ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

AI system-on-chip runs on solar power

Posted: 17 Jun 2021 05:27 AM PDT

Engineers have developed an integrated circuit that can carry out complicated artificial-intelligence operations like face, voice and gesture recognition and cardiac monitoring. Powered by either a tiny battery or a solar panel, it processes data at the edge and can be configured for use in just about any type of application.

Public concern on human health impact of plastic pollution

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 07:06 PM PDT

The new study found that both Europeans and Australians were highly concerned about the human health impact of marine plastic pollution, ranking it top of 16 marine-related threats in terms of cause for concern, including chemical or oil spills, marine biodiversity loss and climate change related effects such as sea-level rise and ocean acidification.

Children with asymptomatic malaria a 'hidden risk' to disease control efforts

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 04:15 PM PDT

The role of people infected with malaria without showing symptoms presents a hidden risk to efforts to control the disease after they were found to be responsible for most infections in mosquitoes, according to a new study.

Seabird eggs contaminated with cocktail of plastic additives

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 04:15 PM PDT

Chemical additives used in plastic production have been found in herring gull eggs, new research shows.

Social secrets of killer whales discovered using drones

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 04:15 PM PDT

Killer whales have complex social structures including close 'friendships', according to a new study that used drones to film the animals.

New beetle species discovered and named after iconic sci-fi heroines

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 04:15 PM PDT

Entomologists have discovered more than three dozen species of ambrosia beetles -- beetles that eat ambrosia fungus -- previously unknown to science.

Underwater robot offers new insight into mid-ocean 'twilight zone'

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 04:15 PM PDT

An innovative underwater robot known as Mesobot is providing researchers with deeper insight into the vast mid-ocean region known as the 'twilight zone.' Capable of tracking and recording high-resolution images of slow-moving and fragile zooplankton, gelatinous animals, and particles, Mesobot greatly expands scientists' ability to observe creatures in their mesopelagic habitat with minimal disturbance.

Bats in Switzerland harbor diverse viruses, some potentially zoonotic

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 12:42 PM PDT

An analysis of 18 species of stationary and migratory bats living in Switzerland has discovered that they harbor viruses from 39 different viral families -- including some viruses with the potential risk of jumping to other animals, including humans, and causing disease.

Exploring the shallow underground world with a burrowing soft robot

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 12:42 PM PDT

We've seen robots take to the air, dive beneath the waves and perform all sorts of maneuvers on land. Now, researchers are exploring a new frontier: the ground beneath our feet. Taking their cues from plants and animals that have evolved to navigate subterranean spaces, they've developed a fast, controllable soft robot that can burrow through sand.

Several persistent chemicals found in fetal organs

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 11:32 AM PDT

Researchers found industrial chemicals in the organs of fetuses conceived decades after many countries had banned the substances. The researchers urge decision makers to consider the combined impact of the mix of chemicals that accumulate in people and nature.

Icebergs drifting from Canada to southern Florida

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 11:32 AM PDT

Climate modelers have found evidence that massive icebergs from roughly 31,000 years ago drifted more than 5,000km (> 3,000 miles) along the eastern United States coast from Northeast Canada all the way to southern Florida.

Yeast mating -- more than meets the eye

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 11:32 AM PDT

Researchers have discovered a surprising asymmetry in the mating behavior of unicellular yeast that emerges solely from molecular differences in pheromone signaling. Their results might shed new light on the evolutionary origins of sexual dimorphism in higher eukaryotes.

New super-resolution microscopy method approaches the atomic scale

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 11:32 AM PDT

Scientists have developed a computational technique that greatly increases the resolution of atomic force microscopy, a specialized type of microscope that 'feels' the atoms at a surface. The method reveals atomic-level details on proteins and other biological structures under normal physiological conditions, opening a new window on cell biology, virology and other microscopic processes.

Machine learning can now reduce worry about nanoparticles in food

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 11:31 AM PDT

While crop yield has achieved a substantial boost from nanotechnology in recent years, the alarms over the health risks posed by nanoparticles within fresh produce and grains have also increased. In particular, nanoparticles entering the soil through irrigation, fertilizers and other sources have raised concerns about whether plants absorb these minute particles enough to cause toxicity.

Light in darkness: An experimental look at Paleolithic cave lighting

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 11:30 AM PDT

A recreation of three common types of Paleolithic lighting systems (torches, grease lamps, and fireplaces) illuminates how Paleolithic cave dwellers might have traveled, lived, and created in the depths of their caves, according to a new study.

Damage control: Plants juggle genome maintenance and growth by being organized

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 11:30 AM PDT

Researchers have found that plants balance growth and genome maintenance by organizing their responses to damage. Plants can't replace dead cells as animals do, and must deal with DNA damage without halting growth. Combined control of the plant hormones cytokinin and auxin allows plants to organize different DNA damage responses while minimizing cell death. This study will have broad applications to research on plants and other organisms.

Developing countries pay steep economic and health costs because of high car air pollution

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 08:38 AM PDT

Some of the world's most vulnerable cities suffer disproportionate economic losses because of the health consequences of in-car air pollution, finds a new study.

Most rivers run dry -- now and then

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 08:38 AM PDT

A new study found that between 51-60% of the 64 million kilometres of rivers and streams on Earth that they investigated stop flowing periodically, or run dry for part of the year. It is the first-ever empirically grounded effort to quantify the global distribution of non-perennial rivers and streams. The research, which was published today in Nature, calls for a paradigm shift in river science and management.

Ten years of ancient genome analysis has taught scientists 'what it means to be human'

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 08:38 AM PDT

A ball of 4,000-year-old hair frozen in time tangled around a whalebone comb led to the first ever reconstruction of an ancient human genome a decade ago. The hair, which was preserved in arctic permafrost in Greenland, was collected in the 1980s. It wasn't until 2010 that evolutionary biologists were able to use pioneering shotgun DNA sequencing to reconstruct the genetic history of the hair. It sparked a 'decade of discovery.'

Link found between gut microbes and stroke

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 08:38 AM PDT

New findings show that the gut microbiome impacts stroke severity and functional impairment following stroke. The results lay the groundwork for potential new interventions to help treat or prevent stroke.

Poison frog tadpoles can survive (almost) anywhere

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 08:38 AM PDT

A group of researchers were part of an expedition to French Guiana to study tropical frogs in the Amazon. Various amphibian species of this region use ephemeral pools of water as their nurseries, and display unique preferences for specific physical and chemical characteristics. Researchers were surprised to find tadpoles of the dyeing poison frog surviving in an incredible range of both chemical (pH 3-8) and vertical (0-20 m in height) deposition sites.

Measuring the elimination of plastic particles from the body in mice

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 08:38 AM PDT

The accumulation of micro- and nanoplastics in the environment continues at an alarming rate. A radiolabeling technique made it possible to monitor the movement and accumulation of plastics in the mouse body, as well as their elimination from it.

How long-known genes continue to surprise researchers

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 08:38 AM PDT

Proteins are encoded by genes - however, this information is divided into small coding sections, which are only assembled during a process called splicing. Various combinations are possible, some of which are still unknown.

Bacteria used to clean diesel-polluted soil in Greenland

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 08:37 AM PDT

Diesel-polluted soil from now defunct military outposts in Greenland can be remediated using naturally occurring soil bacteria according to an extensive five-year experiment in Mestersvig, East Greenland.

New study finds fresh evidence for our inevitable death

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 06:41 AM PDT

Philosophers, artists and scientists - and probably all the rest of us - have long obsessed over the key to human immortality. We all, no matter our income, culture or religion are bound to die. Even if we escape mortal diseases or accidents, we all face a deadly biological deterioration. While the debate of human longevity has divided the scientific community for centuries, a new study finds fresh evidence for our inevitable death.

Keeping strawberries fresh using bioactive packaging

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 06:41 AM PDT

Québec produces more strawberries than any other Canadian province. Strawberries are delicate and difficult to keep fresh. In response to this challenge, researchers have developed a packaging film that can keep strawberries fresh for up to 12 days.

Compounds derived from hops show promise as treatment for common liver disease

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 06:41 AM PDT

Research suggests a pair of compounds originating from hops can help thwart a dangerous buildup of fat in the liver known as hepatic steatosis.

Investigating carbonate mineral chemical variations to improve oil recovery

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 06:41 AM PDT

A researcher has firsthand experience with the frustrations of oil production. He spent nine years as a hydraulic fracturing engineer with operating and service companies. A few years ago, he started delving into a recurring recovery problem in carbonate reservoirs: why don't they produce oil as predicted?

Balanced rocks set design ground motion values for New Zealand dam

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 06:41 AM PDT

Researchers have used precariously-balanced rocks to set the formal design earthquake motions for a major existing engineered structure -- the Clyde Dam, the largest concrete dam in New Zealand.

At underwater site, research team finds 9,000-year-old stone artifacts

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 06:41 AM PDT

Underwater archaeologists have been studying 9,000-year-old stone tool artifacts discovered in Lake Huron that originated from an obsidian quarry more than 2,000 miles away in central Oregon. The obsidian flakes from the underwater archaeological site represent the oldest and farthest east confirmed specimens of western obsidian ever found in the continental United States.

Ozone pollution has increased in Antarctica

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 06:40 AM PDT

Ozone is a pollutant at ground level, but very high in the atmosphere's 'ozone layer,' it absorbs damaging ultraviolet radiation. Past studies have examined ozone levels in the Southern Hemisphere, but little is known about levels of the molecule in Antarctica over long periods. Now, researchers have analyzed more than 25 years of Antarctic data, finding that concentrations near the ground arose from both natural and human-related sources.

Urbanization drives antibiotic resistance on microplastics in Chinese river

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 06:40 AM PDT

Microplastic pollution of waterways has become a huge concern, with the tiny pieces of plastic entering food webs and potentially having harmful effects on animals and people. In addition, microplastics can act as breeding grounds for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Now, researchers have analyzed antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) on five types of microplastics at different locations along the Beilun River in China, finding much higher abundances in urban than rural regions.

Fossil research shows woodlice cousins roamed Ireland 360 million years ago

Posted: 16 Jun 2021 06:38 AM PDT

The old cousins of the common woodlice were crawling on Irish land as long as 360 million years ago, according to new analysis of a fossil found in Kilkenny, Ireland.

Climate change: The long view

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 11:56 AM PDT

What will the Earth be like for our children and grandchildren, as temperatures continue to rise? We can be fairly certain of some things: Some regions will become inhospitable, as heat drives their inhabitants away or causes massive declines and changes in their ecosystems. Many other physical, chemical and biological processes will also be affected by rising temperatures that threaten critical ecosystem services such as food production, biodiversity and energy security.

Hippos and anthrax

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:23 AM PDT

Hippopotamus aren't the first thing that come to mind when considering epidemiology and disease ecology. And yet these amphibious megafauna offered ecologists a window into the progression of an anthrax outbreak that struck Ruaha National Park, Tanzania, in the dry season of 2017.