New research shows preserving and restoring salt marshes in front of protective seawalls helps prevent coastal erosion, at a cost that makes this approach reasonable to implement. “You don’t need a huge marsh to get a good effect,” Heidi Nepf says.

Misinformation is all around. How can we combat it? In a lecture on campus, Adam Berinsky surveyed one of the thorniest ongoing problems in modern politics: “It is really hard to correct misinformation,” he said.

Admir Masic spoke with the New York Times about a material used in ancient Roman infrastructure. According to Masic’s research, “these lime clasts were actually reservoirs of calcium that helped fill in cracks, making the concrete self-healing.”

Looking back in time imaginatively is Brandon Clifford’s job: He studies ancient structures and building practices, to generate new ones. “Humans have been reassembling random bits of material from previous incarnations of architecture for millennia,” he says.

Scientists modeled the number of “outdoor days” — with comfortable temperatures for outside activities — that U.S. states will experience as the climate warms. States in the Southeast will lose a significant number of outdoor days, while the Northwest should see a slight increase.

Astronomers observed ancient, ultrabright galaxies called quasars that appear surprisingly alone. The findings pose a mystery: How could such luminous objects have formed so early in the universe without nearby matter to fuel their growth?