ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News

Scientists and engineers have created a hydrogel tablet that can rapidly purify contaminated water. One tablet can disinfect a liter of river water and make it suitable for drinking in an hour or less.

Cementing waterhemp's reputation as a hard-to-kill weed in corn and soybean production systems, researchers have now documented the weed deviating from standard detoxification strategies to resist an herbicide that has never been commercialized.

Changes in the northern Alaskan Arctic ocean environment have reached a point at which a previously rare phenomenon -- widespread blooms of toxic algae -- could become more commonplace, potentially threatening a wide range of marine wildlife and the people who rely on local marine resources for food. That is the conclusion of a new study about harmful algal blooms (HABs) of the toxic algae Alexandrium catenella.

To prevent the spread of COVID-19 indoors, the two meters physical distancing guideline is not enough without masks, according to researchers. However, wearing a mask indoors can reduce the contamination range of airborne particles by about 67 percent.

As worm mothers age, they secrete a milk-like fluid through their vulva that is consumed by their offspring and supports their growth, according to a new study.

New dating of an archaeological site in the Thar Desert to 177,000 years ago shows the use of stone handaxes persisted for over 1 million years in India, and may have endured until the arrival of Homo sapiens.