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Mangroves are tangled orchards of spindly shrubs that thrive in the interface between land and sea. They bloom in muddy soil where the water is briny and shallow, and the air muggy. Salt marshes and sea grasses also flourish in these brackish hinterlands. Worldwide, these coastal habitats are recognized for their natural beauty and ability to filter pollution, house fish nurseries and buffer shorelines against storms. Less known is their ability to sequester vast amounts of carbon—up to five times that stored in tropical forests....

A new study suggests that to meld living cells with the digital world, think of them as you would a refrigerator door—a handy place to stick magnets. Researchers report in Nature Nanotechnology that they triggered immune system cells to begin a biochemical process that produces histamine (the chemical responsible for allergic responses) by dusting them with iron particles and applying a magnetic field. They say the technique could lead to lighter weight, lower power biosensors for detecting pathogens, or novel ways of delivering drugs to specific parts of the body—if not the healing powers sometimes attributed to magnetism....

MUNICH – Germany’s push to radically remake its energy system by abandoning nuclear and embracing clean energy is threatened by delays in grid investments and, paradoxically, the success of its solar industry. After the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan, Germany adopted a policy of phasing out nuclear energy by 2022 and ensuring that 80 percent of the country’s electricity supply comes from clean energy by 2050, or more than three times the level of 2010....

Dear EarthTalk: What’s available now in lawn mowers that are easier on the environment? My yard is too big for one of those “reel” mowers, and I’m no longer a spring chicken, so I have to buy something that runs on more than human power. What’s out there? – Joel Klein, Albany, NY According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), traditional gas-powered lawn mowers are a public nuisance to say the least....

Policy & Ethics The Tricky Art Of Science Communication A well-informed public is essential for a civilized society to operate; from climate change to healthcare, sound scientific information is what fuels good decision-making August 19, 2016 — Jeremy Abbate Policy & Ethics The Truth Behind University–Industry Collaborations For academics, industry partnerships do not corrupt or compromise the science. They strengthen it November 12, 2016 — Joseph Jez Policy & Ethics...

Why the Universe is filled with matter, rather than antimatter, is one of physics’ greatest mysteries. An experiment in Japan has now glimpsed a possible explanation: subatomic particles called neutrinos might behave differently in their matter and antimatter forms. The disparity, announced at the International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP) in Chicago, Illinois, on 6 August, may turn out not to be real: more data will need to be gathered to be sure....

NEW YORK — While jazz musician Vijay Iyer played a piece on the piano, he wore an expression of intense concentration. Afterward, everyone wanted to know: What was going on in his head? The way this music is often taught, “they tell you, you must not be thinking when you are playing,” Iyer said after finishing his performance of John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps,” a piece that requires improvisation. “I think that is an impoverished view of what thought is....

Name: Brent Stockwell Title: Associate professor, Columbia University Early career scientist, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Location: New York City There really is a crisis now occurring in the pharmaceutical industry. For the past 10 to 15 years the number of new drugs has been declining because it’s becoming harder and harder to create new medicines. A lot of people have speculated about why. One ex­planation I support is that we’ve run out of proteins that can be targeted with drugs....

As our country battles two simultaneous major public health crises—COVID-19 and systemic racism—our now endemic public health crisis of gun violence looms over the United States and leaves many of us in health care sleepless at night. American gun violence predates and will far outlive COVID-19—and its threat has burgeoned in the pandemic’s shadow as nearly two million Americans purchased new guns in March alone. With increasing evidence that new handgun ownership is strongly associated with suicide—especially immediately after purchasing the weapon—it’s only a matter of time before gun violence explodes once again....

Under cover of darkness, the female turtle crawls up the beach. Her front flippers alternate to pull 250 pounds of shell and flesh towards the dunes, inch by inch. Encased in heavy armor of fused ribs and bony plates, an adult sea turtle is safe from all but the fiercest predatory fish. The smooth shell, oarlike flippers and massive lungs allow sea turtles to glide gracefully through the saline underworld. On land, gravity and friction reign....

Newts can regrow a limb. Some lizards can sprout new tails. Even humans can replace some damaged tissue in organs, such as the liver. But none can accomplish what the zebra fish, a common denizen of home aquariums, can do: regenerate their hearts. Biologists have long known about the zebra fish’s cardiac ability, and now researchers think they have unlocked the secret of the process, which may provide essential clues for human heart repair....

Many schoolchildren try to sneak naps at their desks to get through the boring parts of class. Rainer Schmitt, on the other hand, always fought hard to stay awake. He would nod off anyway–in virtually every class period. And it was never the teacher’s fault. Since childhood, Schmitt has suffered from an unusual neurological disorder: narcolepsy. Now a 56-year-old math teacher, Schmitt still struggles with overwhelming daytime sleepiness and fatigue, the hallmark symptom of narcolepsy....

Retired entomologist Rick Vetter understands that not everyone shares his passion for spiders. But he was surprised to learn that even some of his colleagues, who willingly study six-legged insects, abhor eight-legged arachnids. Vetter first noticed the spider antipathy during his career at the University of California, Riverside, where his colleagues sometimes recoiled in horror at his brown recluses and black widows. Intrigued, Vetter arranged a survey of 41 spider-fearing entomologists....

In his 2011 book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, Harvard University psychologist and famed intellect Steven Pinker argues humans are now living in the most peaceful era in the history of our species. At the time the U.S. was mired in two wars in the Middle East and Central Asia, the conflict in Darfur had just come to a close and terrorist insurgent group Boko Haram was setting off bombs across northern Nigeria....

President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly called for more aggressive surveillance, particularly of Muslim communities. A look at Trump’s recently named choice to head the Central Intelligence Agency, Mike Pompeo, a Republican congressman from Kansas, suggests the incoming administration may try to fulfill those campaign pledges and expand mass surveillance programs that flourished under Pres. Barack Obama. Pompeo introduced a bill in 2015 to restore wide spying powers to the National Security Agency that had been curbed by Congress after revelations by Edward Snowden....

This could be the mobile device that finally has enough power and moxie to replace a PC, because it can act just like one. With the Ubuntu Edge, that’s exactly what Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth would like you to believe. Announced Monday, the Ubuntu Edge is a high-powered Android smartphone that will also dock and provide a full desktop experience using Ubuntu. It runs bleeding-edge hardware squarely aimed at enthusiasts and it has launched one of the world’s largest crowdfunding campaigns to date in order to make it happen....

Last year, after 30 years in space, Voyager 2 plowed through waves of charged particles as it crossed the termination shock, the first boundary marking the end of the solar system. As it joins its twin, Voyager 1, which is on a more northerly route to the stars, researchers have announced that, based on the two spacecraft readings, the solar system is “squashed” on one side—specifically, that the solar wind does not go as far to the south as it does to the north before being blunted and changing direction....

From Marie Tussaud’s Chamber of Horrors to Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion to horror-themed escape rooms, haunted house attractions have terrified and delighted audiences around the world for more than 200 years. Today thousands of haunted houses operate in the U.S. alone. This thriving industry was worth $300 million in 2013, according to an NBC report. In recent years, the haunted house boom has caught the attention of psychologists and social scientists. A small but growing contingent of researchers have turned to these attractions to study fear....

A veterinary drug blamed for driving vultures to the brink of extinction on the Indian subcontinent could cause thousands of bird deaths now that it is being used in Spain. Researchers have expressed concern over use of the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac in cattle since it was approved for veterinary use in Spain in 2013, as the drug is toxic to vultures who may consume it via dead cows. Now, modelling by Rhys Green, a conservation scientist at the University of Cambridge, UK, and his colleagues suggests that the drug could cause populations of that country’s Eurasian griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) to decline by between 1–8% each year....

By Samuel Shen and Norihiko Shirouzu SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China said on Thursday it would punish carmakers by restricting their production and publicly naming them if they fail to meet fuel consumption requirements on passenger vehicles set for 2015. Punitive measures outlined for offenders of the already-announced fuel economy rules reflect Beijing’s latest effort to fight pollution and promote more efficient use of energy. They are also likely to push automakers, both foreign and Chinese, to embrace more cutting-edge technology such as gasoline-electric hybrids and all-electric cars....