bee

Although bees are crucial to our food supply, their numbers have been assaulted by mysterious colony collapse disorder. One New York Times writer discovers the joys and tricks of bee keeping, doing her small part, in this new blog post.

Five scientists pushing the boundaries on environmental topics have been awarded the prestigious $500,000 prize, as part of the 24 total from many disciplines. Includes an expert working on global bee decline, an innovative spider silk biologist (stronger than steel!) and water quality engineer.

A little-known virus has been tagged as a suspect, or maybe just an opportunistic marker of disease, in the recent unexplained disappearances of honeybees.