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The people of the Tibetan Plateau survive and thrive on the roof of the world, a region averaging 14,763 feet (4,500 meters), or nearly three miles, above sea level. The air at that elevation is not the rich soup of oxygen that humans enjoy at lower elevations. Instead, as many would-be mountain climbers have discovered to their chagrin, it is difficult to get enough of the life-enabling element into their lungs and blood as they ascend, which often results in debilitating symptoms including nausea and dizziness, and can even be fatal....

The fish that live in the Anacostia River, which flows through the heart of Washington, D.C., are not enjoying its waters very much. The Anacostia is contaminated with the molecular remnants of dyes, plastics, asphalt and pesticides. Recent tests have shown that up to 68 percent of the river’s brown bullhead catfish suffer from liver cancer. Wildlife officials recommend that anyone who catches the river’s fish toss them back uneaten, and swimming has been banned....

This May the Arctic sea ice cover was 8.5 percent below the 1981–2010 average—a drop of 436,000 square miles—meaning the ocean is absorbing a lot of sunlight that would normally be reflected. This added heat affects marine ecosystems and may contribute to warming the Northern Hemisphere, so predicting such changes is a key part of modeling what the earth’s climate is likely to do. Now a new study offers a model that predicts the formation of telltale “melt ponds” on Arctic sea ice remarkably well—despite being developed in the 1920s to show how objects become magnetic....

Ancient trysts between Neanderthals and modern humans may have influenced modern risks for depression, heart attacks, nicotine addiction, obesity and other health problems, researchers said. The Neanderthals were once the closest relatives of modern humans. Scientists recently discovered that Neanderthals and modern humans once interbred; nowadays, about 1.5 to 2.1 percent of DNA in people outside Africa is Neanderthal in origin. “This raises several fascinating questions like, ‘What effect does the Neanderthal DNA that remains in modern humans have on our biology?...

In the far northern reaches of Atlantic Canada, energy companies seek to harness untapped river sites with a hydroelectric project that could replace fossil fuel plants and export power into New England. Utility company Nalcor Energy aims to build two hydroelectric sites along the Lower Churchill River in Labrador, downstream from an existing 5,428-megawatt station – one of the largest in the world. The proposed Muskrat Falls and Gull Island projects would have a combined capacity of more than 3,000 MW, produce 16....

Gene therapy is a promising approach to altering the genetic composition of cells as a way to correct disease-causing mutations or to express proteins or RNA molecules that confer a therapeutic benefit. The concept of gene therapy is straightforward: deliver nucleic acids to target cells to alter their function in a beneficial manner. Moving from concept to reality, however, is a complex process comprised of multiple steps and components, including systems for getting nucleic acids into target cells, DNA regulatory elements that control the amount, location and duration of gene expression, and production of proteins with appropriate activity to alter cellular function in the desired manner....

By Gwyneth Dickey Zakaib Goodbye glass ceiling; so long old-boys club. The metaphor that best describes the challenge facing women in science today is the invisible web. Its multiple strands–some social, some biological, some institutional–can make it significantly harder for female researchers to achieve as much, as fast, as their male counterparts. So concludes a study that set out to explore the persistent gap in the number of women in math-intensive fields such as physics, computer science and engineering....

On its way from flight to fossil, an ancient beetle’s wings lost their color and then their form. Slow-baked and squished by sand, the glittering green wings darkened and turned blue, then indigo, then black. That tale of an insect’s life, death and fossilization sounds simple enough, but it took paleobiologist Maria McNamara years of painstaking work to piece together. The University of Bristol researcher wanted to know how ancient insects’ warning signals, camouflage and mating displays evolved....

Dear EarthTalk: I am considering upgrading some older appliances in my home. Where can I find information on which models are the most energy efficient? —Jonathan Duda, Olivebridge, NY There has never been a better time to upgrade some of those older creaky appliances that are gobbling up much more energy (or water) than they need to in your home. Fortunately, most of the sifting-through to find the best values has already been done for you....

In western North America the mountain pine beetle—the most destructive of the many species collectively known as bark beetles—is on a pine tree–killing spree. Since the 1990s swarms of the tiny killer, spurred in part by a streak of relatively mild winters that don’t kill the insect, along with dry summers that leave trees more vulnerable to attack, have destroyed huge swaths of pine forests—around 16 million hectares (an area larger than Florida) in British Columbia alone....

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the April 1861 issue of Scientific American. I was introduced into the watchmakers workshops by M. Vlande, one of the merchants of Geneva, a man of great humanity, and also of rare amiability of disposition and character. I could not have had a better guide, even with regard to the moral inquiries which I wished to make. We began with the schools of pupils, where young girls learn, for a term of three years, to make every part of a watch....

Dear EarthTalk: I am very concerned about the amount of chlorine in my tap water. I called my water company and they said it is safe just let the tap run for awhile to rid the smell of the chlorine. But that just gets rid of the smell, perhaps, not the chlorine? —Anita Frigo, Milford, Conn. Thousands of American municipalities add chlorine to their drinking water to get rid of microbes [CORRECTED ACCORDING TO EARTHTALK E-MAIL]....

Astronomers know that if they point their telescopes at quasars, they will spy an average of one “foreground” galaxy in front of every fourth quasar. Because the universe is uniform, the number of foreground galaxies should be the same for, say, a group of observed gammaray bursts. Only it is not. In a paper that is generating considerable buzz among the stellarati, Jason X. Prochaska of the University of California, Santa Cruz, finds an average of about one foreground galaxy for each of 15 bursts....

GRAPEVINE, Texas — A new presidential administration always brings changes for the U.S. space science and spaceflight communities. So what does the current transition period reveal about how the new administration will handle science and space? A panel of space policy experts here at the 229th meeting of the American Astronomical Society gathered to discuss the possibilities. During the panel session, the speakers focused on the state of the presidential transition, including the arrival of a “landing team” at NASA that is helping the agency move over to the new administration....

Twitter accounts run by machines are a major source of climate change disinformation that might drain support from policies to address rising temperatures. In the weeks surrounding former President Trump’s announcement about withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, accounts suspected of being bots accounted for roughly a quarter of all tweets about climate change, according to new research. “If we are to effectively address the existential crisis of climate change, bot presence in the online discourse is a reality that scientists, social movements and those concerned about democracy have to better grapple with,” wrote Thomas Marlow, a postdoctoral researcher at the New York University, Abu Dhabi, campus, and his co-authors....

As the United Arab Emirates prepares for life after oil, could a mission to Mars help transform its economy? Sarah Amiri is the deputy project manager and science lead at the Emirates Mars Mission. She is also the Chairwoman of the Emirates Scientists’ Council and is a World Economic Forum Young Scientist who will be speaking at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, China, from June 26 to 28....

By Virginia Gewin of Nature magazineA new screening test makes use of urine, rather than blood, to identify the men most at risk of prostate cancer, and may even provide information about how aggressive a tumor is likely to be.The standard screening test for prostate cancer is a blood test for a protein called prostate specific antigen (PSA). But PSA is also produced by non-cancerous conditions such as enlarged prostates or infection, so is not very specific....

Global warming is expected to have devastating effects on coral reefs, but recent research points to a few exceptions. Warming in the equatorial Pacific may actually create refuges for corals around a handful of islands, even as it bleaches, or kills, corals elsewhere, suggests new research that predicts increased upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water in these places. “These little islands in the middle of the ocean can counteract global trends and have a big impact on their own future, which I think is a beautiful concept,” said study researcher Kristopher Karnauskas, a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientist, in a press release issued by the institution....

JINAN, China—A shower of sparks and the crackle of electricity mark the beginning (or end) of a trip on a partially electrified bus in the capital of Shandong Province. “Spring City” lacks a subway system (due to its eponymous artesian springs) and so relies on buses to move its more than four million people across a city that now sprawls some 20 kilometers east to west. And those buses move thanks to everything from ammonia to electricity....

When Trish Kicklighter took over as superintendent for Assateague Island on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in 2009, she noticed some differences in how things ran on the 37-mile barrier island compared to her old post in Shenandoah National Park. For one, the park employed a coastal geologist. That geologist was one of the people who told Kicklighter that not only was the sea around Assateague Island rising, but the island itself was sinking....