An elderly couple in the UK claimed that they were held hostage by a pair of seagulls nesting on the roof of their home. Every time they tried to leave, the birds would become aggressive and attack them.

One time, when Roy Pickard, the 71-year-old husband, decided to take his chances and go outside, he was hit so hard on the back of the head that he had to be taken to the hospital for help. Local authorities have installed a gazebo outside the couple’s home, which should offer some protection. That’s the best they can do for now.

“The whole thing has been terrible,” Roy old reporters. “I’ve not been able to go out of the front door. If I try to get out of the door, the two adult birds are right there, and I’ve got no chance. It’s really frightening. My wife isn’t well at the moment, so we’re relying on me to get out.” Luckily, the Pickards’ garage is connected to their house and he can get out through there when he needs to do some shopping, but he doesn’t dare get out of the car to close the garage door, so he always leaves it open until he comes back.

Roy has complained about the situation to both the local authorities and animal organizations like the RSPCA and RSPB, but their solutions have not been very helpful. The Wyer Council says that seagulls are protected while nesting, so all they can do is try to make the couple’s life bearable by installing a gazebo and making arrangements so that the 77-year-old wife, Brenda, can reach her private appointments safely. Unfortunately, animal organizations wouldn’t help the Pickards either. For now, all they can do is wait for the chicks to fly away. “The RSPCA and RSPB have been no help whatever. They seem to put the rights of these birds above those of people , which is ridiculous,” Roy said.

Bees and other pollinators(传粉者) use smells to track down fresh flowers. Air pollutants can weaken those scents(气味). Scientists had worried this might make it harder for some pollinators to find a meal.

Many animals help pollinate plants. Species that do this include bees, butterflies, etc. But for many reasons, the pollinators available to help plants in this way are decreasing. Scientists think a loss of habitat(栖息地) can be one factor. Diseases and exposure to poisonous chemicals also count.

Jose Fuentes points to air pollution as another possible factor. He’s an atmospheric scientist at Pennsylvania State University. In an earlier study, he showed some air pollutants could weaken or destroy scents emitted(发出) by flowers.

Searching for a meal leaves pollinators out in the open and at risk of becoming other animal’s lunch. And any time spent hunting food is time away from their duties back home, like protecting a hive(蜂巢) or nest, explains T’ai Roulston. He’s an insect biologist at Virginia University. Roulston worked with Fuentes on the new study.

In the study, the researchers focused on five kinds of representative scent molecules(分子) plants emit. One molecule they looked at, for example, is called beta-myrcene. Many flowers give off this chemical into the air. Normally, this gas can travel some 800 meters from its flower source. But in polluted air, this same molecule could travel only half as far.

Worse still, air pollution might do more than just weaken scent plumes(气味烟云). Chemical reactions between air pollutants and plumes may transform the flowers’ smells, creating new scents. And these scents may be unrecognizable to pollinators.

That’s certainly Fuentes’ concern. So, he says his next research project will look at how insects handle any new flower scent. “It’s possible that some insects will change ways to detect and use these new molecules to find food,” he says.

Scientists near San Francisco work to identify a type of endangered fish using a tool that was originally made for treating cancer.

Currently, CRISPR is used to change the genetic material in specific cells. By changing the structure of immune cells, it helps recognize and fight cancer. The same technology is now used in a special machine called Sherlock, which, of course, is named after the famous investigator Sherlock Holmes. They do not, however, use Sherlock to change fish cells. Instead, the ocean researchers catch the fish, collect a small amount of mucus (黏液) and then test the cells to find the genetic makeup of the fish.

The researchers have found that the technology is extremely helpful when looking at different species of Chinook salmon, because they look nearly the same. It can be done in about 30 minutes. In the past, the researchers would have to wait weeks or months to get test results.

In the past, the scientists would catch the Chinook salmon and measure them to tell them apart. “It’s not very accurate,” said Andrea Schreier, an associate professor at the University of California in Davis, who is working on the salmon. Schreier said when they catch the fish, the Sherlock machine can quickly tell them if they have one of the special salmon. It’s important because it allows the scientists to do things that will help the endangered salmon live longer. For example, they can catch them in lakes far away from the coast and take them by truck to the San Francisco Bay. In the past, the fish might have tried to make it to the Bay by swimming in rivers. However, due to climate change, the river water is sometimes too warm for the fish to make the trip safely.

Schreier said she feels good about the project because she likes being able to assist with conservation. “I really want to work to maintain our ecosystems and our native populations as much as possible, given all of the pressures that we humans place on them through our different activities.’’