A potentially life-saving treatment for heart attack victims has been discovered from a very unlikely source — the venom of one of the world’s deadliest spiders. A drug candidate developed from a molecule found in the venom of the Fraser Island (K’gari) funnel web spider can prevent damage caused by a heart attack and extend…

Flaring of natural gas from oil wells appeared to cause an increase of around 11,000 hospital visits for respiratory reasons in North Dakota, US, up to 60 miles away from oil drilling sites. The paper, recently published in the Journal of Public Economics, examines the environmental health costs of flaring, or burning natural gas by-products…

Following a series of studies on termite mound physiology and morphogenesis over the past decade, researchers have now developed a mathematical model to help explain how termites construct their intricate mounds. The research is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. «Termite mounds are amongst the greatest examples of animal architecture on…

An astounding new species of rare orchid has been discovered in the cloud rainforest of Northern Ecuador. Known from a restricted area in the province of Carchi, the plant is presumed to be a critically endangered species, as its rare populations already experience the ill-effects of climate change and human activity. The discovery was aided…

New software helps determine the movements of large wild animals thereby minimizing conflicts with people. The software is simpler than measurements obtained using radio transmitters and can be used where conventional methods fail. Example — the brown bear The Abruzzo region of Italy, the location of the Sirente Velino Regional Park, is home to the…

By drawing from decades of studies, scientists created a timeline marking the arrival of black-legged ticks, also known as deer ticks, in hundreds of counties across 10 Midwestern states. They used these data — along with an analysis of county-level landscape features associated with the spread of ticks — to build a model that can…

The social cost of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that is the largest remaining threat to the ozone layer, is understated, concludes an international team of researchers. In their assessment, the authors write that improving the accuracy of these calculations would not only give a more accurate picture of the impact of climate change, but…

Researchers have developed an ultrapotent inhibitor of the dengue virus, which causes the tropical disease known as dengue. The antiviral molecule is exceptionally effective against all known dengue variants and could be used for therapeutic and prevention purposes. Each year, dengue infects up to 400 million people, sickens up to 100 million, and kills thousands.…

Electrons arriving from the Sun are propelled by electrical energy generated as high as 30,000 kilometers above Earth, ultimately creating the dazzling displays of the northern and southern lights. The story of aurora formation begins with supersonic plasma propelled from the Sun into space as high-speed, charged particles. When these charged particles get close to…

For the first time ever on a global scale, using satellite imagery, scientists have quantified volumes of massive methane emissions due to fossil-fuel extraction activities and their impact on the climate. Their findings partly explain why official inventories generally underestimate the volume of these emissions. Stopping these releases, be they accidental or deliberate, would save…