Canadians are unprepared for natural hazards. Here"s what we can do about it
Over the last year, Canada has made important progress toward making it easier for people to determine if they're at risk from natural hazard disasters. But many people across the country still lack awareness about the risks they face and the steps t.....»»
On tropical coasts, hermit crabs are now making their homes in plastic waste
Terrestrial hermit crabs are soft-bodied crustaceans that live near water in the world's tropical areas. Without any natural protection of their own, these crabs normally find shelter in discarded mollusk shells. But a number of terrestrial hermit cr.....»»
Scientists Just Discovered a New Type of Magnetism
In an atomically thin stack of semiconductors, a mechanism unseen in any natural substance causes electrons’ spins to align......»»
Climate crisis prompts Biden to halt new gas export facilities
The United States, which ships more liquefied natural gas (LNG) than any other country, is hitting pause on new export facilities, the Biden administration announced Friday in a step hailed as vital to tackling the climate crisis......»»
Bioinspired hydrogel pattern enhances atmospheric water harvesting via directional droplet steering
The water in the air originates from both natural and forced evaporation, with condensation being the final and crucial step in water harvesting. Condensation involves nucleation, growth, and shedding of water droplets, which are then collected......»»
Water self-purification achieved via electron donation: Novel catalyst enables sustainable wastewater treatment
Emerging contaminants (ECs) in natural water bodies, including endocrine disruptors, pharmaceuticals, and synthetic dyes, pose a grave threat to public water safety. Current wastewater treatment technologies, while somewhat effective, fall short of e.....»»
New research provides a clearer picture of severe hydro hazards
Over the last two decades an estimated three billion people have been affected by water-related natural disasters such as droughts and floods. Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of these hydro hazards, with some prognosticators esti.....»»
Advancement of AI: Machine Learning Examples in Real Life
User personalization or natural language processing (NLP) are all examples of machine learning (ML). We’ve already got used to a big number of applications that help us in our daily lives. Think of Siri on your phone or Netflix on your TV, recommen.....»»
Novel camera system lets us see the world through eyes of birds and bees
It captures natural animal-view moving images with over 90 percent accuracy. A new camera system and software package allows researchers and filmmakers to capture animal-view videos. Credit: Vasas et al., 2024. Who among us hasn't w.....»»
Open-source camera and software system captures animal-view videos with more than 90% accuracy
A new camera system allows ecologists and filmmakers to produce videos that accurately replicate the colors that different animals see in natural settings, Vera Vasas at the University of Sussex, UK, and colleagues from the Hanley Color Lab at George.....»»
Despite the climate crisis, Scotland is burning as much carbon-rich peatland as it did in the 1980s
Hillsides splashed with purple heather are a symbol of Scotland and its natural beauty. But these picturesque moorlands are actually maintained by people—a practice that is coming under intense scrutiny as the climate crisis escalates......»»
Gulls swap natural for urban habitats, machine-learning study finds
A recent study published in Ecological Informatics by a team of University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers has used artificial intelligence to further illuminate a habitat swap among short-billed gulls......»»
New methods show promise for boosting rubber production in US
With disease and high demand posing threats to the world's primary natural rubber supply in Southeast Asia, scientists are working to ramp up the U.S. rubber market by advancing methods to extract latex from two sustainable North American plant sourc.....»»
Young Black men in Canada face racism, ageism and classism when looking for work
Youth employment in Canada continues to be a concern. Young people between the ages of 15 and 30 are less likely to find and sustain employment compared to an older population of Canadians......»»
2024 brings new risks, with cyber incidents in the spotlight
Cyber incidents such as ransomware attacks, data breaches, and IT disruptions are the biggest worry for companies globally in 2024, according to Allianz. The closely interlinked peril of business interruption ranks second. Natural catastrophes (up fr.....»»
Researchers develop new plant-derived urease inhibitor to improve fertilizer performance
Researchers from the Institute of Applied Ecology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a new plant-based inhibitor that can improve the efficiency and stability of fertilizers. The inhibitor, derived from natural plants, can slow down th.....»»
Researchers observe tiny pseudoscorpion riding on a scorpion
A recent study led by Yoram Zvik, Dr. Sharon Warburg and Dr. Efrat Gavish-Regev from the National Natural History Collections at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem documented the first observation of phoresy involving a myrmecophile pseudoscorpion on.....»»
Prescribed burning could be making Aussie forests more flammable
Disturbing natural forests with activities such as logging and prescribed burning can make them more flammable, research from The Australian National University (ANU) and Curtin University has found. The research is published in the journal Biologica.....»»
A nature-based solution to restore and adapt western US dry forests to climate change
Nature effectively "managed" forests through millennia of major climate changes and episodes of natural disturbances (e.g., wildfires, droughts, bark-beetle outbreaks), so why would nature not now be best able to restore and adapt forests to climate.....»»
Scientists, farmers, managers work together to avoid the decline of the little bustard
Collaboration between scientists, farmers and managers is crucial to improve the protection of the little bustard, an steppe-land bird in Spain endangered due to human activity. The reduction of natural habitats, the increase in irrigation and the ur.....»»
Snow-capped mountains at risk from climate change
Humans store water in huge metal towers and deep concrete reservoirs. But nature's water storage is much more scenic—the snowpack that tops majestic mountains. Even if we don't realize it, humans rely on those natural water towers just as much if n.....»»