When a deadly fungal disease from Europe spread to bats in the United States, killing off colonies of the creatures, one scientist wanted to see what such a bat die-off would mean in other ways. What the University of Chicago's Eyal Frank found: that in counties where infected bats were prevalent, the infant mortality rate rose.
- The fungus: The Guardian notes that Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the fungus that leads to white-nose syndrome in bats (sickened bats often end up with white fuzz on their sniffers), arrived in the US in 2006, with the potential to kill off entire bat colonies in just five years.