Ecology

A single-point mutation in corn's ancestor teosinte got rid of the hard shell that used to encase every kernel 

The blooms off the U.S. West Coast may become more frequent

Some 3 million gallons of toxic wastewater have poured from a defunct Colorado gold mine into local streams since a team of EPA workers accidentally triggered the spill last week

Researchers have developed a new ecofriendly sunscreen molecule that protects against both UV-A and UV-B rays, and could also be used to create more durable paints and plastics. Christopher Intagliata reports

A team of U.S. regulators probing contamination at a Colorado gold mine accidentally released a million gallons of orange-hued waste water containing sediment and metals into a local river system

Microbes 2,500 meters below the seafloor in Japan are most closely related to bacterial groups that thrive in forest soils on land, suggesting that they might be descendants of ones that survived when their terrestrial habitat was flooded 20 million years ago

Hot enough for you? This is just the beginning

Rapid alteration of gene pools could fight disease—and harm ecosystems

Animal communication studies have shown only fixed vocalizations, such as alarm cries. But Bonobo chimps appear to have a call that has different meanings in different contexts

Tree growth lags below normal for several years following droughts, a detail about carbon sequestration that climate models currently overlook. Christopher Intagliata reports

Drought holding back forests ability to store carbon may prove a vicious cycle of climate change

An Oregon wastewater plant chooses to offset discharges by restoring riverside