Humans made a barrier to protect Earth from space radiation Very low frequency (VLF) radio waves can penetrate deep into the ocean (that's how we talk to submarines) and very far out in space. Now we've found that VLF waves have an unintended side effect: they interact with particles in space to form a shield around the Earth. This "impenetrable barrier" prevents ionized particles created by solar storms and cosmic rays from bombarding the planet. So maybe our impact on the planet in the Anthropocene isn't entirely bad news after all. | | Photo: Northwestern University | | Infertile mice give birth to healthy pups with help of 3D-printed ovary An ovary printed out of gelatin and implanted with follicles and immature eggs has allowed infertile mouse moms to give birth. The advance marks the first time an implanted device has been used to give birth, after the successful 3D printing of tissues, organs and bones. The implanted ovaries did not work in all cases -- only three out of the seven mice to receive the printed ovaries became pregnant and bore healthy pups. But the treatment offers hope for an alternative to IVF in the future. | | Photo: National Human Genome Research Institute (CC BY-NC 2.0) | | Watch a hospital grow its own microbiome People carry around billions of bacteria, fungi and other microbes on their skin and inside their bodies -- and so do buildings, even the cleanest ones. To study how a new building develops its unique microbiome, researchers went into a soon-to-open hospital in Chicago and took samples in 10 hospital rooms and two nurses' stations, then came back after opening day and took samples for the next year, to watch how the microbial life changed. One insight: newly admitted patients picked up bacteria from the people who'd been in their hospital room before them, but as time passed, the patient's own microbes took over the room. This research could shed insight on how people in hospitals pick up infections. | | Recently discovered
'Tabby's star' is doing weird stuff again
The most mysterious star in the universe, named after Tabetha "Tabby" Boyajian, is at it again. Light from the star has been observed brightening and dimming in strange, unpredictable ways before, causing some to speculate it might host alien megastructures around it. Boyajian had predicted the star might act up this May, and sure enough, the star is dimming again. Astronomers are racing to get as many telescopes as they can to watch it. (Scientific American)
How dead is the Great Barrier Reef?
Coral bleaching is the biggest threat to the Great Barrier Reef. But it's too early for obituaries. (Vox)
Trump's plan to destroy the US science budget
The president requested billions of dollars in cuts from programs that pay for scientific research. (The Verge)
Rare Mexican porpoise faces 'imminent extinction'
The vaquita is the world's most endangered marine species: There are only 30 left, their population having plummeted by 90 percent since 2011. Their bladders are a sought-after ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine, fetching up to $8,500 a kilogram on the black market. Researchers hope the Mexican government will extend a fishing ban that was due to expire at the end of May, but it may be too little too late. (BBC)
Climate change is forcing trees to move west, and no one knows why
With rising temperatures across the Earth, scientists predict that trees adapted for cooler temperatures will move north. But a new survey of how tree populations have shifted over the past three decades finds that even more than moving northward, trees are moving west. (The Atlantic)
| | Animation: TED-Ed / Lisa LaBracio | | | Our planet's diverse, thriving ecosystems may seem like permanent fixtures, but they're actually vulnerable to collapse. Jungles can become deserts, and reefs can become lifeless rocks. What makes one ecosystem strong and another weak in the face of change? Kim Preshoff details why the answer, to a large extent, is biodiversity. | | | |
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