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Climate change is causing a decline in parasites, which is a biodiversity crisis that has largely gone unnoticed. Parasites are important for ecosystems, but they are in danger of extinction due to habitat loss and destruction caused by climate change. Changes in sea water temperature are believed to be a major factor in the decline of parasite communities. Efforts are being made to survey and collect parasites for future study, as well as assess their populations and threats. The establishment of an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission focusing on parasites is a significant step forward in coordinating conservation efforts. The conservation of parasites is crucial for preserving the diversity of life on Earth and maintaining healthy ecosystems. [Extracted from the article]

Scientists at Michigan State University are participating in one of the world's longest-running experiments to determine how long seeds can retain their ability to grow. The experiment, started by Professor William J. Beal in 1879, involves burying glass bottles filled with seeds and periodically digging them up to see if they sprout. The researchers, who recently retrieved the fifth-to-last bottle, are using modern techniques such as genome and protein analysis to study seed longevity. They are also involving the community in gathering data and hope to answer more questions about seed behavior in the future. [Extracted from the article]

One of the things that makes us human is our awareness of our own mortality. Yet for nearly as long as we've known that we'll one day die, we've wondered [...]

It has been applied not only to organisms and their microbiomes, but also to parasites that can't survive outside their hosts, to colonial organisms like corals, and even to entire ecosystems. DEFINING LIFE From the tallest tree to the tiniest bacterium, all living things share some common ground. Over the past three decades, discoveries of (comparatively) giant viruses, the size of some bacteria and containing DNA and more complex structures than the simple "bad news wrapped in protein" model, have made the distinction between viruses and living things even blurrier. What's more, when the genes to create this protein are put into another organism like a yeast or bacteria, that organism takes on the tardigrade's drying-resistant superpowers. [Extracted from the article]

THE WELSH VILLAGE of Llandudno went quiet in March as stay-at-home orders began. Then the goats descended from the mountain. A wild herd of Kashmiri goats has lived near Llandudno [...]

The article discusses the biodiversity of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), a deep-sea area in the Pacific Ocean, and the potential threat it faces from deep-sea mining. Scientists have discovered thousands of new species in the CCZ, but the presence of valuable metal-bearing nodules on the seafloor has attracted interest in mining. The environmental and socioeconomic risks of deep-sea mining are still unknown, and there is a debate about whether the potential benefits outweigh the potential harm. The article highlights the need for further research to understand the importance of these deep-sea creatures and the potential loss if mining proceeds. [Extracted from the article]

But theoretical physicist Samir Mathur has proposed a solution: changing the way we think of black holes and picturing them instead as "fuzzballs." SOME PHYSICISTS THINK THAT WE NEED TO SERIOUSLY UPDATE HOW WE THINK OF BLACK HOLES. [Extracted from the article]

RESEARCH GENETICIST Patricia Rosel needed to visit a skeleton-packed warehouse to confirm a longstanding scientific hunch: The 40-foot-long mammals in the Gulf of Mexico weren't Bryde's whales, but a new [...]

- anna funk HOW THE VIRUS HIJACKS YOUR BODY THE VIRUS THAT causes COVID-19 is transmitted through tiny, invisible droplets sent into the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. WHY A PANDEMIC BRINGS OUT OUR WORST THE INTENSE FEAR of the novel coronavirus almost seems as pervasive as the virus itself. - as told to megan schmidt SICK WITHOUT SYMPTOMS MANY COVID-19 cases are thought to be mild, but infected individuals with few or no reported symptoms are still contagious and capable of spreading the virus. HELP RESEARCHERS TRACK CORONAVIRUS BY REPORTING YOUR COVID-19 SYMPTOMS ONLINE HEALTH OFFICIALS can't fight the coronavirus pandemic without knowing where infections are. [Extracted from the article]

IT WAS A GRISLY scene: a hive of decapitated honeybees, their heads chewed off. And it signaled to scientists that thumb-sized 'murder hornets' native to Asia had invaded the Pacific [...]

THE CENSUS TAKERS set out in the spring of 2021 not in cars, but on a fleet of elephants. More than 300 people, including conservation experts and forestry officials, swept [...]

Aspiring Astronauts NASA'S WEBSITE LISTS THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA FOR ASTRONAUT HOPEFULS: Be a U.S. citizen. There were some Black astronaut candidates as early as 1963, but the first Black astronaut from the U.S. to reach space was Guion Bluford in 1983. HOT SCIENCE ASTRONAUTS HAVE one of the most competitive jobs in the world - 18,300 people applied to be part of NASA's 2017 class of astronauts, and only 12 made the final cut. [Extracted from the article]

Any future changes to those seafood laws, however, will have to consider decapod sentience. POLICY & CULTURE LAST SPRING, the U.K. passed the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022, marking the first time that animals were declared sentient by British law. [Extracted from the article]

In other scenarios, cultural shifts include broadening testing for animal-spread diseases and even changing funerary practices for people who have died from highly contagious diseases. An epidemiologist and veterinarian at the University of Washington, Pappaioanou says focusing on tracking down diseases in the wild isn't terribly efficient: "The most effective way to stop future pandemics is to stop and prevent human interaction with animals. DISEASE CONTROL HOOFED MAMMALS may be more likely to pass diseases to humans because of their close proximity to us. [Extracted from the article]

The spongy moth's old name was likely in reference to the brown color of the male moth, said to resemble the skin color of the Romani people, who were enslaved in parts of Eastern Europe for nearly five centuries. PLANET EARTH MAGDA MATACHE was "devastated" when she first heard the common name for Lymantia dispar - the gypsy moth. While the slur in the spongy moth's old name was in dire need of replacement because it immediately registered as offensive, she argues that in many cases, a name change isn't necessarily at the top of the to-do list. [Extracted from the article]

IT SOUNDS LIKE something out of science fiction: fetuses suspended in fluid-filled transparent bags, their blood flowing through a network of tubes hooked up to machines. In utero, the fetus's heart pumps deoxygenated blood into the placenta via the umbilical cord. In the sheep trials, the fetus's heart pumps deoxygenated blood through a tube in its umbilical cord to a machine that oxygenates it. [Extracted from the article]

Panama Protects Nature's "Right to Exist" Essentially, this means judges must weigh the rights of land developers against the rights (and associated protections) of nature to thrive, and "find a way to harmonize these rights." The new law recognizes that "natural entities have an intrinsic value … [and] a specific right to exist", says Constanza Prieto Figelist, the Latin American legal director at the nonprofit Earth Law Center, who helped draft the legislation. [Extracted from the article]

PLANET EARTH From mirror-image butterfly wings to the repeating fractal patterns of fern fronds, most living things display some kind of symmetry - yet the reason why has remained a mystery. SOLVING LIFE'S SYMMETRY Though the PNAS study focused on tiny structures like protein complexes, its authors believe the same principle could explain the phenomenon on larger scales too - including the oft-coveted bilateral symmetry of human faces and bodies. [Extracted from the article]

In a study published in January 2022, Rice mapped sound-producing species onto a family tree and showed that at least 175 families of ray-finned fishes - the largest and most diverse fish group - contain a species that communicates via sound. The first of its kind, this digital library of recordings could help researchers understand fish behaviors, track invasive species and monitor overall ecological health. PLANET EARTH The past year saw a flurry of research documenting a phenomenon that fishers and scientists have known for centuries: Fish are surprisingly chatty creatures. [Extracted from the article]