Long overlooked, menstrual stem cells could have important medical applications, including diagnosing endometriosis.
The detection of two celestial interlopers careening through our solar system has scientists eagerly anticipating more.
For a look at another side of coffee cultivation — how farming techniques can support biodiversity — read our 2024 interview with ecologist Ivette Perfecto.
Read in:
English: https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/food-environment/2024/how-shade-coffee-lends-conservation-a-hand Spanish: https://es.knowablemagazine.org/content/articulo/alimentos-ambiente/2024/cafe-de-sombra-ayuda-conservacion
For more hot and stinky plants, check out our recent piece 
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/living-world/2025/how-thermogenic-plants-woo-pollinators
A number of well-known factors, including exposure to UV radiation, genetics and aging can lead to cataracts, a condition affecting roughly 94 million people in which the lenses of the eyes get cloudy, causing blurry vision. But in recent years, researchers have found another causative factor for cataracts and other eye disorders: climate change.
The US-Mexico wall, which blocks even pygmy owls that can’t fly high enough to cross, hits traveling creatures especially hard; learn more from our 2024 story (first published in Spanish through Knowable en español)
Read in English https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/food-environment/2024/the-impact-of-the-us-mexico-border-wall-on-biodiversity
Lea en español: https://es.knowablemagazine.org/content/articulo/alimentos-ambiente/2024/impacto-del-muro-entre-eeuu-y-mexico-en-biodiversidad
The blood-sucking insects now show up in two varieties and are resistant to many pesticides. New eradication strategies include fungal spores and nasty human odors.
In rural Alaskan and Canadian communities, reducing conflict between people and their wild neighbors means both species must change their behavior.
Lesley Evans Ogden
Researchers are working to unravel the hidden biology of often-persnickety seeds as they age, sleep and awaken.
Learn more about this in our recent article republished by Smithsonian Magazine.
We make all of our stories freely available to republish — and we love to see our stories show up in new places. Thank you to @ScienceAlert for republishing our recent piece on climate change and eye health. https://www.sciencealert.com/climate-change-is-threatening-eye-health-heres-why #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #KnowableMagazine #ScienceAlert
Success for athletes who are physically at the top of their game may depend on their state of mind.
Few animals seem less animal-like than sea cucumbers. The long, slender beings often appear motionless like the vegetable they resemble as they bask on the seafloor. They lack a brain, eyes or obvious features apart from a mouth and anus. But there’s a lot more to these simple creatures than meets the eye. https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/living-world/2025/weird-wondrous-sea-cucumbers #MarineScience #KnowableMagazine #ScienceMastodon
When managed in the right way, the farms that provide our morning brew can be a refuge for plant and animal biodiversity
For more on recycling, check out our 2020 package:
Recycling meets reality
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/food-environment/2020/recycling-meets-reality-feature
Solving the growing plastics waste puzzle
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/food-environment/2020/solving-growing-plastics-waste-puzzle
Design for recycling
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/food-environment/2020/design-recycling
One bin future: How mixing trash and recycling can work
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/food-environment/2020/recycle-it-all
Rethinking recycling (VIDEO)
https://youtu.be/3zI4xXGmNPw
For more on another microbial weapon, the CRISPR-like DNA-snippers called Fanzors, read Dance’s 2024 story 
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/living-world/2024/crispr-gene-editing-therapy-systems-eukaryotic-cells #KnowableMagazine #ScienceMastodon
Seed banking is surprisingly tricky. Little by little, research is revealing what keeps seeds in deep sleep, how they age and die, and how to revive them when their time has come.
More: https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/living-world/2025/seed-banking-to-preserve-rare-plants
Shared mobility is good for the environment, but not equal opportunity. What can be done to make travel easier for everyone?
Learn more about this in our recent article republished by Smithsonian Magazine.
On our radar: The owl man of Boston’s Logan Airport
“Every winter, Arctic snowy owls fly thousands of miles south to Boston Logan International Airport. And every season, Norman Smith drives less than an hour to try to snatch them up.”
Andrea Sachs, Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2025/04/23/snowy-owls-raptors-boston-airport/
PS: For more on the science of owls, check out our 2020 report: https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/technology/2020/how-owls-fly-without-making-a-sound
“They’re not charismatic animals,” admits Annie Mercier, a researcher in marine biology at Memorial University in Canada. That doesn’t stop her from loving them. https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/living-world/2025/weird-wondrous-sea-cucumbers #KnowableMagazine #ScienceMastodon
#OPINION International commerce and travel bring ecological destruction to the world’s most cherished natural places. We need to do more to stop the assault.
