Life
Has the Endangered Species Act saved species from extinction?
After 50 years, this landmark law has kept many species alive — but few wild populations have recovered enough to come off the “endangered” list.
MS-LS2-1
Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
More Stories in MS-LS2-1
- Math
Bees and wasps devised the same clever math trick to build nests
During nest building, these insects add five- and seven-sided cells in pairs. This helps their colony fit together hexagonal cells of different sizes.
- Plants
Could a plant ever eat a person?
For now, humans aren’t on the menu for carnivorous plants. But what would it take for one to consume a person?
- Environment
Protecting forests may help head off future pandemics
Hungry bats are more likely to shed harmful viruses to people or livestock when they spread out to hunt food. Conserving forests may limit this risk.
- Environment
Bacterial ‘living wires’ could help protect the seas and climate
Long, thin bacteria that conduct electricity may be able to help clean up oil spills and reduce emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
- Humans
Eight billion people now live on Earth — a new record
The global population hit this milestone on November 15, according to an estimate from the United Nations.
- Health & Medicine
Should we use a genetic weapon against mosquitoes carrying malaria?
One gene drive to eliminate malaria seems to work in the lab. Now it’s time to ask local people if they want it released in the wild.
- Animals
Some spikes in malaria cases may be tied to amphibian die-offs
Amphibian deaths from a fungal disease may have led to more mosquitoes — and an increase in malaria cases in Costa Rica and Panama.
- Health & Medicine
How wriggling, blood-eating parasitic worms alter the body
Parasitic worms eat blood and make people sick, but they may also help prevent or treat some diseases.
- Animals
Some ecologists value parasites — and now want a plan to save them
Parasites get a bad rap as disease-causing, unwelcome guests on other organisms. But parasites are also imperiled, and scientists don’t want to lose them.
