One of the rarest birds in the western hemisphere, the Bahama Nuthatch, has been rediscovered by research teams searching the island of Grand Bahama. The finding is particularly significant because the species had been feared extinct following the catastrophic damage caused by Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and had not been found in subsequent searches. But it is feared that there could only be two left — placing the species on the verge of extinction and certainly among the world's most critically endangered birds.

Water quality in rivers and dams is decaying all over the world, and metal pollution is a major factor. Meanwhile, freshwater resources are very limited. A tiny fish louse shows promise as a sensitive early indicator for metal pollution in freshwater.

In work that could help prevent the failure of everything from bridges to dental implants, a team has taken the first 3D image of a microscopic crack propagating through a metal damaged by hydrogen.

Probiotics seem to be everywhere these days — in yogurt, pickles, bread, even dog food. But there's one place that may surprise you: There are probiotics in dirty diapers.

Leading nutrition experts describe and evaluate the latest version of the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), which has been issued to correspond to the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Kelp forests will experience a marked change in ecosystem functioning in response to continued ocean warming and the increase of warm-water kelp species, according to a new study.

Bilingual children from immigrant families are not two monolinguals in one. They develop each language at a slower pace because their learning is spread across two languages. A researcher shows strong evidence that the rate of language growth is influenced by the quantity of language input. She challenges the belief, held in and out of scientific circles that children are linguistic sponges who quickly absorb the language or languages they hear and become proficient speakers of both languages.

New research, in mice, indicates that a natural sugar called trehalose blocks glucose from the liver and activates a gene that boosts insulin sensitivity, reducing the chance of developing diabetes. The findings suggest new possibilities for treating metabolic syndrome, a cluster of related conditions that includes obesity, diabetes and fatty liver disease.

In recent years, large amounts of Sargassum have been washing up on beaches from the Caribbean to west Africa. This floating seaweed drifts on the oceans currents. New research explores how the Sargassum might grow while it is meandering along the currents, not just where it floats, combining both ocean physics and seaweed biology for the first time to understand the distribution patterns. Knowing could eventually help predict its arrival and impact on beaches around the world.

Individual variations in genetic makeup and gut bacteria may explain the different effects of antibiotics on blood pressure, a new rat study suggests.