Humans spend less time monkeying around as they get older — and so do monkeys. Both species tend to become less social with age. Researchers in Europe tracked more than 100 macaques living in an enclosed 50-acre park in southern France. By the time they were around 20, the monkeys had fewer social contacts and approached others less frequently. Social scientists theorize that humans become more choosy about companions with age in order to maximize their time as death nears. But there is no evidence that monkeys are aware of their mortality.

'Watermelon snow' key for climate change

In snowy places across the globe, "watermelon snow" forms as the summer sun heats up and melts winter's leftovers. The colorful snow is made of blooms of algae that thrive in freezing temperatures and liquid water. When these organisms are exposed to a lot of sun, they produce a natural sunscreen that paints the slopes pink and red. The pigment changes snow's albedo — how much light, or radiation, is reflected back into the atmosphere. A study estimates that blooms of snow algae can lead to an albedo decrease of 13 percent over the course of an Arctic melt season, compared with clean snow. The algae are so ubiquitous that it's time for climate models to consider their effects on snow and ice melt, the authors concluded.

Beijing is sinking at an alarming rate

The land under Beijing is sinking by as much as 4 inches per year because of the overconsumption of groundwater. The rate of sinking threatens "the safety of the public and urban infrastructure," said research published in the journal Remote Sensing. This is because uneven sinking could damage trains, buildings and other structures. Experts from China, Spain and Germany analyzed data from satellite imaging and global positioning sensors and tracked changes in the ground level from 2003 to 2011. Beijing is ranked as the fifth-most water-stressed city in the world.

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