Police detectives analyze isotopes in human hair to find out where a murder victim was born and grew up. Researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, the University of Florida and the University of Arizona combined clues from carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and strontium isotope analysis discovering the earliest evidence that the Maya raised and traded dogs and other animals, probably for ceremonial use.

Better fisheries management could reverse spiraling population declines in roughly half of threatened ocean species caught unintentionally, according to a new study co-led by University of Oregon economist Grant McDermott.

Could glowing salamanders hold the key to long-standing evolutionary questions?

Carleton University Prof. Hillary Maddin in the Department of Earth Sciences wants to find out. Maddin recently acquired four pairs of axolotls, an aquatic salamander species, to assist in research on the evolutionary changes of skull development from the prehistoric era to today.

In a study that spans Canada’s Pacific Coast, University of Victoria researchers have confirmed that human disturbance of seagrass meadows results in lower fish diversity.

Queen’s University researcher Xiaolong Yang and his research team have developed a light emission-based biosensor that uses firefly luciferase (the enzyme that allows fireflies to light up) to monitor cancer cell activity and help find new ways to fight the spread of cancer.

It’s likely not the first thing you think of when you see elephant dung, but this material turns out to be an excellent source of cellulose for paper manufacturing in countries where trees are scarce, scientists report.

Seaweeds create a chemical microenvironment at their surface, providing refuge for calcifying organisms that are at risk from decreasing oceanic pH, shows new research published in the journal Functional Ecology.

Cattle ranching, agriculture and other human activities are turning Costa Rican forests into isolated patchy fragments, causing more problems for native plant populations than for monkey species sharing the same habitat.

Researchers at the University of British Columbia have shed new light on how mountain pine beetles produce an important pheromone called trans-verbenol, which could aid in efforts to better predict outbreaks.

U.S. Geological Survey scientists have developed the first laboratory test that can pick up traces of manatees’ genetic material in the waterways where they live.  Using a water sample collected in the field, the innovative environmental DNA test can reveal whether one or more of the elusive marine mammals has been in the area within the past month.