When you think of Los Angeles, do you picture a concrete jungle of freeways, studded with a few palm trees? That’s the city’s conventional image, but a recent study found pockets of land across greater L.A. that housed diverse communities of birds, animals and insects.

“Even within the most urban zones, such as Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles, we found some communities of species that favored natural spaces,” write UCLA ecologists Joseph Curti and Morgan Tingley. Examples included house wrens and urbane digger bees. As the world becomes more urban, it’s important to understand what landscape features can attract and support wildlife.

Also in this week’s science news:

If there’s a subject you’d like our team of science editors to investigate, please reply to this email.

Jennifer Weeks

Senior Environment + Cities Editor
Black-crowned night herons perch on rocks in the Los Angeles River in Los Angeles. Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Cities contain pockets of nature – our study shows which species are most tolerant of urbanization

Joseph Curti, University of California, Los Angeles; Morgan Tingley, University of California, Los Angeles

Even in a concrete jungle like Los Angeles, wild species show up in surprising places. New research identifies the types of wildlife that best tolerate urban development.
Elephants have close social bonds, which may have led to the evolution of name-like calls. Michael Pardo

African elephants address one another with name-like calls − similar to humans

Mickey Pardo, Colorado State University

Humans aren’t the only animals that have names for each other − and studying animals that use names can teach researchers more about how human names evolved.
Fertilizer is a leading source of emissions of nitrous oxide, a planet-warming greenhouse gas. pixdeluxe/E+ via Getty Images

Food has a climate problem: Nitrous oxide emissions are accelerating with growing demand for fertilizer and meat – but there are solutions

Hanqin Tian, Boston College; Eric Davidson, University of Maryland, Baltimore; Pep Canadell, CSIRO; Rona Louise Thompson, Norwegian Institute for Air Research

The most comprehensive assessment yet of a powerful greenhouse gas shows which countries are driving the increase, and which ones are successfully cutting emissions.

Scientists call the region of space influenced by the Sun the heliosphere – but without an interstellar probe, they don’t know much about its shape

Sarah A. Spitzer, University of Michigan

An interstellar probe could help scientists answer fundamental questions about how the Sun influences Earth, space and other planets in the solar system.

Paris 2024 Olympics to debut high-level breakdancing – and physics in action

Amy Pope, Clemson University

Olympic breakdancers spin on their heads and backs, then freeze in funky poses. How? It’s all about physics.

Summertime can be germy: A microbiologist explains how to avoid getting sick at the barbecue, in the pool or on the trail

Bill Sullivan, Indiana University

Common summer activities can expose you to a host of infectious diseases. But there are simple steps you can take to protect yourself from pathogens ranging from E. coli to T. gondii.

How do you build tunnels and bridges underwater? A geotechnical engineer explains the construction tricks

Ari Perez, Quinnipiac University

Underwater construction is a complex and difficult task, but engineers have developed several ways to build underwater … mostly by not building underwater at all.