news

Most dog owners didn't know that flea and tick treatments are dangerous to aquatic life, suggesting more awareness could ease the problem. A study on Hampstead Heath shows that ponds where dogs are allowed to swim contain levels of two pesticides harmful to invertebrate life. These pesticides, imidacloprid and fipronil, are used as parasite treatments for flea and tick infestations in cats and dogs, using 'spot-on' formulas and flea collars.

Scientists have discovered the first cases of Anopheles funestus mosquitoes genetically mutating to develop a resistance to a type of insecticide called DDT. The discovery of 'knock-down resistance' (kdr) - a major insecticide resistance mechanism in insect pests - is the first time such a mutation has been documented in this species, which is a major vector for malaria transmission in Eastern and Southern Africa.

A team of scientists has provided insight into the mechanisms at work in geothermal reservoirs located deep underground, known as supercritical reservoirs. Through a combination of computer simulations and lab experiments, they showed that rocks located between five and eight kilometers deep in the Earth's crust are also permeable to fluids.

Pesticides aren't always necessary: researchers at the University of Zurich have conducted a comprehensive field study showing that damage from herbivores can be reduced by using biodiversity within a plant species. Different plant genotypes can cooperate to help fend off herbivorous insects. Just like humans, plants interact with the individuals around them.

Mars today bear signs of once having had abundant water, with features resembling valleys and deltas, and minerals that only form in the presence of liquid water. This artist's concept shows how the Red Planet could have appeared billions of years ago. Credit: NASA/The Lunar and Planetary Institute" Measurements from the agency's Curiosity rover are providing clues as to how the Red Planet's ancient climate transformed.

Celebrities and politicians leading by example could be a crucial 'missing link' in climate change mitigation, finds new research. Psychologists from Cardiff University have uncovered new insights into the role of celebrities and politicians in influencing public opinion on low-carbon lifestyles. "Behaviour change is essential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions quickly.

Led by a team at UdeM's IREx, scientists explore the exoplanet GJ 9827 d'and find a significant amount of water vapor in its atmosphere. A Canadian-led international study has revealed new insights into the atmosphere of GJ 9827 d - an exoplanet orbiting the star GJ 9827 in the constellation Pisces, about 98 light-years from Earth - using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

The changing climate is leaving forests greatly exposed to droughts and intense heat waves, adversely affecting the strength of the trees. One current route being explored to improve forest resilience is that of increasing species diversity.

Aquatic invertebrates are used as bioindicators to evaluate the quality of Swiss watercourses. However, climate change is also leading to changes in the species composition of these organisms. Eawag has now investigated the impacts of increasing temperatures on water body evaluations on behalf of the FoeN.

A global study has revealed that how women view their own home conditions, financial resources, and physical environment, including pollution levels, is key to understanding their overall quality of life and health. The study published today (2/10/24) in the open-access journal PLOS ONE was led by researchers from The University of Manchester and University Alberta, in collaboration with colleagues world-wide.

As many as 249 lives could have been saved in London during the 2018 record-setting hot summer had the city widely adopted cool roofs, estimates a new study by researchers at UCL and the University of Exeter. The paper, published in Nature Cities , analysed the cooling effect that roofs painted white or other reflective colours would have on London's ambient temperature between June and August 2018, the city's hottest summer.

Rain, freezing rain or snow? Study uses new data to identify factors that will help meteorologists A recent study at McGill University provides new insights into how winter storms develop in the St. Lawrence River Valley, findings that could potentially improve the accuracy of winter weather forecasts in the region.

In a recent study, researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT) and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena have shown how they can investigate the growth and interactions of the green algae "Ulva" and its bacterial community non-invasively and non-destructively using Raman spectroscopy.

A new study from the University of Lausanne reveals how cities influence precipitation and storms, and are prone in summer to more severe and localized rainfall events than surrounding areas. This phenomenon could lead to an increased risk of flooding in the future, as urban areas expand in line with global warming.

Mount Everest is about 15 to 50 metres taller than it would otherwise be because of uplift caused by a nearby eroding river gorge, and continues to grow because of it, finds a new study by UCL researchers. The study, published in Nature Geoscience , found that erosion from a river network about 75 kilometres from Mount Everest is carving away a substantial gorge.

For over a year and a half, researchers from TU Delft and the Cambridge University Centre for Climate Repair have worked together on groundbreaking techniques to increase the reflectivity of clouds in the fight against global warming. During a two-day meeting, the teams are discussing their progress.

Researchers from the Department of Chemical Engineering, led by Georgios Katsoukis, have discovered how the chemical environment around copper electrodes can dramatically influence the conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) into formate. This discovery can help improve the selectivity in CO2 reduction reactions, offering new insights into how to control these processes more effectively.

A recent study challenges previous assumptions about the connection between CO2 in the atmosphere and temperatures in the tropics. Between 1959 and 2011, the CO2 content in the atmosphere responded twice as strongly to temperatures in the tropics than before. This has often been attributed to increasing droughts in the tropics and to changes in carbon cycle responses caused by climate change.

A European study, led by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences with the participation of INRAE, reviewed 20 years of research into the effects of climate change on deer populations in Europe, Asia and North America. The review, published in Global Change Biology, covered 218 scientific articles and showed that while many deer populations benefit from warmer winters, they may not be able to adapt to hotter and drier summers, which could push the animals towards more northerly areas.

Science Waterloo team is first to find an invasive plant in Canada. Hydrilla verticillate (hydrilla), one of North America's most invasive species , was found for the first time in Canada. Dr. Rebecca Rooney, a biology professor , and members of her Waterloo Wetland Laboratory were surveying a secluded section of the Hillman Marsh Conservation Area in Leamington, Ontario , when they found unexpected species.