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News from The Collaborative Research Centre "Arctic Amplification: Climate Relevant Atmospheric and Surface Processes and Feedback Mechanism (AC)³", which is headed by meteorologist Professor Manfred Wendisch from Leipzig University, is to enter its third funding phase. This was announced today (24 November 2023) by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

With no visual organs, how can a plant know where light is coming from? In an original study combining biological and engineering expertise, the team led by Prof. Christian Fankhauser at the University of Lausanne, in collaboration with colleagues at EPFL, has deciphered a novel mechanism using the interface between air and water to generate a gradient of light "visible" to the plant.

Innovations in AI-assisted social sciences, sustainable agriculture and medicine are being funded in the third round of prototyping grants by the Transfer Center enaCom at the University of Bonn. Whether an AI solution for better understanding of scientific communities, a robot that treats weeds differently depending on the species, or a preventive nasal spray - scientists from the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn are developing innovative prototypes for practical challenges of our time.

Study is the first to document dialect differences in a parrot across its European range In the 50 years since monk parakeets arrived in Europe and spread across the continent, the species has developed distinct dialects that vary across countries and cities, according to a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institutes of Animal Behavior in Konstanz and for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.

Global warming is causing extensive changes to peatland vegetation in Europe and Western Siberia, with consequences for soil composition and the peatlands' ability to sequester carbon. An EPFL-led study has examined the mechanisms behind these complex processes. Peatlands are significant carbon sinks, meaning they're potential time bombs when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions.

Young Swiss use their smartphones for almost three years before replacing them. That's almost a year longer than in 2016, according to the latest JAMESfocus report from ZHAW and Swisscom. While technical features and price remain central for young people when buying a cell phone, sustainability criteria are also gaining in importance .

Results from new McGill University study suggest the key to maximizing our ability to protect future biodiversity depends on creating a new national strategy for protected areas prioritizing Canada's rich biodiversity At last year's COP15 conference in Montreal, the Government of Canada set the goal of conserving 30 percent of the country's land and water by 2030.

A new Weizmann Institute study shows that building solar farms in arid regions is a far more effective way to tackle the climate crisis than planting forests A verdant forest is one of the most iconic symbols of the power of nature, from the abundance of plant and animal life that shelters among its thick vegetation to the positive impact it has on Earth's climate, thanks in part to photosynthesis, which removes carbon dioxide from the air, thereby mitigating the effects of global warming.

Highway tunnel in mountain. Traffic on the road. Transportation from above. Cars as a source of air pollution. Existing consumption and production systems, which use natural resources to meet societal needs for food, shelter, energy and health, are unsustainable. Although researchers from different disciplines have long investigated how these systems can become more sustainable, scientists from socio-technical and socio-environmental research communities are now seeking to join forces.

EPFL spin-off Qaptis has developed a system that can cut freight trucks' carbon emissions by up to 90%.

In the spring, Alpine glaciers sometimes don a sheer red or orangish veil. Known as 'red snow' or 'blood snow', this phenomenon is caused by the blooming of Sanguina nivaloides , a microscopic alga. Scientists from the CNRS, the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), Météo-France, INRAE, and Université Grenoble Alpes 1 turned their attention to this organism, which forms the pillar of a snowy ecosystem still poorly understood.

In spring, Alpine glaciers sometimes turn a thin layer of red or orange. This phenomenon, known as "glacier blood", is due to the proliferation of a microscopic alga called Sanguina nivaloides . Scientists 1 from CNRS, CEA, Météo-France, INRAE and Grenoble Alpes University have been studying this organism, which forms the backbone of a little-known snow ecosystem.

New projections from the 2023 Lancet Countdown report reveals a world moving in the wrong direction on climate change, and how delayed action is a growing threat to our health A global team of researchers, including from the University of Sydney have presented new findings, in the eighth annual global report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change , with new global projections revealing the grave and mounting threat to our health from  delayed action on climate change.

Researchers hoping to rebrand a marine pest as a nutritious food have developed the world's first system of farming shipworms, which they have renamed 'Naked Clams'. Naked Clams taste like oysters, they're highly nutritious and they can be produced with a really low impact on the environment. Dr David Willer These long, white saltwater clams are the world's fastest-growing bivalve and can reach 30cm long in just six months.

Many people want to eat healthily, but also value the sustainability of their food . Intuitively, healthy is often equated with sustainable. A study by scientists from the Johannes Kepler University Linz, the University of Constance and the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences has investigated whether this perception corresponds to reality.

PRESS RELEASE LED BY WESTERN SYDNEY UNIVERSITY - INRAE participated to a new research led by Western Sydney University's Dr Jürgen Knauer, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, published today [Saturday 18 November 2023 AEST] in leading international journal Science Advances paints an uncharacteristically upbeat picture for the planet.

UdeM biologists produce a first-ever social and ecological profile - in multicoloured map form - of over 600 of the country's lakes, identifying which need to be better preserved. Canada has more lakes than any country in the world - more than 900,000 - and its population depends on them for drinking water, water to irrigate crops, and water in which to fish, swim, and boat on.

A new material developed at EPFL could change how we make cement forever - and cut 500 million tons of emissions by 2030.

Heat transferring from the surface to the deep ocean in the North Atlantic helped reduce climate swings during the last 1,000 years, according to a newly published paper led by researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and UCL. The paper, published in Science , presents records from North Atlantic sediments that allowed the researchers to investigate temperature changes in the surface and deep ocean throughout the last 1,200 years.

A team of researchers from the University of Potsdam and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) has developed a measuring method to analyze soil samples with neutrons and X-rays and create 3D tomographies from them: This makes it possible for the first time to precisely localize microplastics in the soil.