Science

Scientists have found that air quality monitoring stations pick up lots of DNA that can reveal what plants and animals have been in the area. Researchers reported Monday that air monitoring stations set up to test for pollution also suck up DNA from the local environment. They say this could be a useful way to see how biodiversity changes over time. After testing air filters from stations in the UK, the scientists were able to identify more than 180 kinds of plants, animals and fungi in the area. The filters picked up on species like hedgehogs, deer and owls that shed their DNA into the atmosphere.

The cause of global warming is showing no signs of slowing as heat-trapping carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere has increased to record highs in its annual Spring peak. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations says carbon dioxide levels in the air are jumping at one of the fastest rates on record. Those levels are now the highest they’ve been in more than 4 million years. The last time the air had similar amounts was during a less hospitable hothouse Earth before human civilization. Levels for May, which is when carbon dioxide most saturates the air before plants suck it up, are at 424 parts per million.

While judges, lawyers and support staff at the federal courthouse in Concord, New Hampshire, keep the American justice system buzzing, thousands of humble honeybees on the building’s roof are playing their part in a more important task: feeding the world. The Warren B. Rudman courthouse is one of several federal facilities around the country participating in the General Services Administration’s Pollinator Initiative. The goal of the program is to assess and promote the health of bees and other pollinators. The insects contribute billions to the U.S. economy annually and are under constant threat. Without human intervention, a bee extinction could be a disaster for the world.

A new report finds several shortcomings in Buffalo's response to a historic December blizzard in which 31 city residents died. The report was released Friday by New York University's Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. It says Buffalo’s snow-removal fleet was no match for heavy snow and high winds, and the city fell short in warning residents and providing shelter. Mayor Byron Brown commissioned the report amid questions about why the storm was so devastating in an area accustomed to heavy snow. The 175-page report also found the storm exacerbated existing inequities in the city.

A European spacecraft around Mars has sent its first livestream from the red planet to Earth to mark the 20th anniversary of its launch. But rain in Spain interfered at times. The European Space Agency broadcast the livestream Friday of Mars Express. It took nearly 17 minutes for each picture to reach Earth, nearly 200 million miles away, and another minute to get through the ground stations. The transmission was disrupted at times by weather in Spain, home to the deep space-relay antenna. ESA says live footage from so far away is rare.

It’s time for residents along the southeastern U.S. coastline to get plans in place as the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season gets underway on Thursday. Forecasters and experts are predicting a “near-normal” hurricane season. The director at the National Hurricane Center stressed during a Wednesday news conference that there’s really nothing normal when it comes to hurricanes. Forecasters have predicted 12 to 17 named storms will form with five to nine developing into hurricanes. One to four of those could grow into major hurricanes. Forecasters have a new storm surge model this year and will be able to extend tropical weather outlooks to seven days.

Tropical Storm Arlene, the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, has formed in the Gulf of Mexico. Forecasters say the cyclone is heading due south toward the western tip of Cuba. National Hurricane Center forecasters said in a 1:30 p.m. advisory Friday that Arlene had sustained winds of 40 miles per hour. It was located about 265 miles west of Fort Myers, Florida, and was moving south at about 5 mph. No storm watches or warnings have been posted for Cuba or Florida. Forecasters say the storm could fall apart before reaching any land. The Atlantic hurricane season officially began Thursday and runs through Nov. 30.

A woman taking a Memorial Day weekend stroll on a California beach found something unusual sticking out of the sand: a tooth from an ancient mastodon. Jennifer Schuh found the foot-long tooth on Friday on Rio Del Mar State Beach on California’s central coast. But Schuh wasn’t sure what she had found so she posted photos on Facebook, hoping someone could identify the strange object. Wayne Thompson of the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History determined it was a mastodon tooth and went to the beach but couldn't find it. On Tuesday, Jim Smith of Aptos heard about the missing tooth. He told the museum he had picked it up while jogging and has donated it to the museum.

A government audit has found that the U.S. agency charged with keeping the roads safe is slow to investigate automobile safety defects, limiting its ability to handle rapidly changing or severe risks. In addition, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation doesn’t have an integrated computer system for its probes. The audit made public Thursday from the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General found that the office has made progress in restructuring and modernizing its data and analysis systems. But it found that weaknesses in meeting the office's own goals for timely investigations increase possible delays in probing important safety issues.

A new work by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, written for an upcoming NASA mission, is a glance at outer space that returns back to Earth. Limón’s “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa,” which she read Thursday during a ceremony at the Library of Congress, is part of NASA’s “Message In a Bottle Campaign” as the space agency prepares for a years-long journey to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa. The Europa Clipper is expected to launch in October 2024.