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THE idea that plants communicate by sound has caught on widely – but there is no solid evidence it is true, according to a review of studies. 'Plants are not [...]

A recent study conducted by Annika Vaksmaa and her colleagues at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research has found that a fungus called Parengyodontium album can break down polyethylene, the most common type of plastic found in the ocean. However, the plastic must first be exposed to UV radiation, such as sunlight, for the fungus to be able to degrade it. The process releases carbon dioxide, but the emissions are minimal. Vaksmaa suggests that instead of introducing the fungus into the natural environment, it may be more effective to gather the plastic and bring it back to land to be digested by the fungus. Additionally, Vaksmaa believes that there may be other marine fungi capable of breaking down sinking plastic. [Extracted from the article]

This article focuses on the role of pollen deposited in the lake-bed sediments of Duck Lake in Amazonia in shattering the Pleistocene refugia hypothesis. The hypothesis has provided explanations for the complex species distributions and lavish diversity across Amazonia. The hypothesis proposed that several times during the Pleistocene epoch, glaciers forming outside Amazonia sucked up moisture, leading to a drier climate across the globe. In Amazonia, forests shrank and huddled in scattered still-wet areas known as refugia. INSET: In the neighbourhood.

This article presents an interview with Miguel Rocha, a caboclo who was born in the forest. The caboclos are the forgotten people of the Brazilian Amazon. Rocha says that his grandfather crossed the Atlantic from Portugal in the 1880s and settled down as a farmer in Pernambuco state in the north-east of Brazil, the nearest point to Africa. Like the caboclos who live in the forest today, they got their food by collecting fruits from the forest or by catching fish or harvesting their crops. Some of his brothers' children also went to university and are now in North America, Germany, Switzerland, France, Colombia and South Korea, as well as Brazil.

The article presents an interview of Alexandra Aikhenvald, a languages specialist. Imagine how different politics would be if debates were conducted in Tariana, an Amazonian language in which it is a grammatical error to report something without saying how you found it out. When asked about recording a dying language, she said that she talked to a man who knew Baré an Amazonian language that she thought was extinct. According to her, a language doesn't fall over a precipice, it sort of slides into oblivion.

This article presents interview with zoologist Jim Patton whose inspiration is the study of rodents. In pursuit of small mammals, he has traveled in some of the most inaccessible parts of Latin America, had five boats sink under him, and has had to eat everything from smoked monkey to the rats he was supposed to be studying. Jim Patton started off studying anthropology, but switched to zoology after an experience with a rat in the Arizona desert. He has worked in some 12 countries, described a clutch of new species, and had one genus and several species named in his honor. He is the world's foremost expert on the terrestrial spiny rats, the most diverse group of rodents in the Amazon.

Focuses on the correlation between ultraviolet (UV) and skin color. Absorption of UV light by melanin; Importance of UV in the synthesis of vitamin D; Link between ultraviolet and cancer.

Examines the so-called Allee effect in biology, regarding how low population density of an animal species may lead the species to extinction. Development by United States biologist Warder Allee during first half of 20th century; Reasons why certain endangered species have trouble reproducing, including the effect that low numbers have on social organization; Question of how to overcome the Allee effect.

Discusses the mimicry of the color patterns of poisonous butterflies by nonpoisonous butterflies. Idea that all mimics should appear alike; Finding that all mimics do not look alike; Study of the butterflies by George Beccaloni; Effect of the height at which particular butterflies live on the patterns of their colors; Effect of particular foods on the patterns.

Offers information on the fossil deer Megaloceros giganteus, or the Irish elk. Elk's fame for its enormous antlers; Animals' inability to keep up with the mineral needs of their giant antlers as the cause of their extinction; Researchers' simulation of the Irish elk's metabolism and growth patterns; Changes in the environment that limited the Irish elk's dietary sources. INSET: On the horns of a dilemma..

Focuses on the notion of metachromism, in which the fur color of monkeys and other mammals is the result of a predictable series of color changes throughout time, and not of evolutionary adaptation. Decrease in the amount of melanin in a species' hair over several generations; Inability of species to regain the color that they have lost; Research supporting the theory; Belief that the color change may be an indirect consequence of migration.

Reports on the increasing demise of the redwood tree throughout the world. Findings by geologist Ben LePage about pine tree expansion; How fungal attack of the redwood's root caused erosion; Arguments against his claims.