The 2010 Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest accidental spill in history, released almost 100 million gallons of oil, causing significant pollution. A decade later, its long-term effects remain unclear. A study investigating the impact on endemic fish species found 29 of 78 species unreported in museum collections since the spill, suggesting potential loss of biodiversity ..read more

Animal and plant populations have been extensively studied, which has helped to understand ecosystem processes and evolutionary adaptations. However, this has not been the case with microbial populations due to the impossibility of isolating, culturing and analyzing the genetic content of the different species and their individuals in the laboratory. Therefore, although it is known that populations of microorganisms include a great diversity, this remains largely uncharacterized ..read more

The fossilized remains of a second gigantic jawbone measuring more than two meters long has been found on a beach in Somerset, UK ..read more

Mountain chickadees have among the best spatial memory in the animal kingdom. New research identifies the genes at play and offers insight into how a shifting climate may impact the evolution of this unique skill ..read more

Copper is a natural antimicrobial material that, when added to pig feed, may promote the growth and health of the animals. Since pigs can tolerate high levels of the metal, researchers recently investigated whether copper might be used to promote their gut health and reduce the shedding of microbes to the environment ..read more

All storks choose to migrate with conspecifics, but young storks rely more on social influences than adults do ..read more

Researchers who created 'family trees' for nearly 10,000 fish found that first-generation, wild-born descendants of hatchery-origin Chinook salmon in an Oregon river show improved fitness ..read more

Young male blue tits are less successful in fathering offspring outside their breeding pair, not because of a lack of experience, but because they are outcompeted by older males, researchers report ..read more

A team of computer scientists working on two different problems -- how to quickly detect damaged buildings in crisis zones and how to accurately estimate the size of bird flocks -- recently announced an AI framework that can do both. The framework, called DISCount, blends the speed and massive data-crunching power of artificial intelligence with the reliability of human analysis to quickly deliver reliable estimates that can quickly pinpoint and count specific features from very large collections of images ..read more

A massive new analysis of high seas salmon surveys is enhancing the understanding of salmon ecology, adding details about where various species congregate in the North Pacific Ocean and their different temperature tolerances. The project integrates numerous international salmon studies from the North Pacific dating back to the 1950s ..read more