(Natural News) According to a recent study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, a citizen science program that was started more than 10 years ago has helped researchers determine mercury pollution levels in the U.S. National Park System. The Dragonfly Mercury Project Dr. Sarah Nelson from the University of Maine and the Schoodic Institute first launched the original Dragonfly Mercury […]

(Natural News) Bees may be tiny, but home gardeners and farmers rely on these hardworking insects for pollination. However, a recent study has found that crop yields in the U.S. are declining because of a lack of pollinators. The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, has researchers from Rutgers […]

(Natural News) A group of multinational researchers has assessed the connection between trends in crop diversity and agricultural reliance on pollinators and found that the increasing reliance on pollinators, combined with an absence of crop diversity, may threaten agricultural stability. Worldwide agribusiness has expanded at a rapid pace in recent decades, especially in regions that once supported […]

(Natural News) The Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) annual Honey Bee Colonies report has detailed a decline in honey bee populations following the recent budget cuts by the Trump Administration. A nationwide survey led by the University of Maryland’s non-profit organization Bee Informed Partnership shows that beekeepers lost 40.7 percent of their honey bee colonies in […]

(Natural News) While it’s true that human zombies still remain in the realm of science fiction, their insect counterparts have been known to science for quite a while. A recent study took a closer look at one of the more macabre causes of this phenomenon: a deadly fungus that turns cicadas into sex zombies as it rots their genitals and […]

(Natural News) Nothing epitomizes a warm, sunny day like the sound of bees buzzing peacefully from plant to plant in the garden. These little creatures do far more than provide us with delicious honey, however. Without bees and other pollinators, humans and other animals would cease to exist on our planet. The renowned poet Maurice […]

(Natural News) In recent years, many farmers have turned to the use of dangerous and toxic commercially available pesticides to help keep their farms pest-free, even though these chemicals are known to cause not just problems in the environment such as water contamination and the poisoning of local wildlife, but also diseases and health problems […]

(Natural News) We are in the middle of an extinction phase. The animals in danger of extermination? Flying insects. This is according to entomology enthusiast Martin Sorg, president of the Amateur Entomology Society of Krefeld, who, over the last 37 years, collected 80 million insects from the German countryside. And while the Society’s collection is […]

(Natural News) Hospitals are breeding grounds for germs, there’s no question about it. For as much as we might like to joke that some people leave the hospital sicker than they were when they entered, there’s a growing pile of evidence that this could well be happening – and it’s not necessarily coming from where […]

(Natural News) Research has established that bees understand the concept of zero and are capable of doing basic math. Now, a recent research conducted by scientists from the RMIT University in Australia suggests that bees are also capable of being trained to connect symbols to numbers in order to receive food. This experiment used a carrot and stick reward […]