Science & Environment: Moon blobs, dead zones, dinosaurs, and more

Plus: Go inside the history—and environmental footprint—of the toothbrush. [This week's latest in Science and Environment]( [VIEW ONLINE]( [This week in Science and Environment]( [National Geographic]( . In this edition: The mighty T. rex had an equally mighty sense of smell, a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico grows to near-historic size, a mystery blob appears on the moon, and we take you inside the history—and environmental footprint—of the toothbrush. . Image by Hannah Whitaker, National Geographic [the story of plastic]( [How your toothbrush became a part of the plastic crisis]( A billion toothbrushes will be thrown away in the U.S. this year, most of them plastic. How did we get here, and can we change? [brush up]( SHARE [F]( [T]( [watch: plastics 101 +]( [Chicken coop]( [Chicken or Beef?]( [Choosing chicken over beef slashes our meals' carbon footprints]( Food production accounts for about a quarter of total carbon emissions; there’s something easy we can do to help fix that. [dig in]( . [Gulf Woes]( [Massive 8,000-mile 'dead zone' could be one of the gulf's largest]( Record rainfall washed fertilizer and sewage out to sea—which has helped create a devastatingly large patch of polluted water. [Get the Story]( “Do you want the first thing you touch every day to be plastic?” Kahi Pacarro, founder of Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii [F]( [T]( . . [Tyrannosaurus rex]( ILLUSTRATION BY ROGER HALL, ALAMY [the nose knows]( [T. rex had an amazing sense of smell, gene study suggests]( Fresh analysis of modern genes and ancient brains backs up the notion that the meat-eating dinosaur had an especially powerful nose. [pick up the scent]( SHARE [F]( [T]( . [paleobotany]( [Prehistoric tree is first of its kind found below the Equator]( New fossils suggest the chinquapin, found today in parts of Asia, first took root in the Southern Hemisphere. [branch out]( . [starstruck]( [Dear Fermi: What it means to see the universe's extremes]( High above Earth, a particle detector records the cosmos's most violent phenomena. Here's how—and why. [zoom in]( . IMAGE BY NASA/GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA [Starstruck]( [Huge mystery blob found under the moon's far side]( The massive find promises to help scientists better understand how all rocky bodies—including our own planet—came to be. [Find Out More]( SHARE [F]( [T]( [watch: moon 101 +]( What We're REading [Wearing the lead glasses (Places Journal)]( ›› [Philippines overflows with millions of mangoes as El Niño takes effect (The Guardian)]( ›› . . When you read, watch, shop or travel with us, you help further the work of our scientists, explorers, and educators around the world. To learn more, visit [natgeo.com/info]( [Shop]( [Donate]( [Subscribe]( [Travel]( [READ OUR LATEST STORIES]( [SHOP]( [DONATE]( [SUBSCRIBE]( [TRAVEL]( [FB]( [Twitter]( [IG]( You are receiving this email because you elected to receive marketing communications from National Geographic under the terms of our [Privacy Policy](. Click here to [unsubscribe.]( If you reside in the EU/European Economic Area and wish to exercise all other data subject rights, [click here](. National Geographic | 1145 17th Street N.W. | Washington, D.C. 20036 Copyright © 2019 National Geographic Partners, LLC. All rights reserved. {LITMUS TRACKING PIXEL}