A Fungi Fanatic, Bendy Screen and More in the December Issue

This past summer at least 100,000 Americans took to the streets in the People’s Climate March to demand that political leaders take action on global warming. As nations dither on meaningful steps to combat climate change, however, localities are stepping in with their own measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. David Biello reports how cities are coming to the rescue.

Unfortunately, a cracked smartphone screen is often beyond rescue. But if those displays were flexible to begin with, shattering wouldn’t be a problem. To that end, materials scientists in Korea have developed bendable LEDs that could make their way into electronics that ultimately flex and roll.

You don’t have to be a scientist or lab professional to contribute research and knowledge, though. Amateur mycologist Rodham Tulloss has one of the world’s largest and most diverse collections of amanitas—the group of fungi that includes death caps, destroying angels and the polka-dotted mushrooms of Super Mario renown—in his garage. And he is looking for more. Peter Andrey Smith chronicles how Tulloss’s love of mushrooms has earned him co-authorship on academic papers and an honorary gig at a major botanical garden.

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Tulloss’s attention to the world’s—albeit uncharismatic—biota would probably have pleased John Muir. Before his death a century ago Muir advocated for America’s national parks and penned essays that still inspire environmentalists. What are today’s biggest conservation hurdles? A handful of leaders chime in.

Also in December’s Advances:

• Three teenagers took the top prize at the Google Science Fair for boosting barley yields with rhizobia—something adults said couldn’t be done.

• A new NASA mission looked Earthward to study arctic clouds and sea ice as a window into climate change.

• NASA also prepped Orion, the space capsule slated to carry astronauts to Mars, for its first test flight in December.

• The Internet of Things is only possible if gadgets are freed from the tyranny of wires. Scientists are working on charging electronics with vibrations, heat, wireless signals and the sun.

• Tobacco plants have become the vessels through which drug companies could quickly manufacture a potentially lifesaving treatment—“plantibodies”—for Ebola.

• Cries for help are strikingly similar among baby mammals. Mother deer run to rescue baby fur seals, dogs and others based on their distress calls.

• The Galapagos Islands’ Lonesome George, the last giant tortoise of his subspecies, makes a posthumous journey to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

• In other world news a 70-year-old pilot in Croatia completed the first underground descent in a hot-air balloon; Brazil let loose batches of 10,000 mosquitoes to combat dengue; and all universities are now free in Germany, plus more.