There are not many classes that allow students to live beachside, wander tidal pools just outside of their lecture hall, take home their own dissected shark skull and crew an offshore research survey. Biology of Sharks and Rays is the exception.

Scorpions wield some of the natural world’s most formidable built-in weapons, from crushing pincers to venomous stingers. Scientists have long known that these structures contain trace metals that strengthen them, but only a small fraction of the roughly 3,000 scorpions had ever been examined for this trait. A new study published April 28 in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface dramatically expands that understanding. Researchers at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute analyzed 18 scorpion species and uncovered striking patterns in the concentration and distribution of these metals.

A study indicates that the availability of food for the largest cat in the Americas is a key factor in its presence in conservation areas of the biome, which covers approximately 15% of Brazil.

As global plastic production continues to rise, replacing fossil-based plastics with renewable and biodegradable alternatives has become increasingly urgent. Researchers have now evaluated hemp hurd-based biocomposite films as sustainable substitutes for conventional packaging and mulch films using a full cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment. Published in Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts, the study demonstrates that these biocomposites maintain mechanical performance comparable to conventional plastics while offering clear environmental advantages. Among the disposal options studied, anaerobic digestion showed the lowest global warming potential due to electricity generation from biogas and the reuse of digestate as a soil conditioner. The results provide practical guidance for integrating agricultural residues into circular bioplastic systems and improving waste management strategies for emerging bio-based materials.

A new study in Current Biology suggests that restoration of a rainforest tree on tropical atolls depends upon the right soil fungi being present. The tree species, Pisonia grandis, is the backbone of life on and around atolls: everything from seabirds to the surrounding coral reefs depend on these trees. Research from Palmyra Atoll, the most remote island on Earth, suggests that these extraordinary island ecosystems are dependent upon a specific mycorrhizal fungi that supplies resources to these Pisonia trees.

This study reveals that geographic isolation and Quaternary climatic fluctuations jointly drove genetic differentiation and multiple glacial refugia of the fully mycoheterotrophic herb Burmannia nepalensis, with recent human activity causing population decline.