Invisible fertility crisis: Chemicals and climate change threaten reproduction across species

A study conducted in the Brazilian state of Amazonas has demonstrated that small amounts of Amazonian dark earth (ADE)—an anthropogenic soil created by ancient Amazonian populations—can increase the height and diameter of the pink trumpet tree (Handroanthus avellanedae) by up to 55% and 88%, respectively. This tree also occurs in the Atlantic Forest. The research is published in the journal BMC Ecology and Evolution.

Regulators often move in and out of revolving doors between government and the industries they oversee. They can bring valuable expertise. But their ties also can raise questions about whose interests their knowledge ultimately serves. In one recent case, staffers at the U.S. Treasury Department—who previously worked at Big Four accounting firms—helped draft tax regulations that benefited their former clients. The officials later returned to those firms with promotions and higher pay.

A technology that could propel crewed missions to Mars and robotic spacecraft throughout the solar system was recently put to the test at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. On Feb. 24, for the first time in years and at power levels exceeding any previous test in the United States, a team fired up an electromagnetic thruster that runs on lithium metal vapor.

Zinc is an essential trace element that controls myriad biological processes. The delicate balance of its concentration in the body is critical; both deficiency and excess are linked to severe pathological states such as impaired immunity, delayed wound healing, and sensory dysfunctions. However, it remains unclear how zinc dysregulation leads to these cellular defects at the molecular level.