ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News

A new luminescent sensor can detect terbium, a valuable rare earth element used in smart phone displays, from complex environmental samples like acid mine waste.

Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere dissolves in waterways, forming bicarbonate ions and other compounds that change water chemistry, with possible harmful effects on aquatic organisms. In addition, bicarbonate can reenter the atmosphere as carbon dioxide later. Now, researchers have developed tiny 'nanojars' that split bicarbonate into carbonate and capture it, as well as certain toxic anions, so they can be removed from water.

A new study analyzes the association between more than 100 environmental exposures and the 'epigenetic clock' of over 1,000 children in six European countries.

The Codex Telleriano Remensis, created in the 16th century in Mexico, depicts earthquakes in pictograms that are the first written evidence of earthquakes in the Americas in pre-Hispanic times, according to a pair of researchers who have systematically studied the country's historical earthquakes.

Knowing where cold water is likely to stay cold is critical for conservation. But "cold" is more than just a number on a thermometer. Dams do not adequately support cold-water ecosystems, finds a new study.

A new analysis suggests that U.S. workers in industries that expose them to weather conditions work fewer hours per day when temperatures surpass 90 degrees Fahrenheit -- but only during periods of economic growth.

Recent archaeogenetic studies have shown that human movements like migrations and expansions played a major role in driving the spread of cultures and genes in ancient Europe. However, it is only now with detailed regional studies and dense sampling that researchers start to better understand the magnitude, rate and social implications of these changes.

For home gardeners and farmers, herbivorous insects present a major threat. The predator insects that feed on these bugs emit odors that pests can sense, which changes the pests' behavior and physiology to avoid being eaten. With bugs becoming more resistant to traditional pesticides, researchers now report they have bottled the 'smell of fear' produced by predators to repel and disrupt insects naturally.

An international study found that intact tropical mountain (or montane) forests in Africa store around 150 tons of carbon per hectare. This means that keeping a hectare of forest standing saves CO2 emissions equivalent to powering 100 homes with electricity for one year.

Pulling heat-trapping carbon dioxide out of the air and turning it into useful products, a concept called carbon capture and utilization, has the potential to offer both environmental and economic benefits.

Unrealistic and flawed scientific experiments mean the true impact of nitrogen pollution on the environment is unknownremains poorly understood, a new study warns.