ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News

Scientists discover the enzymes responsible for the production of one of the most toxic and fast-acting neurotoxins associated with freshwater harmful algal blooms in lakes and ponds. The discovery revealed that guanitoxin-producing cyanobacteria are more prevalent than originally known in the United States, opening the possibility for new molecular diagnostic testing to better inform and protect the public from this natural freshwater toxin.

Once dubbed 'forever chemicals,' per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, might be in the market for a new nickname. Adding iodide to a water treatment reactor that uses ultraviolet (UV) light and sulfite destroys up to 90% of carbon-fluorine atoms in PFAS forever chemicals in just a few hours, reports a new study led by environmental engineers. The addition of iodide accelerates the speed of the reaction up to four times, saving energy and chemicals.

Biologists say nighttime light pollution can interfere with the remarkable navigational abilities of monarchs, which travel as far as Canada to Mexico and back during their multi-generational migration. Researchers found that butterflies roosting at night near artificial illumination such as a porch or streetlight can become disoriented the next day because the light interferes with their circadian rhythms. Artificial light can impede the molecular processes responsible for the butterfly's remarkable navigational ability and trigger the butterfly to take wing when it should be resting.

Most research looking at the impact of climate change on human life has focused on how extreme weather events affect economic and societal health outcomes on a broad scale. Yet climate change may also have a strong influence on fundamental daily human activities -- including a host of behavioral, psychological, and physiological outcomes that are essential to wellbeing. Investigators now report that increasing ambient temperatures negatively impact human sleep around the globe.

Some metals are in liquid form, the prime example being mercury. But there are also enormous quantities of liquid metal in the Earth's core, where temperatures are so high that part of the iron is molten and undergoes complex flows. A team has now simulated a similar process in the laboratory and made a surprising discovery: Under certain circumstances, the flow of liquid metal is far more turbulent than expected -- and this has a significant impact on heat transport.

Coral reef fish breed more successfully if motorboat noise is reduced, new research shows.

Study of ancient faeces found at a settlement thought to have housed builders of the famous stone monument suggests that parasites got consumed via badly-cooked cow offal during epic winter feasts.