Searching for the decay of nature"s rarest isotope: Tantalum-180m
Tantalum is one of the rarest elements and has multiple stable isotopes. The least abundant tantalum isotope, Ta-180 is found naturally in a long-lived excited state, a feature unique to this isotope. In excited states, a nuclei's protons or neutrons.....»»
Apple supporting national parks initiative in China, likely for two reasons
Apple is supporting a national parks initiative in China, geared to providing training and education within the field of nature conservation. The work in five of China’s national parks is being done through the China Green Carbon Sink Foundation.....»»
Right whale population grows 4% but extinction remains a threat
One of the rarest species of whale in the world has increased slightly in population, encouraging conservationists to call on the federal government and the shipping and fishing industries to do more to bring the giant animals back from the brink of.....»»
Observations explore the nature of stellar stream Icarus
Astronomers from Italy and Chile have investigated an accreted stellar stream named Icarus in the Milky Way's disk. Results of the study, detailed in a research paper published October 16 on the preprint server arXiv, yield crucial information regard.....»»
UN biodiversity summit hears appeals for action, money to save nature
The world's biggest nature protection conference opened in Colombia on Monday with calls for urgent action and financing to reverse humankind's rapacious destruction of biodiversity......»»
Physicists uncover universal non-equilibrium quantum dynamics in randomly interacting spin models
A new study has uncovered the universal dynamics far from equilibrium in randomly interacting spin models, thereby complementing the well-established universality in low-energy equilibrium physics. The study, recently published in Nature Physics, was.....»»
On New Jersey"s Burlington Island, human nature has been at odds with nature for 400 years: What"s next?
Beautiful and artificial, the 100-acre lake on Burlington Island embodies the sort of complexities that for centuries have helped make this storied piece of South Jersey real estate alluring, inspiring—and a periodic source of controversy......»»
UN biodiversity summit opens with call for "significant" funding
The world's biggest nature protection conference opens in Colombia Monday with the United Nations chief calling for countries to "convert words into action" and fatten a fund seeking to address biodiversity loss......»»
UN biodiversity conference: what"s at stake?
The world's pledges to halt humankind's destruction of nature will be put to the test when the 16th UN conference on biodiversity opens Monday in Colombia......»»
Worms and snails handle the pressure 2,500m below the Pacific surface
Giant worms found wriggling under the Pacific seabed have unveiled a thriving ecosystem in a fiercely hostile environment, according to a study published by Nature Communications......»»
Tech can help kids connect with nature and go outdoors—here are tips to make it work
Young children's lives are increasingly spent indoors. They have less access to green spaces, their parents are concerned about safety, and there's also the draw of digital entertainment. This shift away from the natural world has been evocatively na.....»»
Scientists identify potential deep-ocean greenhouse gas storage solution
As the planet continues to warm and the ramifications of human-driven climate change continue to amplify, the need to find ways to mitigate climate change is growing. In Nature Communications, University of California, Irvine scientists describe a ne.....»»
Striking photographs document environmental decay on world’s largest lake
Striking photographs document environmental decay on world’s largest lake.....»»
Image-guided computational holographic wavefront shaping: Fast, versatile solutions for complex imaging challenges
A study by researchers from the Institute of Applied Physics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, published in Nature Photonics, presents a new method for non-invasive high-resolution imaging through highly scattering media......»»
First results from the Axion Dark-Matter Birefringent Cavity experiment establish a new technique for axion search
Researchers at MIT recently published the first results of an experiment aimed at searching for axion dark matter by probing the axion-induced birefringence of electromagnetic waves. While these findings, published in Physical Review Letters, did not.....»»
Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer helps researchers determine shape of black hole corona
New findings using data from NASA's IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) mission offer unprecedented insight into the shape and nature of a structure important to black holes called a corona. The findings are published in The Astrophysical Journ.....»»
Forever chemicals found in bottled and tap water from around the world
Researchers found 10 'target' PFAS (perfluoroalkyl substances)—chemicals which do not break down in nature—in tap and bottled water available for consumption in major cities in the UK and China. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane s.....»»
Insulator-to-metal transition achieved in iridate/manganate heterostructures
A research team has successfully achieved an atomically controlled insulator-to-metal transition in iridate/manganate heterostructures. Their findings were recently published in Nature Communications......»»
Wildlife, climate and plastic: how three summits aim to repair a growing rift with nature
By the end of 2024, nearly 200 nations will have met at three conferences to address three problems: biodiversity loss, climate change and plastic pollution......»»
"Nature markets" may help preserve biodiversity—but they risk repeating colonial patterns of Indigenous exploitation
As the latest global biodiversity summit gets underway in Colombia, finance for the conservation and restoration of nature is one of the key themes of negotiations......»»
Few countries have drawn up nature protection plans: UN
Fewer than 15 percent of countries have submitted plans to slow the destruction of nature ahead of a global biodiversity summit in Colombia, according to a count shared by the United Nations Wednesday......»»