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Environment - 27.05.2022

Climate change can amplify heatwaves in the Antarctic continent
Scientists from the Antarctic Group of the State Meteorological Agency —belonging to the Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographical Challenge (MINECO)— and the University of Barcelona, the CSIC Institute of Geosciences and the University of Lisbon published the results of a recent study whose main conclusion confirms, for the first time, that climate change can amplify a heatwave in the Antarctic continent.

Earth Sciences - Environment - 27.05.2022

The world’s most remote oceans are polluted with microplastics: study
Curtin scientists who analysed seawater samples taken by Jon Sanders on his recent circumnavigation voyage have found microplastics present in the vast majority of samples, including those from very remote areas of the world's oceans. Researchers from Curtin's WA-Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre (WA-OIGC) have shared the full results of the analysis of seawater samples, collected at 177 locations across the 46,100km voyage, including areas of the Southern Hemisphere not previously tested for microplastics.

Environment - Computer Science - 27.05.2022

AI learns coral reef ’song’
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can track the health of coral reefs by learning the "song of the reef", finds new research involving a UCL scientist. Coral reefs have a complex soundscape - and even experts have to conduct painstaking analysis to measure reef health based on sound recordings. In the new study, published in Ecological Indicators, scientists trained a computer algorithm using multiple recordings of healthy and degraded reefs, allowing the machine to learn the difference.

Life Sciences - Environment - 26.05.2022

Wild animals evolving much faster than previously thought
The raw material for evolution is much more abundant in wild animals than we previously believed, according to new research from The Australian National University (ANU). Darwinian evolution is the process by which natural selection results in genetic changes in traits that favour the survival an d reproduction of individuals.

Earth Sciences - Environment - 26.05.2022

How plate tectonics has maintained Earth’s ’Goldilocks’ climate
Not hothouse, nor icehouse: when tectonic plates move at a moderate speed - not too fast or slow - Earth remains habitable, new University of Sydney research finds. For hundreds of millions of years, Earth's climate has warmed and cooled with natural fluctuations in the level of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere.

Life Sciences - Environment - 26.05.2022

Models predict that planned phosphorus reductions will make Lake Erie more toxic
Reducing levels of the nutrient phosphorus to control harmful algal blooms in places like Lake Erie is actually advantageous to toxic cyanobacteria strains, which can lead to an increase in toxins in the water, according to a new modeling study. Study: Models predict planned phosphorus load reduction will make Lake Erie more toxic Researchers from Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin) detail their findings in a paper published online May 26 in the interdisciplinary journal Science.

Environment - 25.05.2022

Fin whale songs shed light on migration patterns
A Curtin University-led research team has uncovered valuable information on the migration patterns of the fin whale, as well as where they breed and feed, which will help aid in the monitoring and protection of the species.

Agronomy / Food Science - Environment - 24.05.2022

Tracking Down the Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus
Changins/Wädenswil, 24. The tomato brown rugose fruit virus poses a new threat to Swiss agriculture - especially to tomatoes and peppers. Agroscope is playing a key role in controlling this quarantine organism in Switzerland. A newly created research group diagnoses submitted plant samples in the quarantine laboratory via a PCR test.

Environment - Health - 24.05.2022

Origami-inspired design and why mice fear bananas
Environment Lower-income populations will be hardest hit by heat waves Unlocking the secrets of killer whale diets and their role in climate change Unlocking the secrets of killer whale diets and their role in climate change Killer whale populations are invading the Arctic, causing significant disruptions to an ecosystem already deeply affected by climate change.

Environment - Health - 24.05.2022

Why mice fear bananas and origami-inspired design
Environment Lower-income populations will be hardest hit by heat waves Unlocking the secrets of killer whale diets and their role in climate change Unlocking the secrets of killer whale diets and their role in climate change Killer whale populations are invading the Arctic, causing significant disruptions to an ecosystem already deeply affected by climate change.

Environment - Innovation - 24.05.2022

Drone-based technology remotely assesses health of trees impacted by climate change
Canada has nearly 362 million hectares of forest, but climate change is negatively impacting tree health and productivity. Trees planted today need to withstand future climate instability. Enter Ingo Ensminger , an associate professor of biology at the University of Toronto Mississauga, and an innovative new technology that could provide further insights into tree health.

Health - Environment - 24.05.2022

Koalas exposed to double whammy health threat
An AIDS-like virus plaguing Australia's koala population is leaving them more vulnerable to chlamydia and other threatening health conditions, University of Queensland research has found. One of UQ's leading COVID-19 vaccine researchers, Associate Professor Keith Chappell , has discovered that the chlamydia epidemic plaguing endangered koala populations in Queensland and NSW is linked to a common virus that likely supresses koalas' immune systems.

Chemistry - Environment - 24.05.2022

Scientists make plastic more degradable under UV light
Scientists at Bath found that incorporating sugar units into polymers makes them more degradable when exposed to UV light. Many plastics that are labelled as biodegradable are only compostable under industrial conditions, but scientists at the University of Bath have now found a way to make plastics break down using only UV light.

Environment - Earth Sciences - 23.05.2022

Corals as climate archives
Unusually well-preserved reef corals from the Geological and Palaeontological Collection at Leip-zig University hold a great secret: they allow us to travel far into the past and reconstruct climatic conditions in our latitudes. Researchers from Leipzig University, the Universities of Bremen and Greifswald, and UniLaSalle in Beauvais have now succeeded in doing just this.

Environment - Microtechnics - 19.05.2022

A drone for ultrafast transitions between air and water
A new robot is capable of switching from an underwater drone to an aerial vehicle in less than one second. The robot also features a suction disc inspired by the remora fish, which enables it to hitchhike on wet or dry moving objects to significantly reduce its power consumption. It is designed for biological and environmental monitoring in marine ecosystems such as surveying ocean pollution in the open sea as the scientist of Beihang University, Imperial College London and Empa point out in a new study published in Science Robotics.

Environment - Materials Science - 19.05.2022

Low-cost battery-like device absorbs CO2 emissions while it charges
Researchers have developed a low-cost device that can selectively capture carbon dioxide gas while it charges. Then, when it discharges, the CO2 can be released in a controlled way and collected to be reused or disposed of responsibly. We found that that by slowly alternating the current between the plates we can capture double the amount of CO2 than before Alexander Forse The supercapacitor device, which is similar to a rechargeable battery, is the size of a two-pence coin, and is made in part from sustainable materials including coconut shells and seawater.

Environment - Astronomy / Space Science - 19.05.2022

Satellite Monitoring of Biodiversity Moves Within Reach
Global biodiversity assessments require the collection of data on changes in plant biodiversity on an ongoing basis. Researchers from the universities of Zurich and Montréal have now shown that plant communities can be reliably monitored using imaging spectroscopy, which in the future will be possible via satellite.

Environment - Agronomy / Food Science - 19.05.2022

Mycorrhizal fungi: heroes of a hidden biodiversity
Thursday, May 19, 2022 — The wood wide web has been a hot topic among biologists in recent years. Trees and plants are interconnected and not only share information, they also support each other by passing on signals or food. They do this by means of mycorrhizal fungi that live in symbiosis with the roots.

Transport - Environment - 19.05.2022

How a cognitive bias is blocking the rise of electric cars
A team from the University of Geneva shows that underestimating battery autonomy is a major psychological barrier to buying an electric car. What are the barriers to the adoption of electric cars? Although the main financial and technological obstacles have been removed, their market share still needs to increase.

Environment - Earth Sciences - 18.05.2022

Study explores concentrations of microplastics in the Rhine floodplains near Langel in Cologne
Microplastics accumulate in the Rhine meadows at Langel-Merkenich / topography and flooding determine local concentrations of particles in the soil Microplastics can be deposited in river floodplains and transported to deeper soil horizons. Local topography, flood frequency, and soil characteristics are responsible for the amount of plastic particles deposited and their possible transport into deeper soil.