How heat treatment affects a milk alternative made from rice and coconut water
Whether they're made from soybeans, almonds, oats, or just sourced straight from the cow, milk products must go through heat treatment to prevent harmful bacterial growth and keep them safe. But understanding how these processes affect new, plant-bas.....»»
Airborne microplastics aid in cloud formation
It turns out microplastics have an effect on the weather and climate. Clouds form when water vapor—an invisible gas in the atmosphere—sticks to tiny floating particles, such.....»»
Record drought in Amazon impacts 420,000 children: UNICEF
More than 420,000 children in the Amazon basin are being badly affected by a drought parching much of South America that is impacting water supplies and river transport, UNICEF said Wednesday......»»
The natural environment is declining—are companies doing their part to save it?
The natural environment across the globe is deteriorating, leading to crises like climate change, biodiversity loss, and water scarcity. Companies and industries play a major role in this decline, and they are expected to take responsibility for thei.....»»
Mercury Weather can now provide notifications for rain and snow
Mercury Weather is a cool indie app that works as an alternative to Apple’s Weather app. Following an update in August that added new features to the app, there’s now another update available – and this one provides notifications about weather.....»»
Examining how stellar threats impact the habitable zone of exoplanets
When we think of exoplanets that may be able to support life, we home in on the habitable zone. A habitable zone is a region around a star where planets receive enough stellar energy to have liquid surface water. It's a somewhat crude but helpful fir.....»»
Pathogens that cling to microplastics may survive wastewater treatment
Wastewater treatment fails to kill several human pathogens when they hide out on microplastics in the water, reports a study led by Ingun Lund Witsø of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, published November 6, 2024 in the open-access journal.....»»
New PFAS testing method could make water testing more affordable, portable and accessible
University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers have discovered a new way to detect per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water. This marks an important step forward in creating testing devices that are simpler, more cost-effective, faster an.....»»
Making "stressed" potatoes more climate-resilient
Heat, dry spells and flooding—the whole of nature is under stress, and potatoes are no exception. As a food staple, there is particular interest in getting potatoes fit for the new climate reality. As part of the EU's four-year ADAPT project, an in.....»»
Food security in Africa: Managing water will be vital in a rapidly growing region
Sub-Saharan Africa's population is growing at 2.7% per year and is expected to reach two billion by the year 2050. The region's urban population is growing even faster: it was at 533 million in 2023, a 3.85% increase from 2022......»»
Genetic repair via CRISPR can inadvertently introduce other defects, researchers show
The CRISPR molecular scissors have the potential to revolutionize the treatment of genetic diseases. This is because they can be used to correct specific defective sections of the genome. Unfortunately, however, there is a catch: under certain condit.....»»
New research reveals how stormy conditions affect albatrosses" ability to feed
Albatrosses are exceptionally mobile and use the wind to travel hundreds of thousands of miles to feed on squid, fish, or other animals found near the water surface in the open ocean. In fact, some larger species of albatrosses are so reliant on the.....»»
Kia says its new EV camper concept is the “ideal escape pod”
Kia has given an electric SUV and an EV van the off-road treatment. Whenever we write about electric vans, the comments reveal a growing but pent-up demand for a camper version. W.....»»
Water overuse in Brazil"s MATOPIBA region could mean failure to meet up to 40% of local demand for crop irrigation
Considered one of the fastest-growing agricultural frontiers in Brazil, and the area with the highest greenhouse gas emissions in the Cerrado, Brazil's savanna-type biome, the region known as MATOPIBA, risks facing water shortages in the years ahead......»»
Scientists find key to engineering water-responsive biopolymers
Scientists at the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) have developed a novel approach to better understand and predict the behaviors of water-responsive materials—solid matter that can change shape by absorbing.....»»
Sustainable hydrophobic cellulose shows potential for replacing petroleum-related products
A recent study has aimed to create hydrophobic paper by exploiting the mechanical properties and water resistance of cellulose nanofibers, and so produce a sustainable, high-performance material suitable for packaging and biomedical devices. This inv.....»»
Helping the most vulnerable stay cool in extreme heat
The health effects of heat waves hit some communities harder than others. People with preexisting health conditions, as well as those who have low income or are physically or socially isolated, very old or very young, from racial or ethnic minority g.....»»
Scientists have figured out why Martian soil is so crusty
On November 26, 2018, NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport (InSight) mission landed on Mars. This was a major milestone in Mars exploration since it was the first time a research station had been deplo.....»»
Spraying rice with zinc oxide nanoparticles protects yields during heat waves, study finds
A small team of horticulturists in China and the U.S. has found that spraying rice plants with a zinc oxide nanoparticle solution helps them better handle the stress of a heat wave. In their study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of.....»»
How many trees does it take to cool a city? Researchers develop tool to set urban tree canopy goals
Cities around the globe are increasingly experiencing dangerous heat as urban concrete and asphalt amplify rising temperatures. Tree-planting programs are a popular, nature-based way to cool cities, but these initiatives have been largely based on gu.....»»
Svalbard Global Seed Vault evokes epic imagery and controversy because of the symbolic value of seeds
Two-thirds of the world's food comes today from just nine plants: sugar cane, maize (corn), rice, wheat, potatoes, soybeans, oil-palm fruit, sugar beet and cassava. In the past, farmers grew tens of thousands of crop varieties around the world. This.....»»