3+ hour, 13+ min ago   (601+ words) Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene—together known as BTEX—are among the most widespread and stubborn organic pollutants on the planet. These volatile aromatic hydrocarbons leak into soil and groundwater from petroleum processing, fuel storage and combustion, and industrial spills,…...

6+ hour, 59+ min ago   (671+ words) When the tide recedes from a rocky Mediterranean shore, the mussels clinging to the stones simply close their shells and wait. Inside those shells, oxygen levels plummet, carbon dioxide accumulates, and the entire body shifts into a biochemical holding pattern…...

7+ hour, 39+ min ago   (652+ words) Cities are among the most demanding environments that animals have ever encountered. Concrete, traffic, artificial light, chemical runoff and constant human disturbance create conditions that differ radically from the habitats in which most species evolved....

7+ hour, 51+ min ago   (675+ words) Edible insects have been heralded as one of the most sustainable protein sources on the planet, but there has always been an awkward catch: many people simply do not like the way they smell or taste....

8+ hour, 5+ min ago   (55+ words) On the windswept Hulunbuir grassland of northern China, where winters are long and bitterly cold, sheep have evolved remarkable physiological strategies for survival. A new pilot study published in the journal Stress Biology offers an unprecedented look at how one…...

21+ hour, 55+ min ago   (793+ words) Stick and leaf insects are among the most accomplished masters of disguise in the animal kingdom, but their most remarkable imitation may be the one nobody watches happen. The eggs of many phasmid species look uncannily like plant seeds, complete…...