A just-published paper in Science changes the formula scientists should use when estimating the speed of huge ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica that flow into the ocean and drive mounting sea levels around the globe. The change in the formula for predicting ice flow — or basal sliding — reduces “the largest uncertainty” in predicting future…

Do researchers need to “hit the brakes a little” before declaring a species is new to science? A recent University of Kansas study published in the peer-reviewed journal Molecular Ecology demonstrates the misuse and abuse of methods scientists commonly use to place boundaries between different species, especially so-called “cryptic” species, could lead to the overestimation of species…

Most researchers dedicate grant funds to things like lab equipment, travel expenses or salaries for graduate assistants. But not too long ago, University of Kansas geologist Leigh Stearns found herself at a Cabela’s, grant in hand, asking the gun-counter staff which rifle might be most suitable for defending herself from a polar bear. “I got…

In December of last year, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider in Europe announced startling results hinting at the existence of an undiscovered subatomic particle—one with a mass six times heavier than the Higgs boson, the particle that made headlines in 2012. The evidence is still thin, but if more data confirm the finding, it…