It is very difficult to study many factors of global change at the same time. We did this using a trick: we asked what happens if you steadily increase the number of factors that influence a soil, ignoring factor identity. This way we found that just the number of factors can explain general trends in soil properties and biodiversity.

Black holes lie at the center of some of the deepest questions in fundamental physics. Yet, according to Einstein’s theory of gravity, black holes should also be remarkably simple. Using gravitational waves to check that this is the case could yield invaluable clues about the true nature of gravity, space, and time.

Collective behavior is common among present-day animals. Exceptional fossils from Morocco - trilobites lined-up in single files and facing the same direction - suggest collective migrations date back to at least 480 million years ago.

During domestication humans select and maintain plants that have higher yield and better quality. Until recently, we were unaware of the genetic causes underlying this selection. However, with the advances in genomics, we can now identify the genetic changes that occurred during the domestication of crops.

How many times have you enjoyed sweet, healthy almonds and, suddenly, all this sweetness became erased by a taste of a single bitter one? Almond genome has enlightened how a single point mutation turned the previously bitter almonds sweet.

Magma erupted from a volcano in Iceland was stored at the boundary between the crust and the mantle for thousands of years before travelling to the surface in a matter of days. This improves our understanding of how magma behaves before an eruption.