Shock waves in outflow gases could regulate "volcano lightning"
Volcanic eruptions spew lava, rock and ash into the air. When fragments of these materials mix and collide in the outflow, they can create an electric potential large enough to generate lightning......»»
Heat waves and droughts cause billions of dollars in global economic losses, research finds
Severe weather costs the global economy billions of dollars a year, highlighting the costs of climate change and the value of mitigating extreme weather, according to a new analysis of weather and economic data......»»
Optoelectronic diamond device reveals an unexpected phenomenon reminiscent of lightning in slow motion
Diamond is in many ways the ultimate material. Besides its enduring aesthetic value, diamond is also a highly versatile industrial material. While its claim as the hardest substance known to science has been usurped by ultra-rare minerals and newly d.....»»
Massive underwater eruption may preview deep-sea mining destruction
Scientists are exploring the underwater aftermath of the 2022 Hunga eruption. Enlarge / Following the 2022 Hunga volcano eruption, a nearby hydrothermal vent was seen coated with a white mat of bacteria and surrounded by a thick.....»»
Grenfell victims were "overcome by toxic gases" after construction loophole
Governments have a duty to protect their citizens. While they won't go as far as telling us what we can and cannot put in our homes, we do expect them to ensure that the buildings we live in are safe from fire......»»
How gravitational waves could help detect Star Trek-style warp drive spaceships
How much do we really know about what else is out there in the universe?.....»»
Beef industry can reduce emissions by up to 30%, says new research
Greenhouse gases resulting from human activity have been the largest driver of climate change since the mid-20th century—especially from agriculture. The U.S. beef industry alone is responsible for 3.3% of the nation's total emissions, and even wit.....»»
Scientists demonstrate giant THz Kerr effect via stimulated phonon polaritons
Terahertz (THz) waves and THz technologies have gradually opened a new style for communications, cloud-based storage/computing, information contest, and medical tools. With the advancement of THz technologies, studies on THz nonlinear optics have eme.....»»
Seismic echoes reveal a mysterious "donut" inside Earth"s core
About 2,890 kilometers beneath our feet lies a gigantic ball of liquid metal: our planet's core. Scientists like me use the seismic waves created by earthquakes as a kind of ultrasound to "see" the shape and structure of the core......»»
Twenty-six states may soon need to regulate cannabis—here"s what they can learn from Colorado and Washington
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has made moves to reclassify marijuana, making it a type of legal but regulated medicine, like Tylenol with codeine or some steroids......»»
Cells use alternative splicing to regulate gene expression, research suggests
Alternative splicing is a genetic process where different segments of genes are removed, and the remaining pieces are joined together during transcription to messenger RNA (mRNA). This mechanism increases the diversity of proteins that can be generat.....»»
Data from space probes show that Alfvén waves drive the acceleration and heating of the solar wind
By studying data from NASA's Parker Solar Probe and the ESA Solar Orbiter, an international team of astrophysicists has found that Alfvén waves drive the acceleration and heating of the solar wind......»»
Catalytic process vaporizes plastic bags and bottles, yielding gases to make new, recycled plastics
A new chemical process can essentially vaporize plastics that dominate the waste stream today and turn them into hydrocarbon building blocks for new plastics......»»
Air conditioning poses a climate conundrum
This week, much of the US is suffering from yet another heat wave. So far this year, 15 countries have set records for high heat. Last July, the average global temperature, factoring in heat waves in multiple regions around the world, was likely the.....»»
A chloroplast-mimicking nanoreactor for enhanced CO₂ electrocatalysis
Chloroplast, which is a double-membrane-bounded organelle, is the main site for CO2 fixation via photosynthesis in green plants. The double-membrane configuration can regulate the transport of substances into and out of the chloroplasts with the aid.....»»
Arctic heat waves linked to sea ice loss, new study reveals
Amid global warming, heat waves are striking even the Arctic, a region once considered immune to such extreme weather events. Recent research reveals that these heat waves, particularly in the Barents-Kara Sea (BKS) during the boreal autumn, are not.....»»
Study finds flexibility and helical twists of actin filaments regulate actin-binding proteins
Researchers at Kanazawa University have published an article in eLife deciphering the actin structure-dependent preferential cooperative binding of cofilin......»»
Climate change feedbacks lead to surge in natural methane emissions
Attempts to cut greenhouse gases made tougher by increased emissions. Enlarge / A view of the Pantanal wetlands in Brazil. New research shows a large chunk of global methane emissions are from rotting vegetation in tropical wetla.....»»
Moths may use disco gene to regulate day/night cycles
How does one species become two? If you're a biologist, that's a loaded question. The consensus is that, in most cases, the process of speciation occurs when individuals from a single population become geographically isolated. If they remain separate.....»»
Authors propose multi-method framework for climate event attribution
At the two most recent meetings of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, delegates agreed to establish a fund to help developing nations suffering loss and damage due to events linked to climate change, such as floods, heat waves.....»»
"Alarming" rise in deadly lightning strikes in India: scientists
Climate change is fueling an alarming increase in deadly lightning strikes in India, killing nearly 1,900 people a year in the world's most populous country, scientists warn......»»