Sharon Oosthoek | Science News for Students

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Sharon Oosthoek

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an underwater photo of mosquito larvae

Mosquitoes start their lives as larvae that live in water. They chow down on algae and bacteria — and tiny bits of plastic, if they happen to be around.

ApisitWilaijit/istockphoto

 Pollution
Microplastics take flight in the bellies of mosquitoes
The pollution stays in these insects as they grow from larvae to adults, putting birds at risk
young orang

This young orangutan has lived its whole life in the jungle. Others raised in captivity no longer know what it means to be wild. Before they can join this one, they must go to boot camp for basic survival skills.  

Lillian Tveit/iStockphoto

 Sustainability
‘Boot camp’ teaches rare animals how to go wild
Scientists teach captive-reared endangered species such vital skills as finding food and avoiding predators
water bottles

In recent tests, bottled water from nine countries contained tiny plastic bits. The microscopic pieces may come from a variety of sources including cosmetics, clothing and packaging materials.

yanik88/istockphoto

 Pollution
Plastic taints most bottled water, study finds
Researchers don’t know whether drinking the microplastic bits might pose health risks
contaminated water
This pretty Canadian stream hides a dirty secret: It is downstream of a water-treatment plant that releases low levels of pollutants. Researchers caged fish here to test how pollution affects their vitality.
McMaster University
 Pollution
Fish get pooped living in polluted water
Pollutants flushed down toilets — and into the environment — tire fish, which could make finding food and avoiding predators harder
plant tattoo
This corn leaf sports a “plant tattoo” made from patterned graphene on tape. Graphene is a single-atom-thick sheet of carbon that is great at conducting electricity. Measuring changes in the electrical current can tell scientists how fast a plant soaks up water.
Liang Dong/Iowa State University
 Agriculture
New ‘tattoo’ could lead to drought-tolerant crops
A sensor made from graphene measures how fast plants slurp up water from the soil
downy woodpecker
Downy woodpeckers live in open woodlands across North America. Researchers estimate they peck some 53 million times over the course of an average 12-year lifespan.
Indiana Ivy Nature Photogapher/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
 Brain
Woodpecker brains host protein linked with human brain damage
Long-held belief that the birds don’t get concussions may not be true