Study: Warm water "blob" put whales on collision course with crab-fishing lines
If you lived on the West Coast anytime in the past several years, you may remember news of "the Blob"—not a horror movie monster but a mass of warm water that resulted from a marine heat wave in 2014 and 2015. A new publication led by a San Francis.....»»
Electricity-driven catalyst offers climate-neutral methane production
Researchers at the University of Bonn and University of Montreal have developed a new type of catalyst and used it in their study to produce methane out of carbon dioxide and water in a highly efficient way using electricity. Methane can be used, for.....»»
Addressing climate change and inequality: A win-win policy solution
Climate change and economic inequality are deeply interconnected, with the potential to exacerbate each other if left unchecked. A study published in Nature Climate Change sheds light on this critical relationship using data from eight large-scale In.....»»
Research reveals how media coverage helped successfully mitigate forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon
A new study from the University of California San Diego's School of Global Policy and Strategy reveals that public outcry can lead to significant environmental action, even when public administrations are openly hostile to environmental priorities......»»
Study suggests statistical "noise" affects perceived evolutionary rates
For decades, researchers have observed that rates of evolution seem to accelerate over short time periods—say five million years versus fifty million years. This broad pattern has suggested that "younger" groups of organisms, in evolutionary terms,.....»»
Qualitative study examines how ordinary people "sense" water quality
Seeing—and tasting—is believing: A qualitative study of communities living along the Philippines' bustling Marikina River underscores the importance of taking into account local peoples' everyday experiences, practices, and perceptions in establi.....»»
Scientists develop novel method for strengthening PVC products
Researchers have developed a way to make one type of plastic material more durable and less likely to shed dangerous microplastics. Their study has identified a secure way to attach chemical additives to polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The work is publishe.....»»
Liquefied natural gas carbon footprint is worse than coal, study finds
Liquified natural gas leaves a greenhouse gas footprint that is 33% worse than coal, when processing and shipping are taken into account, according to a new Cornell study......»»
The true global impact of species-loss caused by humans is far greater than expected, study reveals
The extinction of hundreds of bird species caused by humans over the last 130,000 years has led to substantial reductions in avian functional diversity—a measure of the range of different roles and functions that birds undertake within the environm.....»»
Study identifies compounds that extend longevity of Japanese morning glory flowers
The longevity of plant flowers is controlled by genetically programmed mechanisms. After a certain amount of time after flowering, the expression of genes associated with programmed cell death is induced and cellular components such as proteins and n.....»»
Engineers create a chip-based tractor beam for biological particles
MIT researchers have developed a miniature, chip-based "tractor beam," like the one that captures the Millennium Falcon in the film "Star Wars," that could someday help biologists and clinicians study DNA, classify cells, and investigate the mechanis.....»»
Study sheds light on limitations of zooplankton for inactivating pathogen contaminated water
Scientists at The University of Texas at El Paso and Stanford University were recently surprised to find that the natural community of zooplankton—tiny, aquatic animals known to graze on bacteria—present in freshwater and saltwater do not clean w.....»»
Miami-Dade study questions reliability of land surface temperature for heat risk assessment
A study published in the journal PLOS Climate on October 2, 2024, examines the effectiveness of using land surface temperatures (LSTs) as proxies for surface air temperatures (SATs) in subtropical, seasonally wet regions......»»
People infer the past better than the future, study finds
If you started watching a movie from the middle without knowing its plot, you'd likely be better at inferring what had happened earlier than predicting what will happen next, according to a new Dartmouth-led study published in Nature Communications......»»
Mathematicians and climate researchers build new models for understanding polar sea ice
Polar sea ice is ever-changing. It shrinks, expands, moves, breaks apart, reforms in response to changing seasons, and rapid climate change. It is far from a homogenous layer of frozen water on the ocean's surface, but rather a dynamic mix of water a.....»»
Study: Wildfires will make the land absorb much less carbon, even if warming is kept below 1.5°C
One of the aims of the Paris Agreement was to "pursue efforts" to keep global warming below 1.5°C, but even this ambitious target would not stop the land's ability to absorb carbon weakening as wildfires become fiercer and more frequent, according t.....»»
Protection decisions loom for endangered North Atlantic right whales
Pregnant North Atlantic right whales will soon begin the long swim from the frigid waters off New England's shores to the warm calving grounds of Georgia's coast......»»
Mexico leader worried about drinking water after Hurricane John
Mexico's new President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday expressed concern about supplies of drinking water in the country's west after Hurricane John hit the Pacific coast, killing at least 16 people......»»
Study reveals oyster reefs once thrived along Europe"s coasts—now they"re gone
Oysters once formed extensive reefs along much of Europe's coastline—but these complex ecosystems were destroyed over a century ago, new research shows. The paper, published in the journal Nature Sustainability, is titled "Records reveal the vast h.....»»
Meta smart glasses can be used to dox anyone in seconds, study finds
Linking Meta smart glasses to a face search engine can ID strangers in a glance. Two Harvard students recently revealed that it's possible to combine Meta smart glasses with face.....»»
AI-generated college admissions essays tend to sound male and privileged, study finds
In an examination of thousands of human-written college admissions essays and those generated by AI, researchers found that the AI-generated essays are most similar to essays authored by students who are males, with higher socioeconomic status and hi.....»»