Erik Stokstad

Washington, D.C., United States

Reporter at Science Magazine, covering environmental research & issues. Tweets focus on news from the scientific literature. Views my own.

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Articles

Trump swings budget ax at USGS biology research

5 days ago | science.org | Erik Stokstad

The White House is expected to ask Congress to wipe out the entire biological research program at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in its upcoming 2026 budget request, according to an internal email seen by Science. This year, USGS—a $1.6 billion research agency within the Department of the Interior—will spend $307 million on its Ecosystems Mission Area.
Toxic metals abound in soils worldwide, new global map reveals

6 days ago | science.org | Erik Stokstad

When ancient people began to smelt ore to extract metal, perhaps as far back as 10,000 years ago, they struck a toxic deal that continues today. From copper arrowheads to nickel-alloy rocket engines, metallurgy has let people create ever more powerful tools—but millennia of mining have also left a legacy of pollution.
Colossal squid filmed in its natural habitat for the first time

1 week ago | science.org | Erik Stokstad

For a century, scientists have searched for a titan lurking in the oceans’ depths: a squid that can weigh up to half a ton. Now, a team of researchers has revealed the first video ever taken of this enormous predator, the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni), in its natural deep-water habitat—and managed to spot the animal in its youth.
Surprising discovery in world’s most studied plant can make seeds bigger

1 week ago | science.org | Erik Stokstad

Plant biologists have their own version of the lab rat: a scrawny little mustard relative named Arabidopsis thaliana, which has been studied for decades thanks to its quick reproductive cycle and relatively simple genome. But as a new study makes clear, the world’s most studied plant still contains important secrets—including one with potentially major payoffs for agriculture.
Shocker: This tropical tree thrives after being struck by lightning

4 weeks ago | science.org | Erik Stokstad

Growing up to 55 meters tall in the tropical forests of Panama, the almendro tree is a natural lightning rod. And that appears to be a good thing: The millions of volts that course through this species during a strike electrocute parasitic vines and leap from branches, killing nearby trees that might compete for the almendro’s sunlight, researchers report today in New Phytologist.
Listen to the first sounds ever known to be made by sharks

4 weeks ago | science.org | Erik Stokstad

Whales sing, orcas squeal, and sea turtles croak. But sharks are more the strong, silent type. Now, researchers report the first evidence that sharks make sounds, too, described today in Royal Society Open Science. Scientists in New Zealand were testing the hearing of captive sharks when they noticed a kind of hound shark called a rig (Mustelus lenticulatus) made clicking noises in the tank.
This fuzzy hummingbird chick may be in disguise-as a caterpillar

1 month ago | science.org | Erik Stokstad

In March 2024, while monitoring the nest of a white-necked jacobin hummingbird (Florisuga mellivora), biologists in a Panama rainforest were treated to a marvelous surprise. When an egg hatched, the tiny chick wasn’t naked. Instead, it was strangely decorated with long downy feathers—making the newborn bird look like a dangerous caterpillar.
When honey bees ‘disappeared’ on this small Italian island, wild bees feasted

1 month ago | science.org | Erik Stokstad

It’s hard not to love honey bees. They’re expert pollinators, they give us honey, and they’re kind of cute—at least as insects go. But a clever experiment on a small island off the coast of Tuscany in Italy casts a shadow on honey bees. When researchers temporarily grounded the insects from flying, wild bees were better able to gather pollen and nectar, researchers report today in Current Biology.
Butterfly populations are plummeting across the United States

1 month ago | science.org | Erik Stokstad

The American lady (Vanessa virginiensis) is one of the most common and widespread butterflies across the United States. But over the past 2 decades, this orange-and-black beauty—along with almost all other species of butterfly—have become less abundant, according to a nationwide study published today in Science. Such losses don’t just make the world less pretty. In the caterpillar stage of their life, butterflies are a vital source of food for birds.
Abandoned crops, fired scientists: Agricultural research hit by U.S. foreign aid freeze

2 months ago | science.org | Erik Stokstad |Dan Charles

Researchers at Peru’s National Agrarian University La Molina have spent years developing a fast-growing cultivar of passion fruit and introducing it to farmers in the north of the country. The U.S.-funded effort, called PERU-Hub, is intended to diversify agricultural options in an area once known for the production of coca plants used to make cocaine.