ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News

As the demand for home deliveries from online purchases continues to increase, researchers recently published research showing that some -- but not all -- consumers will accept going to alternate delivery locations to get their packages rather than having them delivered directly to their front door.

Producing low-cost metal-oxide thin films with high electronic quality for solar water splitting is not an easy task. Especially since quality improvements of the upper metal oxide thin films need thermal processing at high temperatures, which would melt the underlying glass substrate. Now, a team has solved this dilemma: A high intensity and rapid light pulse directly heats the semiconducting metal-oxide thin film, allowing it to reach the optimal temperature without damaging the substrate.

Despite Detroit's reputation as a mecca for urban agriculture, a new analysis of the city's Lower Eastside, which covers 15 square miles, found that community and private gardens occupy less than 1% of the vacant land.

Spotted hyenas adjust to a decreased presence of migratory prey in their territories induced by climate change. Researchers investigated the relationship between rainfall volume and migratory herbivore presence in hyena clan territories in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, and the responses of lactating hyenas to recent changes in the climate-prey relationship.

Researchers have found brown trout better survived a Flavobacterium disease outbreak if the fish had larvae of freshwater pearl mussel in their gills. In another study, duck mussels were observed to filter and remove Flavobacterium from the water.

The western United States this century is facing a greatly heightened risk of heavy rains inundating areas recently scarred by wildfires, new research warns. Such events can cause significant destruction, including debris flows, mudslides, and flash floods, because the denuded landscape cannot easily contain the drenching moisture.

Reports of tree canopy coverage dwindling across city suburbs raise pressure on local government and other authorities' efforts to improve the health of urban street trees. New research has found stormwater interception and infiltration that allows water to soak into tree root zones is proving effective for a shady tree canopy in concrete urban environments where extreme heat occurs regularly.