An army of citizen scientists has helped the professionals understand how a tiny 'alien' moth is attacking the UK's conker (horse-chestnut) trees, and showed that naturally-occurring pest controlling wasps are not able to restrict the moth's impact.

The study's conclusions are published this week in the open access scientific journal PLOS ONE.

No bigger than a grain of rice, the horse-chestnut leaf-mining moth has spread rapidly through England and Wales since its arrival in London in 2002. The caterpillars of the moth 'tunnel' through the leaves of conker trees, causing them to turn brown and autumnal in appearance, even in the height of summer.

Are they landing marks for aliens? Craters from World War II bombs?

The first pictures, which appeared in 2008 after being taken by a tourist, showed some strange circular formations in the shallow waters off the famous white cliffs of chalk on the island Møn in Denmark. And then they disappeared.

In 2011, the circles came back, and this time there were so many that they made it into media stories.
Since those first images appeared, people have searched for an explanation. 

No more killing the good bacteria along with the bad. An antibiotic "smart bomb" can identify specific strains of bacteria and sever their DNA, eliminating the infection and reducing multi-drug resistant bacteria.

The new approach works by taking advantage of a part of an immune system present in many bacteria called the CRISPR-Cas system. The CRISPR-Cas system protects bacteria from invaders such as viruses by creating small strands of RNA called CRISPR RNAs, which match DNA sequences specific to a given invader. When those CRISPR RNAs find a match, they unleash Cas proteins that cut the DNA.

Marijuana use has been involved in a sharp increase in fatal motor vehicle crashes, with rates nearly tripling since 1999. 

The prevalence of non-alcohol drugs detected in fatally injured drivers in the U.S. has been steadily rising and tripled from 1999 to 2010. Marijuana is the most commonly detected non-alcohol drug involved. 

North American bats are facing a tough new millennium. 600,000 per year are already killed due to government subsidies of wind energy and so far 7 million have died due to White Nose Syndrome.

While we are likely stuck with wind energy for the foreseeable future, there is hope for White Nose Syndrome. Scientists have discovered that the deadly WNS fungus can survive in caves with or without the presence of bats.

If you are stressed about giving a public speech or a presentation to your boss, it helps to talk about it - if the person you are talking to is also stressed out.

People benefit by spending time and conversing with someone whose emotional response is in line with theirs. Such an alignment may be helpful in the workplace.