ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News

Sightings of more than 1 million marine mammals in the federally protected Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument and sites along the Atlantic Coast have been used to identify areas of high marine mammal diversity. These findings underscore the importance of ocean conservation as these waters face increasing impacts from human activities.

Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists are using artificial intelligence to set a new world record for producing algae as a reliable, economic source for biofuel that can be used as an alternative fuel source for jet aircraft and other transportation needs.

Researchers found upstream forests' increased water consumption during droughts could leave less water downstream for forests, cities and wildlife during drought.

Major automotive manufacturers are ramping up production of electric trucks as a key strategy to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of their vehicles.

The Popocatépetl volcano, located southeast of Mexico City, stands as the second highest peak in Mexico and is considered to be one of the potentially most dangerous volcanoes in the world, given its record of highly explosive eruptions over the last 23,000 years.

Many semiconducting materials are possible candidates for solar cells. In recent years, perovskite semiconductors in particular have attracted attention, as they are both inexpensive and easy to process and enable high efficiencies. Now a new study shows how terahertz (TRTS) and microwave spectroscopy (TRMC) can be used to reliably determine the mobility and lifetime of the charge carriers in new semiconducting materials. Using these measurement data it is possible to predict the potential efficiency of the solar cell in advance and to classify the losses in the finished cell.

Researchers have succeeded in identifying a technique that makes cadmium, selenium and telluride (CdSeTe) solar cells more efficient than silicon cells.

In recent years, shared electric scooters (e-scooters) have taken cities by storm. But how are people using this new mode of transportation? A new study has some interesting data to share on e-scooter users. Self-reported safety behaviors didn't always match with observations: the reported use of helmets (13% while riding) far outweighed researchers' observations in Salt Lake City (2% of riders) or Tucson (2% of riders).

Next generation triple-pane windows provide builders with lower cost options and help homeowners conserve energy, reduce noise, and lower home energy bills.

Analysis of climate models finds aerosols from air pollution were far more important in influencing the Eurasian summer jet stream, which shapes Northern Hemisphere weather, than previously thought. It counters the previous suggestion that greenhouse gas-forced Arctic warming was the main driver of the weakening of the jet stream. This is the first time that aerosols have been shown so clearly to affect such an important feature of the large-scale atmospheric circulation, which influences strength of storms and wet and dry weather in different regions.

Examining the spines of Neanderthals, an extinct human relative, may explain back-related ailments experienced by humans today, a team of anthropologists has concluded in a new comparative study.

An atom-thick sheet of graphene is the basis of a new, penny-sized sensor that can quickly and efficiently detect and measure opioid byproducts in wastewater, researchers report.