Funding sustained, effective management of marine protected areas is one of ocean conservation's most stubborn problems. Now, a new study from researchers at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography links fish recovery from well-managed marine protected areas to increased revenue from scuba diving tourism. The study, published Jan. 21 in the journal Ecological Economics, then translates those findings into a framework that creates financial projections to help managers or investors evaluate the potential economic benefits of marine conservation. [...]

A University of the Sunshine Coast study of young teenagers has identified a vicious cycle of loneliness linked to the fear of embarrassment or judgment by peers. The study of more than 170 children aged 13 to 15 found that those staying under the radar socially to avoid judgment reported greater loneliness, as well as lower trust, connection and participation in friendships. The findings are published in the journal Child &Youth Care Forum. [...]

Japan is looking into using a remote deserted Pacific island nearly 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) from Tokyo as a site for burying nuclear waste, officials said. [...]

Crystals have repeatedly been found at archaeological sites alongside Homo remains. Evidence shows that hominins have been collecting these stones for as long as 780,000 years. Yet, we know that our ancestors did not use them as weapons, tools, or even jewelry. So why did they collect them at all? [...]

A field training officer is a special kind of cop. They have to be both patrol officer and mentor, as they teach recruits who are fresh out of the police academy how to put their lessons into practice. Much like mentors in other fields, these training officers (FTOs) hold a tremendous amount of responsibility. But that responsibility takes on more meaning given the nature of the job, and new research reinforces just how influential these guides are. [...]

Faculty at Mississippi State University are continuing work at the intersection of mathematics, statistics, and climate science with the publication of a new study examining regional snow cover trends across the Northern Hemisphere. The results suggest shrinking snow coverage as well as seasonal shifts for when the wintry layer comes and goes. The study, "Regional Analysis of Snow Presence Trends in the Northern Hemisphere," was published in January in the Journal of Hydrometeorology. [...]

Texas is known nationwide for its grueling hot summers. However, hurricanes and occasional winter weather can have a harsher impact on citizens and infrastructure due to the effects of power outages. Led by director and primary investigator Dr. Samuel Brody, researchers from the Institute for a Disaster Resilient Texas (IDRT) have created a tool that can show residents, emergency responders and policy makers where power outages are occurring in near real-time, helping users respond to disasters faster, safer and smarter. [...]

Native forest restoration usually starts with faster growing "nurse plants" that provide shelter under which to plant bigger trees—but new research suggests some big canopy trees can be planted early too. Scientists monitored over 1800 canopy trees at restoration sites around the Tāmaki Makaurau region for three years. They found four types—pūriri, rewarewa, kahikatea, and tōtara—had a high rate of survival when planted with the nurse species, though two others—rimu and taraire—did not. Spacing nurse plants 2 m apart to give shelter without too much competition or shade, and having some protective vegetation at ground level, also helped their survival. [...]

In a dry riverbed in Brazil, in a dense forest near the Amazon, a team of paleontologists found a fossilized jawbone from an ancient animal. Over the course of their fieldwork, they found eight similar bones, each around six inches long—but no other bones that they could confidently use to complete a skeleton for one of these mystery animals. [...]

Scientists have analyzed more than 40 years of astronomical data to uncover evidence that the sun's internal structure subtly changes from one solar cycle minimum to the next. Publishing their findings in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, researchers from the University of Birmingham and Yale University reveal that even small differences in solar magnetic activity produce detectable changes inside the sun. [...]

For decades, scientists have relied on a chemical fingerprint inside water molecules to determine where plants get their moisture. The method shaped our understanding of drought resilience, groundwater use, and ecosystem survival. But there was a problem. The fingerprints didn't always match. [...]

In most plants and animals, including humans, mitochondria are inherited exclusively, or nearly exclusively, from the mother. By contrast, paternal transmission is observed only occasionally, and the mechanisms behind this phenomenon have remained largely unknown. In a study published in Nature Plants, researchers established a genetic screening system in tobacco plants that allowed them to detect paternal mitochondrial inheritance. [...]

Crystalline nanomaterials are valuable because their highly ordered structures give them useful properties for technologies such as data storage and optical devices. But forming nanoparticles from those orderly crystals is difficult because, instead of snapping into place, the particles often get stuck in arrangements that never become the intended crystal. [...]

When a new species is discovered, it's tempting to imagine an adventure novel, said Chan Kin Onn of Michigan State University. "Most people have this image of an intrepid explorer braving an isolated mountain or some other remote place, and stumbling across a creature that no one has ever seen before," Chan said. Sure, that still happens occasionally. "But most of the time it's far less glamorous," he added. [...]

For years, the Prairie Pothole Region has bothered me in a very specific way. On a map, it looks like a normal landscape: fields, gentle slopes, small streams. But hydrologically, it behaves like something else entirely. The surface is peppered with countless depressions—wetlands and "potholes"—that can store water for days, months, or even years. Most of the time, rainfall and snowmelt do not move cleanly downhill into channels. They disappear into storage. Then, sometimes, they don't. [...]