ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News |
| Posted: 24 Jun 2021 01:16 PM PDT Researchers were able to clearly connect declining levels of human mobility during regional shelter-in-place orders with pumas' increased willingness to utilize more urban habitat areas. |
| When did the first COVID-19 case arise? Posted: 24 Jun 2021 11:15 AM PDT Using methods from conservation science, a new analysis suggests that the first case of COVID-19 arose between early October and mid-November, 2019 in China, with the most likely date of origin being November 17. |
| 'Subterranean estuaries' crucial to sustainable fishing and aquaculture industries Posted: 24 Jun 2021 08:45 AM PDT Pioneering research suggests 'subterranean estuaries' may be critical in managing sustainable fishing and aquaculture -- two growing industries of global importance. |
| Crops: Mixed cultures for a greater yield Posted: 24 Jun 2021 08:45 AM PDT What holds true for meadows would seem to apply to arable land, too: mixed cultures are more fruitful than monocultures. |
| Chemicals from human activities in transplanted oysters far from population centers Posted: 24 Jun 2021 08:44 AM PDT Wastewater treatment facilities clean the water that goes down our sinks and flushes our toilets, but they do not remove everything. A recent study detected low levels of pharmaceuticals and personal care product chemicals in oysters the team deployed at various distances from wastewater effluent pipes along the Oregon and Washington coast. |
| Research team discovers Arctic dinosaur nursery Posted: 24 Jun 2021 08:44 AM PDT Images of dinosaurs as cold-blooded creatures needing tropical temperatures could be a relic of the past. Scientists have found that nearly all types of Arctic dinosaurs, from small bird-like animals to giant tyrannosaurs, reproduced in the region and likely remained there year-round. |
| Nanotech and AI could hold key to unlocking global food security challenge Posted: 24 Jun 2021 08:44 AM PDT 'Precision agriculture' where farmers respond in real time to changes in crop growth using nanotechnology and artificial intelligence (AI) could offer a practical solution to the challenges threatening global food security, a new study reveals. |
| Ultralight material withstands supersonic microparticle impacts Posted: 24 Jun 2021 08:44 AM PDT Engineers find 'nanoarchitected' materials designed from precisely patterned nanoscale structures may be a promising route to lightweight armor, protective coatings, blast shields, and other impact-resistant materials. |
| Antarctic Circumpolar Current flows more rapidly in warm phases Posted: 24 Jun 2021 08:44 AM PDT Our planet's strongest ocean current, which circulates around Antarctica, plays a major role in determining the transport of heat, salt and nutrients in the ocean. An international research team led by the Alfred Wegener Institute has now evaluated sediment samples from the Drake Passage. |
| New knowledge of Earth's mantle helps to explain Indonesia's explosive volcanoes Posted: 24 Jun 2021 08:44 AM PDT Indonesia's volcanoes are among the world's most dangerous. Why? Through chemical analyses of tiny minerals in lava from Bali and Java, researchers have found new clues. They now understand better how the Earth's mantle is composed in that particular region and how the magma changes before an eruption. |
| Throwing shade: Measuring how much trees, buildings cool cities Posted: 24 Jun 2021 08:43 AM PDT When the summer sun blazes on a hot city street, our first reaction is to flee to a shady spot protected by a building or tree. A new study is the first to calculate exactly how much these shaded areas help lower the temperature and reduce the 'urban heat island' effect. |
| Plant Protector: How plants strengthen their light-harvesting membranes against environmental stress Posted: 24 Jun 2021 08:43 AM PDT An international study has revealed the structure of a membrane-remodeling protein that builds and maintains photosynthetic membranes. These fundamental insights lay the groundwork for bioengineering efforts to strengthen plants against environmental stress, helping to sustaining human food supply and fight against climate change. |
| Cyclone study improves climate projections Posted: 24 Jun 2021 08:43 AM PDT Migrating storms and local weather systems known as cyclones and anticyclones were thought to contribute to behaviors and properties of our global weather system. However, the means to probe cyclones and anticyclones were limited. Researchers demonstrated a new three-dimensional analytical methodology that can quantify the way individual cyclones and anticyclones impact broader weather systems. This study aids longer-term circulation and climate studies, including how storm characteristics may change in the future. |
| Coral offspring physiology impacted by parental exposure to intense environmental stresses Posted: 23 Jun 2021 04:40 PM PDT Adult corals that survive high-intensity environmental stresses, such as bleaching events, can produce offspring that are better suited to survive in new environments. Results from a series of experiments are deepening scientists' understanding of how the gradual increase of sea surface temperatures and other environmental disturbances may influence future coral generations. This study's experimental design provides a unique perspective on how multiple types of thermal events accumulate over time and have lasting consequences across generations. |
| Shifting sands, creeping soils, and a new understanding of landscape evolution Posted: 23 Jun 2021 04:40 PM PDT A new study finds that piles of sand grains, even when undisturbed, are in constant motion. These experimental results challenge existing theories in both geology and physics about how soils and other types of disordered materials behave. |
| US beekeepers continue to report high colony loss rates, no clear improvement Posted: 23 Jun 2021 04:39 PM PDT US beekeepers lost 45.5% of their managed honey bee colonies from April 2020 to April 2021, according to preliminary results of the 15th annual nationwide survey. These losses mark the second highest loss rate the survey has recorded since it began in 2006. The survey results highlight the continuing high rates of honey bee colony turnover. |
| Cat-borne parasite Toxoplasma induces fatally bold behavior in hyena cubs Posted: 23 Jun 2021 11:17 AM PDT Best known for its presence in house cats and a tendency to infect and alter the behaviors of rodents and humans, the parasite Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is also associated with bold behavior among wild hyena cubs and risk of death during interactions with lions, finds new research. |
| East Antarctic summer cooling trends caused by tropical rainfall clusters Posted: 23 Jun 2021 11:17 AM PDT A study uncovers a new mechanism linking climate trend in Antarctica to rainfall occurrences in the tropics. |
| Pandemic air quality due to weather, not just lockdowns, study finds Posted: 23 Jun 2021 11:17 AM PDT Using a diverse set of tools, researchers show how the pandemic did -- or didn't -- affect fine particulate matter concentrations during COVID lockdowns. |
| Harvesting drinking water from humid air around the clock Posted: 23 Jun 2021 11:16 AM PDT Researchers have developed a condenser for countries where water is in short supply. Theirs is a zero-energy solution for harvesting water from the atmosphere throughout the 24-hour daily cycle. It relies on a self-cooling surface and a special radiation shield. |
| Wild bees need deadwood in the forest Posted: 23 Jun 2021 11:16 AM PDT Researchers conducted a joint restoration experiment with the Black Forest National Park. |
| Greater Yellowstone area expected to become warmer, drier Posted: 23 Jun 2021 11:16 AM PDT Temperature significantly increased and snowfall decreased in the iconic Greater Yellowstone Area since 1950 because of climate change, and these trends will likely continue through the rest of the century, according to a new climate report. |
| A novel energy storage solution featuring pipes and anchors Posted: 23 Jun 2021 10:06 AM PDT What do pipes and anchors have to do with storing energy? More than you might think! A new study explored the potential of a lesser known, but promising sustainable energy storage system called Buoyancy Energy Storage. |
| Machine learning aids earthquake risk prediction Posted: 23 Jun 2021 10:06 AM PDT Soil liquefaction was a major feature of the 2011 Christchurch, New Zealand earthquake that killed 185 people. Researchers developed a machine learning model to predict the amount of lateral movement that can be expected from liquefaction during a natural hazard event. Their model, trained on Christchurch data, was 70% accurate at determining the amount of displacement that occurred. |
| New research reveals remarkable resilience of sea life in the aftermath of mass extinctions Posted: 23 Jun 2021 08:39 AM PDT Pioneering research has shown marine ecosystems can start working again, providing important functions for humans, after being wiped out much sooner than their return to peak biodiversity. |
| Pleistocene sediment DNA from Denisova Cave Posted: 23 Jun 2021 08:38 AM PDT Researchers have analyzed DNA from 728 sediment samples from Denisova Cave. Their study provides unprecedented detail about the occupation of the site by both archaic and modern humans over 300,000 years. The researchers detected the DNA of Neandertals and Denisovans, the two forms of archaic hominins who inhabited the cave, and the DNA of modern humans who appeared around the time of the emergence of an archaeological culture called the Initial Upper Paleolithic around 45,000 years ago. |
| Earth-like biospheres on other planets may be rare Posted: 23 Jun 2021 08:38 AM PDT A new analysis of known exoplanets has revealed that Earth-like conditions on potentially habitable planets may be much rarer than previously thought. The work focuses on the conditions required for oxygen-based photosynthesis to develop on a planet, which would enable complex biospheres of the type found on Earth. |
| The origins of farming insects more than 100 million years ago Posted: 23 Jun 2021 08:38 AM PDT A beetle bores a tree trunk to build a gallery in the wood in order to protect its lay. As it digs the tunnel, it spreads ambrosia fungal spores that will feed the larvae. When these bore another tree, the adult beetles will be the transmission vectors of the fungal spores in another habitat. This mutualism among insects and ambrosia fungi could be more than 100 million years old, more than what was thought to date. |
| Tuckered out: Early Antarctic explorers underfed their dogs Posted: 23 Jun 2021 06:52 AM PDT New research analyzing a century-old dog biscuit suggests early British Antarctic expeditions underfed their dogs. |
| River flow: New machine learning methods could improve environmental predictions Posted: 23 Jun 2021 06:12 AM PDT Machine learning algorithms do a lot for us every day -- send unwanted email to our spam folder, warn us if our car is about to back into something, and give us recommendations on what TV show to watch next. Now, we are increasingly using these same algorithms to make environmental predictions for us. |
| Advancing research on environmentally friendly, hydrogen-enriched fuel Posted: 23 Jun 2021 06:12 AM PDT As you drive down the highway, you may notice an increasing number of hybrid and electric vehicles. Alternative energy automobiles are on the rise contributing to the global effort to reduce carbon emissions. As we move together down this road, researchers are looking to determine new solutions to this ongoing problem. |
| Salton Sea aerosol exposure triggers unique and mysterious pulmonary response Posted: 23 Jun 2021 06:12 AM PDT Communities surrounding the Salton Sea, the inland body of water straddling California's Riverside and Imperial counties, show high rates of asthma due, possibly, to high aerosol dust levels resulting from the sea shrinking over time. Scientists suspect, however, the Salton Sea plays an additional role in pulmonary health. A new study performed on mice has found Salton Sea aerosol turns on nonallergic inflammation genes and may also promote lung inflammation. |
| Natural hazards threaten 57% of US structures Posted: 23 Jun 2021 06:12 AM PDT More than half of the structures in the contiguous United States are exposed to potentially devastating natural hazards such as floods, tornadoes and wildfires. Increasing temperatures and environmental changes contribute to this trend, according to a new study. |
| Mapping methane sources in Paris Posted: 23 Jun 2021 06:12 AM PDT A potent greenhouse gas, methane is released by many sources, both human and natural. Large cities emit significant amounts of methane, but in many cases the exact emission sources are unknown. Now, researchers have conducted mobile measurements of methane and its sources throughout Paris. Their findings suggest that the natural gas distribution network, the sewage system and furnaces of buildings are ideal targets for methane reduction efforts. |
| Mining precious rare-earth elements from coal fly ash with a reusable ionic liquid Posted: 23 Jun 2021 06:12 AM PDT Rare-earth elements are in many everyday products, such as smart phones, LED lights and batteries. However, only a few locations have large enough deposits worth mining, resulting in global supply chain tensions. So, there's a push toward recycling them from non-traditional sources, such as waste from burning coal -- fly ash. Now, researchers report a simple method for recovering these elements from coal fly ash using an ionic liquid. |
| Rising greenhouse gases pose continued threat to Arctic ozone layer Posted: 23 Jun 2021 06:11 AM PDT A new study shows that extremely low winter temperatures high in the atmosphere over the Arctic are becoming more frequent and more extreme because of climate patterns associated with global warming. The study also shows that those extreme low temperatures are causing reactions among chemicals humans pumped into the air decades ago, leading to greater ozone losses. |
| More intense and frequent thunderstorms linked to global climate variability Posted: 22 Jun 2021 01:29 PM PDT Large thunderstorms in the Southern Great Plains of the U.S. are some of the strongest on Earth. In recent years, these storms have increased in frequency and intensity, and new research shows that these shifts are linked to climate variability. |
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