Non-Native Species From Japanese Tsunami Aided by Unlikely Partner: Plastics

A new study appearing this week in Science reports the discovery of a startling new role of plastic marine debris -- the transport of non-native species in the world's oceans.

New Approach to Measuring Changes in Forest Carbon Density has Shown That the Tropics Now Emit More Carbon Than They Capture

A revolutionary new approach to measuring changes in forest carbon density has helped WHRC scientists determine that the tropics now emit more carbon than they capture, countering their role as a net carbon “sink.”

To Improve Melanoma Treatment, Researchers Look to Block Deletion of 'Self-Reactive' Immune Cells

Researchers at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center are using what they know about a rare, inherited autoimmune disease to turn the body’s defenses against melanoma.  

Bed Bugs Attracted to Dirty Laundry, Study Finds

• Bed bugs are huge problem for hotel and homeowners in some of the world’s busiest cities
• Insects finding their way into clothing and luggage is one possible cause of global spread of bed bugs

Smart Molecules Trigger White Blood Cells to Become Better Cancer-Eating Machines

A team of researchers has engineered smart protein molecules that can reprogram white blood cells to ignore a self-defense signaling mechanism that cancer cells use to survive and spread in the body. Researchers say the advance could lead to a new method of re-engineering immune cells to fight cancer and infectious diseases. The team successfully tested this method in a live cell culture system.

Generating Terahertz Radiation from Water Makes 'The Impossible, Possible'

Xi-Cheng Zhang has worked for nearly a decade to solve a scientific puzzle that many in the research community believed to be impossible: producing terahertz waves—a form of electromagnetic radiation in the far infrared frequency range—from liquid water.

Biologists identify possible new strategy for halting brain tumors

MIT biologists have discovered a fundamental mechanism that helps brain tumors called glioblastomas grow aggressively. After blocking this mechanism in mice, the researchers were able to halt tumor growth.

Olive mill wastewater transformed: From pollutant to bio-fertilizer, biofuel

Olive oil has long been a popular kitchen staple. Yet producing the oil creates a vast stream of wastewater that can foul waterways, reduce soil fertility and trigger extensive damage to nearby ecosystems. Now in a study appearing in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, scientists report on the development of an environmentally friendly process that could transform this pollutant into “green” biofuel, bio-fertilizer and safe water for use in agricultural irrigation.

Scientists show molecular basis for ants acting as bodyguards to plants

Though you might not think of ants as formidable bodyguards, some do an impressive job protecting plants from enemies. Now, scientists at the University of Toronto have determined what makes some better bodyguards than others.

Examining the relationship between the Amazon rainforest plant Cordia nodosa in Peru and the Amazonian ant Allomerus octoarticulatus, they found the degree to which the ants express two genes significantly impacts the amount of protection they provide to their hosts.

South Carolina oyster farming: One man finds success on the half shell

As a young Marine stationed in South Carolina in 1981, Frank Roberts recognized that the state’s low country was ideal for oyster farming. His family harvested oysters in the Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound, and he had a hunch it would work in South Carolina too.

Roberts eventually started his own oyster farm in South Carolina — making a key contribution to a growing nationwide aquaculture trend worth $1.3 billion (2014 figure), with some help from NOAA.