ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News |
| Genetic legacy of last glaciation influences reindeer's seasonal migrations Posted: 10 Feb 2022 12:42 PM PST Caribou (known as reindeer in Europe) make one of the longest seasonal migrations of land animals, but an individual's propensity to migrate depends on its genetic ancestry, researchers report. |
| Seawater seep may be speeding glacier melt, sea level rise Posted: 10 Feb 2022 12:41 PM PST A new study projects that warm seawater seeping under certain glaciers could eventually lead to future sea level rise that's double that of existing estimates. |
| Posted: 10 Feb 2022 09:58 AM PST Researchers have discovered a new clue in the search for the origin of life by showing that peptides can form on dust under conditions such as those prevailing in outer space. These molecules, which are one of the basic building blocks of all life, may therefore not have originated on our planet at all, but possibly in cosmic molecular clouds. |
| A 'fairly simple' breakthrough makes accessing stored hydrogen more efficient Posted: 10 Feb 2022 08:40 AM PST A new catalyst extracts hydrogen from hydrogen storage materials easily and efficiently. The process occurs at mild temperatures and under normal atmospheric conditions, without using metals or additives. |
| African Heritage Sites threatened by coastal flooding and erosion as sea-level rise accelerates Posted: 10 Feb 2022 08:40 AM PST Climate risk and heritage experts have provided the first comprehensive assessment of exposure of African cultural and natural Heritage Sites to extreme sea levels and erosion associated with accelerating sea level rise. |
| Babies in bike trailers exposed to higher levels of pollutants than their parents Posted: 10 Feb 2022 05:49 AM PST Babies and children sitting in bicycle trailers breathe in more polluted air than the adults riding the bikes that pull them --- but trailer covers can help halve air pollution levels. |
| One out of three people exposed to potentially harmful pesticide Posted: 10 Feb 2022 05:49 AM PST One out of three people in a large survey showed signs of exposure to a pesticide called 2,4-D, according to a new study. This novel research found that human exposure to this chemical has been rising as agricultural use of the chemical has increased, a finding that raises worries about possible health implications. |
| New technique will improve the construction of ice roads and bridges Posted: 10 Feb 2022 05:49 AM PST A new study found that measuring the time it takes for a radar pulse to travel from a satellite to the sea surface and back again can reveal the thickness of river ice and dates when it is safe to travel on ice roads and bridges in Arctic regions. |
| Brainy birds may fare better under climate change Posted: 10 Feb 2022 05:49 AM PST Many North American migratory birds are shrinking in size as temperatures have warmed over the past 40 years. But those with very big brains, relative to their body size, did not shrink as much as smaller-brained birds, according to new research. The study is the first to identify a direct link between cognition and animal response to human-made climate change. |
| Epigenetic effects of pollution persist for multiple generations in water fleas Posted: 10 Feb 2022 05:49 AM PST A new study has shown that the effects of pollutants can be transmitted over many generations in water fleas and may persist long enough to influence the evolutionary process. The research adds new evidence to the debate on whether environmental influences can cause heritable changes to an animal's biology. |
| Steering conversion of CO2 and ethane to desired products Posted: 09 Feb 2022 12:49 PM PST Chemists describe the key features of a catalyst that determine its selectivity for transforming CO2 and ethane (C2H6) into synthesis gas (useful for generating electricity or making liquid fuels) or, alternatively, ethylene (a building block for making paints, plastics, and other polymers). The findings could inform the rational design of catalysts to yield desired products. |
| Genetically engineered microbes with a kill switch Posted: 09 Feb 2022 12:49 PM PST Scientists have taken a big step forward in their quest to design a modular, genetically engineered kill switch that integrates into any genetically engineered microbe, causing it to self-destruct under certain defined conditions. |
| 85% of coral reef fish studied are overfished Posted: 09 Feb 2022 12:49 PM PST A new study found concrete evidence that more than 85 percent of the grouper and snapper studied are overfished as a direct result of increasing human demand for seafood. |
| January 2020 Puerto Rico earthquake provides valuable data for ground failure models Posted: 09 Feb 2022 12:49 PM PST Field surveys conducted in the days after the 7 January 2020 Puerto Rico earthquake documented more than 300 landslides and severe liquefaction in southern coastal regions, according to a new study. |
| Rare earth elements await in waste Posted: 09 Feb 2022 12:49 PM PST Scientists applied their flash Joule heating process to coal fly ash and other toxic waste to safely extract rare earth elements essential to modern electronics and green technologies. |
| Unlocking the mechanical secrets of giant Amazonian waterlilies Posted: 09 Feb 2022 12:49 PM PST Researchers studying giant Amazonian waterlilies have unraveled the engineering enigma behind the largest floating leaves in nature. |
| In animal battles, cheaters can win Posted: 08 Feb 2022 04:17 PM PST Animal weapons can be a lot like plastic swords: impressive, but ultimately cheap. Some animals pretend to be bigger than they are by building weapons out of metabolically cheap inert materials, such as chitin and keratin. The prop weapons are also cheaper to maintain. |
| Genomic effects of inbreeding on Scandinavian wolves Posted: 08 Feb 2022 11:33 AM PST Researchers have been exploring the genetic origins of the Scandinavian grey wolf population, which was founded by only three immigrating wolves. The scientists show that, after five generations of inbreeding, between 10 and 25 per cent of the original genetic variation has been eliminated. |
| Artificial intelligence and big data can help preserve wildlife Posted: 08 Feb 2022 07:53 AM PST A team of experts in artificial intelligence and animal ecology have put forth a new, cross-disciplinary approach intended to enhance research on wildlife species and make more effective use of the vast amounts of data now being collected thanks to new technology. |
| Mineral dating reveals new clues about important tectonic process Posted: 08 Feb 2022 07:52 AM PST Ancient rocks on the coast of Oman that were once driven deep down toward Earth's mantle may reveal new insights into subduction, an important tectonic process that fuels volcanoes and creates continents, according to a new study. |
| Posted: 07 Feb 2022 12:56 PM PST A new report is a call to action for policymakers worldwide seeking to develop sustainable and equitable solutions to our most urgent global challenges. 'Ten Facts about Land Systems for Sustainability' was co-authored by 50 leading land use scientists from 20 countries. A companion report offers specific examples to help policymakers and the public understand what's at stake at this critical moment in global development. |
| Drones help solve tropical tree mortality mysteries Posted: 07 Feb 2022 07:01 AM PST Understanding when and where trees die in vast tropical forests is a challenging first step toward understanding carbon dynamics and climate change. Researchers explained variations in tree mortality over a five-year period by analyzing drone images of one of the most-studied tropical forests in the world, Barro Colorado Island in Panama. |
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