Two new species of Achaeta, a type of small, soil-dwelling worm, have been discovered in southern Poland. These worms are unique because they don't have chaetae, which are tiny bristles found in other annelids. Scientists found these worms in areas that were once mined or burned. They studied both l
Imagine a water model like WaSiM-ETH thriving in the hilly regions, but it's the flatlands of Northern Germany where it stole the show. While it handled slight inclines with ease, the model faced some bumps in completely flat areas. The key to its success? Understanding how different soil types and
Ever heard of cover crops? They're like the superheroes of farming, fighting climate change one field at a time. Unlike the usual crops we know, cover crops are grown when the main crops aren't there. They do something amazing – they suck up carbon from the air and store it in the soil. This helps t
Ever thought about what happens to key elements in our soil when it gets washed away? Well, it’s not just about losing dirt. This study looked at the Rothamsted Research's North Wyke Farm Platform, where they found out how different elements like copper, cadmium, and zinc ride off with the eroding s
What happens to microbes in our soil when the weather gets funky? Scientists decided to find out by designing a cool experiment. They made it rain less and heated things up a bit, just like climate change might do. They even added some heavy oxygen and hydrogen to track what the microbes were doing.
Did you know that tiny organisms called protists can play a big role in making the soil healthier? Scientists decided to see how these microscopic creatures affect soil when it's polluted with a heavy metal called cadmium. They focused on one type of protist called Colpoda steinii. Soil naturally h
Every year, many children in Ghana face serious health issues due to worm infections like schistosomiasis (SCH) and soil-transmitted helminths (STH). These infections are still common, even after years of efforts by the Ghana Health Service and other groups to control and eliminate them. This study
Soil infiltration, the process by which water seeps into the ground, is super important in areas like China's Loess Plateau. This region is quite dry, so understanding how plants can help improve this process is crucial. Scientists did some experiments with nine plant species across five different t
It's no secret that tiny plastic pieces, called microplastics, are showing up in places they don't belong, like paddy soil. Scientists decided to check how this affects the way arsenic behaves in the soil. They ran a 98-day experiment using both regular and biodegradable microplastics in soil contam
When we're short on freshwater in dry areas, farmers often turn to salty groundwater. But, what does this do to our soil and the tiny critters living in it over the long term? Researchers took a close look at a goji berry field split in two—one watered with salty groundwater and the other with surfa
