news 2017

The THz sounder TARDiS (Terahertz Atmospheric/ Astrophysics Radiation Detection in Space) will sit on the International Space Station (ISS) and support scientists to better understand the effects of climate change on space, and the origin of the stars and planets. Image credit: Shutterstock Scientists from the University of Oxford are to play a key role in new missions that will help to both better monitor the effects of climate change on space and understand the origin of the stars and planets.

An international team of researchers from EPFL, ETHZ and Rice University in Houston creates a database tool for the design of cement, a component of concrete, the most-used construction material in the world and a significant source of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Planting trees can reduce flood risk, but a high intensity forest land use, such as grazing, can counteract the positive effect of the trees, a recently published study suggests. As the frequency and severity of flooding becomes an increasing problem, land managers are turning to natural flood management measures, such as tree planting, to reduce the risk.

The bleaching of corals is a well-known consequence of climate change.

A new study shows that even those presumably best informed on the environment find it hard to consistently "walk the walk", prompting scientists to question whether relying solely on information campaigns will ever be enough. While it may be hard to accept, we have to start acknowledging that increased education alone is perhaps not the panacea we would hope Andrew Balmford Conservationists work to save the planet, and few are as knowledgeable when it comes to the environmental pressures of the Anthropocene.

Researchers at Umeå University and Wageningen University have discovered how plants can defend themselves against aphids. They recorded aphid behavior on video, and identified a plant protein that keeps aphids from feeding. An aphid penetrating a plant. Scetch: Karen Kloth During her PhD, Karen Kloth studied aphid feeding behavior on different varieties of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana , collected from 350 different locations on the northern hemisphere.

Methane is the second most powerful greenhouse gas and concentrations are rising in the atmosphere. Because of its potency and quick decay in the atmosphere, countries have recognised that reduction of methane emissions are a means toward mitigating global warming. In light of the new international climate agreement, the Paris Agreement, there is increasing need for countries to accurately quantify their greenhouse gas emissions and to have independent checks on this reporting.

With abundant data on plants, large animals and their activity, and carbon soil levels in the Amazon, Stanford research suggests that large animal diversity influences carbon stocks and contributes to climate change mitigation. Trees in tropical forests are well known for removing carbon dioxide from the air and storing the potent greenhouse gas as carbon in their leafy branches and extensive roots.

After 26 years, the world's longest-running experiment to discover how warming temperatures affect forest soils has revealed a surprising, cyclical response: Soil warming stimulates periods of abundant carbon release from the soil to the atmosphere, alternating with periods of no detectable loss in soil carbon stores.

Researchers at Umeå University in Sweden are exploring the potential to create a landscape level map of the shapes of lake basins through a laser survey. This is a critical missing piece of the puzzle for understanding the role of lake carbon cycling at large spatial scales. The study is a part of an ongoing project aiming to establish a reference area in Sweden for detailed studies that can link the understanding at ecosystem level to landscape scale as well as assess the feedback of aquatic carbon cycling to climate change.

Severe floods that hit Cumbria in December 2015 led to an increase in calls for natural solutions to be included in flood alleviation schemes. Acknowledging ongoing debates around the evidence for tree cover as an effective flood mitigation measure, the UK's Centre for Ecology & Hydrology has published results of a systematic review of the current evidence.

Researchers have warned of an 'urgent worldwide need' to address a broad spectrum of cascading impacts of glacier mass loss on downstream systems. In their paper, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the authors synthesised currently available evidence and documented the profound impact on freshwater and near-shore marine systems.

New research uses innovative data modelling to predict which species acted as an intermediary between our ancestors and those of chimpanzees to carry HSV2 - the genital herpes virus - across the species barrier. Herpes infect everything from humans to coral, with each species having its own specific set of viruses Charlotte Houldcroft Two herpes simplex viruses infect primates from unknown evolutionary depths.

For the first time, researchers are able to prove that there is an optimal speed for certain insects when they fly. At this speed, they are the most efficient and consume the least amount of energy. Corresponding phenomena have previously been demonstrated in birds, but never among insects. Previous studies of bumblebees have shown that they consume as much energy in forward flight as when they hover, i.e. remain still in the air.

How did Finding Nemo affect clownfish? Was Jaws bad for sharks' Did the remake of the Jungle Book help pangolins? Researchers from Lancaster University and the University of Exeter say conservation scientists could work with filmmakers to harness the "Hollywood effect" to boost conservation. Scientific advisors and product placement are already commonplace in films, and the researchers say similar methods could be used to raise awareness of endangered species and other environmental issues.

EPFL scientists have greatly improved the operational stability of perovskite solar cells by introducing cuprous thiocyanate protected by a thin layer of reduced graphene oxide.

The element carbon and its compounds form the basics for life on Earth. Short-duration flash-heating events in the solar nebula prior to the formation of planets in our solar system were responsible for supplying the Earth with a presumably ideal amount of carbon for life and evolution. This shows a carbon chemistry model developed by Heidelberg University researchers.

Light from the particle accelerator helps to understand ozone decomposition A new experimental chamber coupled to the Swiss Light Source (SLS), a large-scale research facility of the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, allows researchers to recreate atmospheric processes in the laboratory through unprecedented precision analysis involving X-rays.

A new study from Lund University in Sweden shows that plastic particles in water may end up inside fish brains. The plastic can cause brain damage, which is the likely cause of behavioural disorders observed in the fish. Calculations have shown that 10 per cent of all plastic produced around the world ultimately ends up in the oceans.

People who participated in the Women's March in Washington DC in January 2017 were motivated by a range of diverse issues that cut across race, gender, and sexuality but shared similar educational backgrounds, a new study finds. It was led by researcher Dana R. Fisher, a Professor at the University of Maryland, and currently a visiting guest professor at Lund University in Sweden.