Vast phytoplankton blooms may be lurking beneath Antarctic ice
Until now, it's been a common belief that the packed sea ice of the Southern Ocean blocked all light from reaching the sea beneath, preventing phytoplankton—tiny algae that are the base of aquatic food webs—from growing there. The less light avai.....»»
Researchers find Weddell seals avoid extreme dives at midday
Erebus Bay, Antarctica, is home to the southernmost population of the world's southernmost living mammal—the Weddell seal. These seals may look like couch potatoes when they are resting on the ice, but Weddell seals go to great lengths to make a li.....»»
Lidar mapping reveals mountainous medieval cities along the Silk Road
A city larger than many in Europe at the time was perched in the mountains. The history of the Silk Road, a vast network of ancient and medieval trade routes connecting Beijing an.....»»
Invasive plants drive homogenization of soil microbial communities across US, new study finds
Invasive plants are doing more than just taking over landscapes—they're also changing the soil beneath them. A new study co-authored by Matthew McCary, assistant professor of biosciences at Rice University, reveals that these species are reshaping.....»»
Are we drowning out the sounds of the sea?
The sound of waves gently crashing is one of the most relaxing noises. But beneath the surface, things are far less peaceful......»»
Dinosaurs thrived after ice, not fire, says a new study of ancient volcanism
201.6 million years ago, one of the Earth's five great mass extinctions took place, when three-quarters of all living species suddenly disappeared. The wipeout coincided with massive volcanic eruptions that split apart Pangaea, a giant continent then.....»»
Largest-Ever Pair of Black Hole Jets Stretches 23 Million Light-Years
Supermassive black holes can expel jets of material so vast and powerful that they may shape the large-scale structure of the cosmos.....»»
Kwikset Halo Select, Govee ice maker, & iPhone StandBy dock on HomeKit Insider
On this episode of the HomeKit Insider Podcast we go over another new smart lock from Kwikset, talk about the viral iPhone StandBy dock, and test the Govee smart ice maker.HomeKit Insider PodcastKwikset has launched the new Halo Select smart lock tha.....»»
Melting Arctic sea-ice could affect global ocean circulation, study warns
The warming climate in polar regions may significantly disrupt ocean circulation patterns, a new study indicates. Scientists discovered that in the distant past, growing inflows of freshwater from melting Arctic sea-ice into the Nordic Seas likely si.....»»
US Copyright Office “frees the McFlurry,” allowing repair of ice cream machines
Soft-serve machines get a not-quite-parfait exemption to DMCA circumvention rule. Consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge today hailed a decision by the US Copyright Office to "g.....»»
Newly developed methodology breaks molecular symmetry to back one theory about life"s origin
The vast majority of organic molecules (based on a carbon structure) are not flat, but have a three-dimensional geometry. Various results can be obtained depending on the way the atoms are arranged inside each molecule. In some cases, a molecule and.....»»
Overheard: Celebrate milestones big and small to bring service shop together
"Every little thing can be celebrated — a good month [or] a troublesome car that finally leaves. Go out and buy some ice cream bars and say, 'Guys that Bronco's out of here, let's take a minute and celebrate.' When an employee goes through training.....»»
How bioacoustics and AI can help study animal populations in the forest and beneath the waves
Animal sounds combined with artificial intelligence (AI) can revolutionize biodiversity monitoring both on land and in aquatic settings according to researchers from the University of Copenhagen. By analyzing wildlife sounds, AI can now identify spec.....»»
Polar bears are sustaining ice-related paw injuries in a warming Arctic
Polar bears in some parts of the high Arctic are developing ice buildup and related injuries to their feet, apparently due to changing sea ice conditions in a warming Arctic. While surveying the health of two polar bear populations, researchers found.....»»
A blueprint for mapping melting ice sheets: Open-source tool can help make radar systems at a fraction of the cost
Researchers in the Stanford Radio Glaciology lab use radio waves to understand rapidly changing ice sheets and their contributions to global sea-level rise. This technique has revealed groundwater beneath Greenland, the long-term impacts of extreme m.....»»
New ice core data provide insight into climate "tipping points" during the last Ice Age
A changing climate triggers a sudden shift in ocean circulation, creating weather havoc and plunging Earth into an abrupt new Ice Age......»»
Fungi finding: mushroom hunters seek new species and recognition
You can't walk very far through a forest in this part of the United States without stumbling upon a mushroom, an eruption from a vast fungal kingdom that all life depends on, but about which we know very little......»»
Nobel economics prize: How colonial history explains why strong institutions are vital to a country"s prosperity
This year's Nobel memorial prize in economics has gone to Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and James Robinson of the University of Chicago for their work on why there are such vast differences in prosperit.....»»
Saturday Citations: Brown dwarf actually brown dwarfs; the adaptability of ice-age humans; archaeologists excited
This week, researchers discovered a near-Earth microquasar that sheds new light on sources of relativistic outflows. Doctors reported finding a triphallic gentleman. And neuroscientists reported on modest cognitive boosts from short (or "acute," in c.....»»
Scientists untangle the challenging complexities of radiocarbon in ice cores
ANSTO scientists, Dr. Andrew Smith, Dr. Quan Hua and Dr. Bin Yang have contributed to a paper that elucidates how in situ cosmogenic radiocarbon (14C) is produced, retained and lost in the top layer of compacting snow (the "firn layer") and the shall.....»»
Plankton balloon to six times their size in newly discovered mode of oceanic travel
Many plankton journey from the cold, dark depths of our oceans to the surface, only to eventually drift down again into the darkness in a perpetual rhythm. Yet, how single-celled phytoplankton, most of which have no appendages to help them swim, make.....»»