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ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News |
| A plant-fungi partnership at the origin of terrestrial vegetation Posted: 20 May 2021 11:53 AM PDT 450 million years ago, the first plants left aquatic life. Researchers have now succeeded in demonstrating that this colonization of land by plants was made possible by a partnership between plants and fungi. Validating this 40-year-old hypothesis allows us to understand a stage that was crucial to the development of life on Earth. |
| Earth's vegetation is changing faster today than it has over the last 18,000 years Posted: 20 May 2021 11:53 AM PDT A global survey of fossil pollen has discovered that the planet's vegetation is changing at least as quickly today as it did when the last ice sheets retreated around 10,000 years ago. |
| Compound commonly found in candles lights the way to grid-scale energy storage Posted: 20 May 2021 11:53 AM PDT A compound used widely in candles offers promise for a much more modern energy challenge -- storing massive amounts of energy to be fed into the electric grid as the need arises. Researchers show that low-cost organic compounds hold promise for storing energy that would kick in when the grid goes offline due to severe weather, and for storing renewable energy. |
| Forests and climate change: 'We can't plant our way out of the climate crisis' Posted: 20 May 2021 11:53 AM PDT Some climate activists advocate large-scale tree-planting campaigns in forests around the world to suck up heat-trapping carbon dioxide and help rein in climate change. |
| Swifts set new record for swiftness Posted: 20 May 2021 10:39 AM PDT Swifts aren't called 'swifts' for nothing. They're known for being among the fastest migrating small birds around. When they aren't breeding, common swifts stay in the air most of the time -- up to 10 months of the year. Scientists had thought they travel about 500 kilometers per day on average. Now, new evidence shows that's a conservative estimate. |
| Young orangutans have sex-specific role models Posted: 20 May 2021 10:37 AM PDT Social learning in orangutans is shaped by their sex. Young males learn their foraging skills from immigrant individuals, while young females get their skills by observing their mothers and other residents in the area. These different sets of ecological knowledge help secure their survival. |
| Origins of life researchers develop a new ecological biosignature Posted: 20 May 2021 10:37 AM PDT In groundbreaking work, a team has developed a new ecological biosignature that could help scientists detect life in vastly different environments. |
| Airborne radar reveals groundwater beneath glacier Posted: 20 May 2021 10:37 AM PDT Researchers have detected groundwater beneath a glacier in Greenland for the first time using airborne radar data. If applicable to other glaciers and ice sheets, the technique could allow for more accurate predictions of future sea-level rise. |
| How plants leave behind their parents' genomic baggage Posted: 20 May 2021 10:37 AM PDT Small chemical 'epigenetic' modifications help plants control their genes. Baby plants erase these modifications to start with a fresh genome every generation. Scientists discovered a gene responsible for reinstalling the beneficial modifications important for survival. Reinstalling these modifications on mobile genetic elements called transposons may explain the diversity of flowering plants. |
| Global study of glacier debris shows impact on melt rate Posted: 20 May 2021 10:37 AM PDT The work is a global assessment of Earth's 92,033 debris-covered glaciers and shows that debris, taken as a whole, substantially reduces glacier mass loss. |
| Rare 4,000-year comets can cause meteor showers on Earth Posted: 20 May 2021 10:36 AM PDT Researchers report that they can detect showers from the debris in the path of comets that pass close to Earth orbit and return as infrequently as once every 4,000 years. |
| Yellowstone National Park is hotter than ever Posted: 20 May 2021 06:50 AM PDT Yellowstone National Park is famous for harsh winters but a new study shows summers are also getting harsher, with August 2016 ranking as one of the hottest summers in the last 1,250 years. |
| Earthquake creates ecological opportunity Posted: 20 May 2021 06:50 AM PDT A new study has revealed how earthquake upheaval has affected New Zealand's coastal species. |
| Declining biodiversity in Tibet's mountainous regions in response to climate change Posted: 20 May 2021 06:50 AM PDT Normally, mountain forests are among the most diverse habitats in alpine regions. Yet, as a team discovered in the Tibetan Plateau, the higher, treeless areas are home to far more species. |
| A safer, greener way to make solar cells: Toxic solvent replaced Posted: 19 May 2021 01:36 PM PDT Scientists have found a way to replace the toxic, unsustainable solvents currently needed to make the next generation of solar technology - printed carbon perovskite solar cells. |
| Tree species diversity is no protection against bark beetle infestation Posted: 19 May 2021 01:36 PM PDT An ecologist investigates pest infestation in forests with mixed and monoculture tree stands. |
| White shark population is small but healthy off the coast of Central California Posted: 19 May 2021 01:36 PM PDT The population of white sharks that call the Central California coast their primary home is holding steady at about 300 animals and shows some signs of growth, a new long-term study of the species has shown. |
| What causes pools below waterfalls to periodically fill with sediment? Posted: 19 May 2021 01:36 PM PDT Deep pools below waterfalls are popular recreational swimming spots, but sometimes they can be partially or completely filled with sediment. New research showed how and why pools at the base of waterfalls, known as plunge pools, go through natural cycles of sediment fill and evacuation. |
| New role for strange organisms in ocean food web Posted: 19 May 2021 01:36 PM PDT Researchers have more insight into salps -- a strange sea creature found in oceans around the world -- and what their presence means for the health of a marine ecosystem. |
| Study on bizarre rodent genetics solves a mystery and reveals another Posted: 19 May 2021 01:26 PM PDT Researchers uncover what one co-author describes as 'the weirdest sex chromosome system known to science': an unassuming vole species whose X and Y chromosomes have fused, switched roles and swapped smaller pieces of DNA. The discovery is a rare exception to mammals' remarkably stable sex determination system. |
| Envisioning safer cities with AI Posted: 19 May 2021 09:08 AM PDT Researchers developed a suite of AI tools that can automatically identify characteristics of every buildings in a city and compute the risks they would face during a natural hazard event. The team tested the tools with simulated earthquakes in San Francisco; and hurricanes in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the Texas coast, and Atlantic City, New Jersey. The simulations generated realistic spatial distributions of buildings and identified some building characteristics with 100% accuracy. |
| Plant consumers play unexpectedly large role in the evolution of seedling success Posted: 19 May 2021 09:08 AM PDT Scientists have found that herbivores have a lot to say about plant evolution and determining the success of seedlings. The influence of birds, rabbits, mice and other herbivores likely counteracts early plant emergence due to climate change, the researchers found. |
| New, biological, and safer soaps Posted: 19 May 2021 05:04 AM PDT An international research team has discovered a new molecule with potential to revolutionize the biosurfactant market. |
| The environmental trade-offs of autonomous vehicles Posted: 19 May 2021 05:04 AM PDT Optimistic predictions expect reliable autonomous vehicles to be commercially available by 2030, at a time when mobility is undergoing a profound shift away from traditional modes of transportation and towards door-to-door services. |
| Saving the eastern monarch butterfly Posted: 18 May 2021 05:54 PM PDT Researchers are playing a key role in guiding conservation efforts to protect a declining butterfly population. The eastern monarch butterfly, an important pollinating species known for its distinct yellow-orange and black color, is diminishing due to the loss of the milkweed plant--its primary food source. |
| Grape genetics research reveals what makes the perfect flower Posted: 18 May 2021 05:54 PM PDT Scientists have identified the DNA markers that determine grape flower sex. In the process, they also pinpointed the genetic origins of the perfect flower. |
| Global food security: Climate change adaptation requires new cultivars Posted: 18 May 2021 10:07 AM PDT Climate change induced yield reductions can be compensated by cultivar adaptation and global production can even be increased. |
| Environmental concerns propel research into marine biofuels Posted: 18 May 2021 08:49 AM PDT A global effort to reduce sulfur and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships has researchers investigating the potential use of marine biofuels. |
| Peatlands pose complex, poorly understood risk for serious fires Posted: 18 May 2021 08:49 AM PDT Five years after a disastrous wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alberta, researchers are warning that the complex role of peatlands, a factor critical to projecting the risk and behaviour of future fires, is missing from the forecasting model. |
| Scientists debut most efficient 'optical rectennas,' devices that harvest power from heat Posted: 18 May 2021 08:48 AM PDT For decades, researchers have theorized that 'optical rectennas' could sit on everything from bakery ovens to dirigibles flying high above Earth to harvest waste heat and turn it into electricity. But to date, those goals have remained elusive. Now, engineers have unveiled a highly efficient optical rectenna. |
| Swiss farmers contributed to the domestication of the opium poppy Posted: 18 May 2021 08:42 AM PDT Fields of opium poppies once bloomed where the Zurich Opera House underground garage now stands. Through a new analysis of archaeological seeds, researchers have been able to bolster the hypothesis that prehistoric farmers throughout the Alps participated in domesticating the opium poppy. |
| White roofs and more green areas would mitigate the effects of heat waves in cities Posted: 18 May 2021 08:41 AM PDT A study evaluates the effectiveness of different urban solutions to reduce the temperature in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. |
| Iran's groundwater depletion is reaching crisis levels Posted: 18 May 2021 08:41 AM PDT More than three quarters of Iran's land is under extreme groundwater overdraft, where the rate of human uptake is higher than the rate of natural recharge. Mismanagement by the country's authorities is exacerbating existing strains on the semi-arid country's aquifers by an inefficient agriculture industry. Without urgent action, researchers note, the country faces multiple national crises. |
| Indigenous co-management essential for protecting, restoring Bears Ears region Posted: 17 May 2021 04:47 PM PDT Indigenous subsistence of the Bears Ears region modified the landscape, leaving ecological legacies that persist today. A blend of Indigenous knowledge and western science can be used to build management plans for effective stewardship of the region's botanical and cultural resources. |
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