherlands
Viking hoard found in field sheds light on England's origins
18th century marble bust looted by Nazis returns to Poland
Countries using ancient shipwrecks to project sovereignty into new maritime territories (op-ed)
Everyone on Earth is actually your cousin

National security, defense

What no one wants to admit about fighting ISIS: the US has only bad choices
A terror expert clearly and calmly explains the risk of "lone wolf" ISIS attacks in the US
The bottom line on whether Iran tried to build nuclear weapons
Saudi Arabia launches ‘Islamic military alliance’ to combat terrorism
Pentagon: Opening combat jobs to women alters ‘factual backdrop’ in keeping them out of the draft
    Related: Women in Combat: Physical Differences May Mean Uphill Battle
In the war against sexual assault, the Army keeps shooting itself in the foot
Study suggests a rise in number of trading partners leads to fewer wars between nations

Astronomy and cosmology, spaceflight

Giant comets could pose danger to life on Earth
Gullies on Mars sculpted by dry ice rather than liquid water
View of Exploding Star Appears, Right on Cue
The fortuitous find of a puzzling mineral on Mars
New type of moon rock discovered by Chinese lunar lander
New clues to Ceres' bright spots and origins
NASA's LADEE mission shows the force of meteoroid strikes on lunar exosphere
The Curious Case of the Blood-Stained Moon
Titan Appears Earth-Like in New Image
ASU scientist's cameras find 5 flags on the moon
Plutonium-238 Is Produced In America For The First Time In Almost 30 Years
Astronomers Skeptical Over "Planet X" Claims
Did 'dark matter' or a star called Nemesis kill the dinosaurs?
Confirmed: Black Holes are Magnetism-Powered Eating Machines
Gamma rays tell story of their travels
Holometer rules out first theory of space-time correlations

Physics, chemistry and materials science, mathematics

Heat radiates 10,000 times faster at the nanoscale
Did the LHC Really Discover a New Particle?
New understanding of how shape and form develop in nature
Scientists Create Atomically Thin Metallic Boron
Paradox at the heart of mathematics makes physics problem unanswerable
Meeting of math minds fails to clear up ABC conjecture proof

Technology and engineering, robotics

The Robot Cars Quietly Get Closer, The Noise They Make Will Change The World
Columbia engineers build biologically powered chip (!)
Magnetic nanoparticle chains offer new technique for controlling soft robots
Right blend of polymers enables rapid molecule-selective filtering of tiny particles from water
New thin, flat lenses focus light as sharply as curved lenses

Computers and software, the Internet

Are computers creative?
A Learning Advance in Artificial Intelligence Rivals Human Abilities
    More info: Scientists teach machines to learn like humans
Google Says It Has Proved Its Controversial Quantum Computer Really Works
How researchers put George W. Bush's words into Hillary Clinton’s mouth
Sophisticated malware won't budge in simple OS re-install
BBC experiments with video personalized to every viewer

Of note

Giving Credence: Why is So Much Reported Science Wrong, and What Can Fix That?
Animated timeline of the Earth's history
Scientists keep rallying around NOAA chief in climate feud
Why conspiracy theories flourish on the right

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