Some seafloor microbes can take the heat: Here"s what they eat
It's cold in the depths of the world's oceans; most of the seafloor is at a chilly 4°C. Not so the seafloor of Guaymas Basin in the Gulf of California. Here, tectonic plates drift apart and heat from Earth's interior can rise up—so far up that it.....»»
Indian desert school"s unique design offers respite from heat
In the sweltering heat of India's Thar desert, where summer highs soar above 50 degrees Celsius, an architecturally striking school is an oasis of cool thanks to a combination of age-old techniques and modern design......»»
Mosquitoes sense infrared from body heat to help track humans down, study shows
While a mosquito bite is often no more than a temporary bother, in many parts of the world it can be scary. One mosquito species, Aedes aegypti, spreads the viruses that cause over 100,000,000 cases of dengue, yellow fever, Zika and other diseases ev.....»»
NASA wants clarity on Orion heat shield issue before stacking Artemis II rocket
"We have still a lot of work to do to close out the heat shield investigation." Enlarge / The Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II mission, comprising its crew and service modules, was lifted into a vacuum test chamber at NASA's K.....»»
Modeling study suggests heat-related deaths in Europe could triple by century"s end under current climate policies
Deaths from heat could triple in Europe by 2100 under current climate policies, mostly among people living in southern parts of the continent, according to a study published in The Lancet Public Health journal......»»
Study tracks decades of extreme heat, cold in Upper Midwest
Researchers analyzed meteorological data from nine Upper Midwest states from 1979–2021, tracking trends in extreme heat and cold over every 4-kilometer square of that territory. They found striking regional differences in the extremes. Many parts o.....»»
Ancient microbes linked to evolution of human immune proteins
When you become infected with a virus, some of the first weapons your body deploys to fight it are those passed down to us from our microbial ancestors billions of years ago. According to new research from The University of Texas at Austin, two key e.....»»
The underrated impact of humidity in predicting heat-related deaths
Governments, medical institutions and other bodies require accurate models on health-related matters in order to better organize their activities......»»
Bacteria make thermally stable plastics similar to polystyrene and PET for the first time
Bioengineers around the world have been working to create plastic-producing microbes that could replace the petroleum-based plastics industry. Now, researchers from Korea have overcome a major hurdle: getting bacteria to produce polymers that contain.....»»
Study finds "DNA scavengers" can stop some antibiotic resistance from spreading
For nearly a century, scientists have waged war on antibiotic-resistant microbes. Michigan State University researchers say they've found a new way to prevent it—by unleashing "DNA scavengers" in wastewater treatment plants......»»
Quenching the intense heat of a fusion plasma may require a well-placed liquid metal evaporator
Inside the next generation of fusion vessels known as spherical tokamaks, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) envisioned a hot region with flowing liquid metal that is reminiscent of a subterranean.....»»
Chalk-based coating creates a cooling fabric
In the scorching heat of summer, anyone who spends time outside—athletes, landscapers, kids at the park or beachgoers—could benefit from a cooling fabric. While there are some textiles that reflect the sun's rays or transfer heat away from the bo.....»»
Ancient civilizations had ways to counter the urban heat island effect—how history"s lessons apply to cities today
As intense heat breaks records around the world, a little-reported fact offers some hope for cooling down cities: Under even the most intense periods of extreme heat, some city blocks never experience heat wave temperatures......»»
Mining the microbiome: Uncovering new antibiotics inside the human gut
The average human gut contains roughly 100 trillion microbes, many of which are constantly competing for limited resources. "It's such a harsh environment," says César de la Fuente, Presidential Assistant Professor in Bioengineering and in Chemical.....»»
The Run of Record-Breaking Heat Has Ended, for Now
Air temperatures in July 2024 were fractionally cooler than in July 2023, probably because of a waning El Niño. But don’t expect things to be much cooler in coming years......»»
During a heat wave, temperatures not the only threat: expert
Spain has just emerged from a 21-day heat wave that engulfed Madrid, Barcelona and Zaragoza, posing a health threat which extends far beyond the actual temperature, according to Julio Diaz, a researcher at Madrid's Carlos III Health Institute......»»
Seoul residents sweating with record "tropical nights" weather
Residents of South Korea's capital are resorting to novel ways to beat the heat as a century-old weather record fell Friday following a 26th "tropical night" in a row—when the temperature stays above 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit)......»»
Scientists spot girls-only shark slumber party in Bass Strait"s Beagle Marine Park
Scientists on a return journey to Beagle Marine Park in central Bass Strait have spotted thousands of sleepy Port Jackson sharks blanketing the seafloor......»»
Revealing the mysteries within microbial genomes with a new high-throughput approach
A new technique developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) will make it much easier for researchers to discover the traits or activities encoded by genes of unknown function in microbes, a key step toward understanding the role.....»»
Extreme heat exposure on the rise for millions of kids: UN
Nearly half a billion children are facing twice as many days of extreme heat each year—or more—than their grandparents did, the UN said Tuesday, warning of deadly consequences......»»
Mediterranean Sea temperatures match 2023 records
The temperatures of the Mediterranean Sea in recent days have reached heat records set last summer, the main Spanish maritime research center told AFP Tuesday, with marine heat waves in some places exceeding 30 degrees Celsius......»»