'Time To Put Gramps To Bed': Trump's Bizarre 'Seafront' Claim Leads To Blunt Fact-Check:
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| 'Time To Put Gramps To Bed': Trump's Bizarre 'Seafront' Claim Leads To Blunt Fact-Check - Huffington Post |
Sep 18 · Critics are taking Donald Trump to school after the former president made a bizarre claim about the impact of rising sea levels.
“You’ll have more seafront property, right, if that happens,” Trump told an audience in Michigan on Tuesday.
Michigan would not have more “seafront property” as it’s not on the sea, nor is it near the sea. In fact, the entire state is hundreds of feet above sea level.
However, climate change could lead to an increased risk of flooding, coastal erosion and other problems in the state, which borders four of the Great Lakes.
Trump may have been speaking more generally rather than specifically about Michigan, but the claim is still ... Read more ...
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'Emergency' declared over falling UK butterfly numbers:
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| 'Emergency' declared over falling UK butterfly numbers - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Sep 18 · Conservationists on Wednesday voiced concern at a fall in the number of butterflies found in the UK, declaring a "butterfly emergency" and calling for greater protections for under-threat species.
"It's been a bit of a disastrous summer for butterflies," said Dan Hoare, director of conservation at the Butterfly Conservation, a wildlife charity.
"We've gone from this situation where seeing a butterfly outside on a sunny day was a normal part of our everyday lives to that being a rare event," he told AFP.
Butterfly Conservation runs the "Big Butterfly Count", an annual census carried out by tens of thousands of volunteers across the UK.
This year's count, which ... Read more ...
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'End of an era': UK to shut last coal-fired power plant:
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| 'End of an era': UK to shut last coal-fired power plant - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 18 · Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station has dominated the landscape of the English East Midlands for nearly 60 years, looming over the small town of the same name and a landmark on the M1 motorway bisecting Derby and Nottingham.
At the mainline railway station serving the nearby East Midlands Airport, its giant cooling towers rise up seemingly within touching distance of the track and platform.
But at the end of this month, the site in central England will close its doors, signaling the end to polluting coal-powered electricity in the UK, in a landmark first for any G7 nation.
"It'll seem very strange because it has always been there," said David Reynolds, a 74-year-old ... Read more ...
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'Marine Identity' Can Help Restore the Ocean:
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| 'Marine Identity' Can Help Restore the Ocean - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Sep 24 · People's deep connection with the ocean -- their "marine identity" -- can help us reset society's relationship with the seas, new research led by Dr Pamela Buchan, from the University of Exeter, suggests.
A diverse, international group of marine researchers and practitioners met to discuss marine identity -- based on testimony and photos from multiple countries.
The group included Diz Glithero of the Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition, Dr Emma McKinley of Cardiff University who helped deliver the workshop, and others from across Europe, Africa, Indonesia, North America, and Australasia.
They found many common themes, including traditions and customs; and dependency ... Read more ...
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'Never seen this': Portuguese village battered by wildfire:
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| 'Never seen this': Portuguese village battered by wildfire - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 17 · The wildfires scorching the Aveiro region of northern Portugal are some of the worst locals have seen for a generation and they feel powerless against the walls of flames.
In the village of Busturenga, where the smoke was so thick it was hard in places to see more than a few dozen meters, anxious residents sought on Monday to rescue pets and belongings from homes perilously close to the blaze.
Some attempted to step the encroaching flames but their small buckets of water did little to stem the advance.
"I've never seen anything like it. The fire was all round the village and the water bombers couldn't get to it because of the smoke," 67-year-old Maria Fatima told AFP. Read more ...
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'Side job, self-employed, high-paid': Behind the AI slop flooding TikTok and Facebook:
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| 'Side job, self-employed, high-paid': Behind the AI slop flooding TikTok and Facebook - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 19 · Given its outlandish nature and tenuous relationship with reality, you might think this so-called "AI slop" would quickly disappear. However, it shows no sign of abating.
In fact, our research suggests this kind of low-quality AI-generated content is becoming a lucrative venture for the people who make it, the platforms that host it, and even a growing industry of middlemen teaching others how to get in on the AI gold rush.
The short explanation for the prevalence of these baffling videos and images is that savvy creators on social media platforms have worked out how to use generative AI tools to earn a quick buck.
But the full story is more complex. Platforms have ... Read more ...
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A New Energy Project at UCLA Law:
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| A New Energy Project at UCLA Law - Legal Planet |
Sep 17 · You don’t have to look beyond the front pages of newspapers, or beyond rooftops in your neighborhood to know that we are in the midst of a clean energy revolution, with renewable energy technologies dramatically decreasing in price and increasing in availability. These technologies promise to reduce energy cost burdens for households, as well as reduce climate- and health-harming pollution. However, there are many legal and policy challenges to overcome to ensure that these technologies are deployed efficiently, effectively, and equitably.
These challenges will be the focus of the Emmett Clean Energy Law & Leadership project (E-CELL for short) - a new initiative launching ... Read more ...
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A New Forecasting Model Based on Gene Activity Predicts When Japan's Cherry Buds Awake from Dormancy:
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| A New Forecasting Model Based on Gene Activity Predicts When Japan's Cherry Buds Awake from Dormancy - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Sep 24 · Japan in spring is famous for its cherry blossoms, or sakura, which begin flowering in the southern region of Kyushu and blaze upwards to the remote north of Hokkaido. The most abundant cherry tree cultivar, Somei Yoshino, is the iconic symbol of spring, as the cloned trees flower simultaneously at each site, creating a fleeting explosion of white-pink blossom that enraptures locals and tourists alike. The flowering forecasts of Somei Yoshino are poured over for months before flowering, as visitors plan their trips and locals organize festivals and celebrations. However, due to climate change, the flowering times of these cherry trees are shifting and becoming harder to ... Read more ...
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Antarctic Krill Can Lock Away Similar Levels of Carbon as Seagrass and Mangroves:
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| Antarctic Krill Can Lock Away Similar Levels of Carbon as Seagrass and Mangroves - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Sep 24 · Small marine crustaceans are as valuable as key coastal habitats for storing carbon and should be similarly protected, according to new research.
The study shows that a single species, Antarctic krill, store similar amounts of carbon to key 'blue carbon' habitats such as mangroves, saltmarshes and seagrasses.
However, krill are also impacted by global heating and potential overfishing, so should be considered for similar protections as other important habitats, say the researchers.
Krill are eaten by larger animals in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica such as whales, seals and penguins, but are also fished for food and fishing bait, and for use in aquaculture ... Read more ...
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Antarctic krill can lock away similar levels of carbon as seagrass and mangroves, finds study:
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| Antarctic krill can lock away similar levels of carbon as seagrass and mangroves, finds study - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 17 · Small marine crustaceans are as valuable as key coastal habitats for storing carbon and should be similarly protected, according to new research.
The study shows that a single species, Antarctic krill, store similar amounts of carbon to key "blue carbon" habitats such as mangroves, saltmarshes and seagrasses.
However, krill are also impacted by global warming and potential overfishing, and so should be considered for similar protections as other important habitats, say the researchers.
Krill are eaten by larger animals in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica such as whales, seals and penguins, but are also fished for food and fishing bait, and for use in ... Read more ...
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Antioxidant carbon dot nanozymes alleviate depression in rats by restoring the gut microbiome:
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| Antioxidant carbon dot nanozymes alleviate depression in rats by restoring the gut microbiome - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · Depression is a significant challenge to diagnose and treat. Among the factors influencing depression onset and severity, there is growing evidence for chemical imbalances that generate oxidative stress throughout the body. To address this problem, researchers reporting in the journal Langmuir have developed antioxidant carbon dot nanozymes (synthetic enzyme-like substances) that reduced oxidative stress, rebalanced gut microbes and alleviated stress-induced depression in rats.
Mental health disorders such as depression not only reduce the quality of life for affected individuals, but also challenge public health and economic prosperity. One of the potential hallmarks of ... Read more ...
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Arctic warming is driving Siberian wildfires:
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| Arctic warming is driving Siberian wildfires - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · Wildfire activity in central Siberia, Russia, has doubled in the past 2 decades, scorching vast areas of forest and releasing carbon stored in the rich soils and permafrost underneath. The Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the world, and scientists already know that the effects of climate change can exacerbate wildfires. But the specific factors driving enhanced Siberian wildfire activity aren't fully understood, making it difficult to predict future burning accurately.
Water vapor in the atmosphere typically condenses around aerosol particles to form droplets, which come together as clouds and can fall as rain. But droplets formed around aerosols in wildfire smoke are ... Read more ...
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Arctic Warming May Fuel Ice Formation in Clouds:
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| Arctic Warming May Fuel Ice Formation in Clouds - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Sep 24 · The Arctic frequently experiences temperatures that support the formation of mixed-phase clouds that contain supercooled liquid droplets and ice crystals. The composition of such clouds plays a crucial role in the region's energy balance and climate system. Clouds with more liquid last longer and reflect more sunlight than those with more ice crystals.
With Arctic warming, meteorologists have been interested in determining the effect of rising temperatures on cloud composition and its broader effect on the region. Climate models generally predict that as the Arctic warms, clouds in the region will contain more liquid water and less ice, since warmer temperatures typically ... Read more ...
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Arctic warming may fuel ice formation in clouds, observations suggest:
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| Arctic warming may fuel ice formation in clouds, observations suggest - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · The Arctic frequently experiences temperatures that support the formation of mixed-phase clouds that contain supercooled liquid droplets and ice crystals. The composition of such clouds plays a crucial role in the region's energy balance and climate system. Clouds with more liquid last longer and reflect more sunlight than those with more ice crystals.
With Arctic warming, meteorologists have been interested in determining the effect of rising temperatures on cloud composition and its broader effect on the region. Climate models generally predict that as the Arctic warms, clouds in the region will contain more liquid water and less ice, since warmer temperatures typically ... Read more ...
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Arctic weather satellite's first images capture Storm Boris:
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| Arctic weather satellite's first images capture Storm Boris - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · Just a month after its launch, ESA's Arctic Weather Satellite has already delivered its first images, notably capturing Storm Boris, which has been wreaking havoc across central Europe.
Equipped with a 19-channel cross-track scanning microwave radiometer, the satellite's mission is to penetrate the atmosphere and provide detailed temperature and humidity profiles in all weather conditions.
Despite its name, the Arctic Weather Satellite measures temperature and humidity at various altitudes around the world. However, its humidity data is particularly valuable for Arctic weather forecasting, as water vapor levels can change rapidly in this region.
Since it was only ... Read more ...
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Asphalt Schoolyards Get a Shady Makeover:
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| Asphalt Schoolyards Get a Shady Makeover - New York Times - Climate Section |
Sep 19 · Schools across the country are adding trees, tent-like structures and water to their playgrounds as temperatures soar.
The bare hot asphalt schoolyard of the American past is getting a redo.
The schoolyard of the future has trees to play under, or canvas canopies to shade a climbing gym. Some have native plants to sniff during recess or fallen logs to climb over. Instead of hard ground, some are tearing out asphalt in favor of more spongy materials to absorb heavy rains.
They are all solutions to tackle not only the hazards of extreme weather but also a growing recognition that playing in nature could be good for children.
Many of these innovations are ... | By Somini Sengupta Read more ...
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Assessing the environmental impacts of Brazil's biofuel sector:
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| Assessing the environmental impacts of Brazil's biofuel sector - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · Mathematical analysis reveals that within Brazil's agriculture and livestock industry, the biofuels sector is most heavily reliant on other sectors with high greenhouse gas emissions.
Brazil is a world leader in biofuel production, but the environmental sustainability of the sector has faced criticism due to its impacts on deforestation, water use, and biodiversity, especially in the Amazon rainforest.
In an analysis published in The European Physical Journal B, researchers led by Eder Johnson de Area Leão Pereira at the Federal Institute of Maranhão reveal new insights into the biofuel industry's dependence on high greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting sectors.
The study ... Read more ...
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Astronomers' new technique measures temperature of a star with high precision:
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| Astronomers' new technique measures temperature of a star with high precision - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · Astronomers study stars by looking at the different colors of light they emit - colors they capture and analyze using spectroscopy. Now a team led by Université de Montréal's Étienne Artigau has developed a technique that uses a star's spectrum to chart variations in its temperature to the nearest tenth of a degree Celsius, over a range of time scales.
"By tracking a star's temperature, we can learn a lot about it, such as its rotation period, its stellar activity, its magnetic field," explained Artigau, an astrophysicist at UdeM's Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets (IREx). "Such detailed knowledge is also essential for finding and studying a star's ... Read more ...
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August 2024 Global Climate Report | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI):
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| August 2024 Global Climate Report | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) - NOAA Climate.gov |
Sep 16 · The August global surface temperature was 1.27°C (2.29°F) above the 20th-century average of 15.6°C (60.1°F), making it the warmest August on record. This was 0.01°C (0.02°F) above the previous August record set last year, and the 15th consecutive month of record-high global temperatures. August 2024 marked the 46th consecutive August (since 1979) with temperatures at least nominally above the 20th-century average.
There have been 15 consecutive months of record-hot global temperatures, spanning from June 2023 through August 2024. This breaks the previous record (May 2015 through May 2016) for longest record-warm global temperature streak in modern record (since 1980). Each ... Read more ...
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Australian study finds that lead in the environment is reducing:
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| Australian study finds that lead in the environment is reducing - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · Efforts to reduce the presence of harmful metals like lead in the environment are having an effect, according to the results of an EPA Victoria study.
The study, titled "Trace elements in liver and muscle tissues from wild waterfowls in Australia: Risk associated with human consumption in a global context," published in Environmental Pollution, looked at the presence of metals such as arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium and zinc in wild ducks in Victoria and showed that most species had concentrations below the daily tolerable intake levels for humans.
According to EPA Principal Scientist Ecological Risk and Emerging Contaminants, Minna Saaristo, the result ... Read more ...
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Backlash Erupts Over Europe’s Anti-Deforestation Law:
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| Backlash Erupts Over Europe’s Anti-Deforestation Law - New York Times - Climate Section |
Sep 19 · Leaders around the world are asking the European Union to delay rules that would require companies to police their global supply chains.
Reporting from London
The European Union has been a world leader on climate change, passing groundbreaking legislation to reduce noxious greenhouse gasses. Now the world is pushing back.
Government officials and business groups around the globe have jacked up their lobbying in recent months to persuade E.U. officials to suspend a landmark environmental law aimed at protecting the planet’s endangered forests by tracing supply chains. | By Patricia Cohen Read more ...
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Balancing Risk and Impact in the Evolving Carbon Market:
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| Balancing Risk and Impact in the Evolving Carbon Market - Sustainable Brands |
Sep 19 · The rapid growth of the voluntary carbon market has resulted in a mismatch between supply of and demand for quality carbon credits.
As the voluntary carbon market (VCM) matures, its focus is shifting towards measures of quality and integrity. It’s becoming clear, however, that “quality” and “integrity” mean different things in different contexts, and that standards and frameworks are needed to represent the broad spectrum of what defines a “good carbon credit.”
“It used to be that we treated this market like a binary,” explained Spencer Meyer, Chief Ratings Officer at carbon ratings agency BeZero, speaking at a recent Sustainable Brands® (SB) webinar. “You either passed ... Read more ...
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Benchmarking the reproducibility of all-solid-state lithium battery performance:
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| Benchmarking the reproducibility of all-solid-state lithium battery performance - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 18 · To date, there are no uniform standards for research into solid-state batteries, which are also to be used in e-mobility in the long term - even though billions are being invested in this area worldwide. Researchers at the University of Bayreuth have identified the reasons for this and report on them in the journal Nature Energy.
Solid-state or all-solid-state batteries (ASSB) promise a significant increase in energy density compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries. This is why they are considered the future energy storage system for electromobility. However, there is no standardized protocol for the validation of solid-state battery cells in battery research.
When ... Read more ...
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Carbon dioxide emissions from global overseas coal-fired power plants:
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| Carbon dioxide emissions from global overseas coal-fired power plants - Nature Climate Change |
Sep 18 · Foreign investments in overseas coal-fired power plants (OCPs) largely impede decarbonization efforts, yet their global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have not been sufficiently quantified. Here we analyse investment data from 908 OCPs worldwide, and then reveal current annual emissions of 0.53?GtCO2?yr-1 and a historical cumulative total of 26?GtCO2. Developed nations account for 78% of these cumulative emissions on the basis of investments, while emissions from developing nations have surged from 8% in 1960 to 39% in 2022. Assuming unchanged policies and technologies, OCPs are projected to contribute an additional 15–30?GtCO2 in cumulative emissions by 2060 directly. Furthermore, ... Read more ...
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China, Climate, and Clean Energy:
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| China, Climate, and Clean Energy - Legal Planet |
Sep 17 · China accounts for almost a third of global emissions, over twice as much as the U.S. Its emissions have continued to grow, though not as quickly as during its economic boom years earlier in this century. Yet in 2023, China accounted for about 60% of the world’s new renewables and electric vehicles. Four questions: Why have emissions continued to grow despite the huge expansion in renewables? Will that change? How is China’s clean energy spree impacting other countries? And what does all this mean for the U.S.?
Why have emissions continued to grow despite the growth in renewables?
China’s commitment to clean energy use and to producing clean tech is ... Read more ...
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Climate a more fundamental threat than terror - Lammy:
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| Climate a more fundamental threat than terror - Lammy - BBC |
Sep 17 · The foreign secretary has said climate change is a more pervasive and fundamental threat than terrorism.
In his maiden speech, 100 days after taking office, David Lammy said the climate issue, along with a decline in nature, would be "central to all the Foreign Office does".
He also announced the government would launch a global initiative to accelerate the rollout of clean energy.
But Mr Lammy warned the UK's previous funding commitments on the issue would have to be reviewed given the "dire" state of the country's finances.
The foreign secretary made clear the government considered action on climate change and nature the focus of every department. Read more ...
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Climate change is sending ticks into new areas. Georgia researchers are on it.:
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| Climate change is sending ticks into new areas. Georgia researchers are on it. - Grist Climate and Energy |
Sep 19 · On a blisteringly hot, sunny day this summer, Emory University researcher Arabella Lewis made her way through the underbrush in a patch of woods in Putnam County, Georgia, about an hour southeast of Atlanta. She was after something most people try desperately to avoid while in the woods: ticks.
“Sometimes you gotta get back in the weeds to get the best ticks,” she explained, sweeping a large square of white flannel along the forest floor.
The idea was that the ticks could sense the movement of the fabric and smell the carbon dioxide Lewis breathed out and would grab onto the flannel flag.
“My favorite thing about them is their little grabby front arms, the way that ... Read more ...
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Climate change is turbo-charging Somalia’s problems - but there's still hope:
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| Climate change is turbo-charging Somalia’s problems - but there's still hope - BBC |
Sep 17 · Somalia may be one of the poorest countries in the world and beset by violence, but it is “fixable”, according to its top climate official.
The country has been torn apart by more than 30 years of overlapping conflicts - including an Islamist insurgency, a civil war, and a series of regional and clan confrontations. Yet Abdihakim Ainte, the Somali prime minister’s climate advisor, still regards his country as “as story of potential - of promise”.
What makes his optimism all the more surprising is the fact climate change is amplifying virtually all the challenges his country faces.
One commentator described climate change as a “chaos multiplier”, because it ... Read more ...
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Climate change means we may have to learn to live with invasive species:
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| Climate change means we may have to learn to live with invasive species - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Sep 19 · Invasive species are often looked upon with suspicion.
From non-native "weeds" to insects and aquatic invaders, introduced (or non-native) species continue to be misunderstood - and consequently often mismanaged.
Stated plainly, the vast majority of intentionally or unintentionally introduced species are not a threat to native ecosystems.
Governments and conservation organizations spend an enormous amount of their time and funding targeting the control of invasive species. Yet, most introduced species removal efforts are ineffective, time-consuming and usually unsuccessful in the long term.
Certainly, some invasive species - such as the zebra mussel or the ... Read more ...
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Compact and Portable Nuclear Clocks:
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| Compact and Portable Nuclear Clocks - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Sep 24 · Scientists use atomic clocks to measure 'second,' the smallest standard unit of time, with great precision. These clocks use natural oscillations of electrons in atoms, similar to how pendulums work in old grandfather clocks. The quest for an even more precise timekeeper led to the discovery of nuclear clocks, which use the transitions of atomic nuclei instead of electrons to keep time.
A rising contender for the development of ultra-precise nuclear optical clocks is the nuclear first-excited state of 229Th isotope. Its long half-life of 103 seconds and low excitation energy of a few electron volts make it ideal for excitation by VUV lasers, providing a precise reference ... Read more ...
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COP29 aims to boost battery storage and grids for renewables, as pledges proliferate:
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| COP29 aims to boost battery storage and grids for renewables, as pledges proliferate - Climate Change News - Politics |
Sep 19 · Governments are being asked to sign up to a goal to boost energy storage six-fold and renew or add 80 million km of electric grids, among other initiatives
Electricity cables at the Lethaba power station in 2007 (Photos: World Bank)
Azerbaijan, which is hosting this year’s COP29 UN summit, this week announced 14 climate initiatives it hopes countries will sign up to, including one to promote energy storage and electric grids.
Governments are being asked by the COP29 presidency to back a pledge to increase global energy storage capacity six times above 2022 levels, reaching 1,500 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, and to add or refurbish more than 80 million kilometres ... | By Joe Lo Read more ...
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Critical Crops' Alternative Way to Succeed in Heat and Drought:
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| Critical Crops' Alternative Way to Succeed in Heat and Drought - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Sep 24 · Scientists have discovered that certain plants can survive stressful, dry conditions by controlling water loss through their leaves without relying on their usual mechanism -- tiny pores known as 'stomata'.
Nonstomatal control of transpiration in maize, sorghum, and proso millet -- all C4 crops which are critical for global food security -- gives these plants an advantage in maintaining a beneficial microclimate for photosynthesis within their leaves.
This allows the plants to absorb carbon dioxide as part of the photosynthesis and growth process, despite raised temperatures and increased atmospheric demand for water without increasing the water ... Read more ...
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Deadly Portugal wildfires force new evacuations:
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| Deadly Portugal wildfires force new evacuations - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · Deadly wildfires raging in Portugal have forced more people to evacuate their homes as crews battled dozens of blazes on Wednesday in the nation's north.
Stifling heat and strong winds have fanned a spate of forest fires across the north and center of the country that have killed seven people dead since the weekend.
Civil protection authorities listed 42 active fires on its website on Wednesday and said they had mobilized around 3,900 firefighters and over 1,000 vehicles.
In the Gondomar municipality, just outside Porto, authorities carried out more evacuations on Tuesday night.
Firefighters battling blazes in Arouca in the hard-hit Aveiro region told local ... Read more ...
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Delivery Vans Are Going Electric: Where and Why:
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| Delivery Vans Are Going Electric: Where and Why - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles |
Sep 17 · Let’s start this one with some good news: the transition toward clean freight is picking up speed. Over the past few years, we’ve started to see more and more zero-emission commercial trucks, delivery vans, and buses hit the road. The much-needed evolution of our on-road freight system to one that’s cleaner and more equitable is gaining momentum – and not a moment too soon.
Medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (MHDVs), like the big rigs on our highways and the vans that deliver our packages, make up just over 1 in 10 of the vehicles on our roads, but are responsible for over half of ozone-forming nitrogen oxide pollution and lung-damaging fine particulate pollution from on-road ... Read more ...
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Developing countries denounce rich nations’ disregard for just transition talks:
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| Developing countries denounce rich nations’ disregard for just transition talks - Climate Change News - Politics |
Sep 17 · One negotiator said it was “very unfortunate” that no developed-country officials travelled to Ghana for UN climate talks on “response measures”
Women illegally gather coal to sell from Jharia mine in Jharkand state, India, in 2008 (Pic: Peter Caton/Greenpeace)
United Nations talks on how to make the global green transition fair provoked frustration last week among developing countries as rich nations did not attend in person and refused to discuss thorny issues.
About 30 developing countries sent civil servants to a five-star hotel in Ghana for official UN discussions on “response measures” that are meant to tackle how to ... | By Joe Lo Read more ...
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Don't overlook microorganisms' role in planet health, scientists warn:
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| Don't overlook microorganisms' role in planet health, scientists warn - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · The tiniest and oldest creatures on - and in - Earth have a huge role in achieving a sustainable future for the planet, an international team of scientists, including faculty researchers from The Ohio State University, asserts in a new Cell article published today.
The jobs done by microbes - bacteria, viruses, fungi and other single-cell organisms - enable all other species living by land, sea and air, and in our guts, to survive. Boosted by fast-paced technological advances in recent decades, scientists are learning more every day about microbial functions and how they can be put to use in protecting human health and the global environment.
And yet, microbial research ... Read more ...
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Donald Trump is wrong about the cost of wind energy:
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| Donald Trump is wrong about the cost of wind energy - Yale Climate Connections - Energy |
Sep 18 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
After decades of stable electricity prices, U.S. residents have seen their rates rise by one-third over the past four years.
The fossil fuel lobby and some Republican politicians are exploiting the opportunity to falsely place the blame on clean energy sources.
“We are going to get the energy prices down,” former President Donald Trump said at an August 2024 rally in Wisconsin. “You know, this was caused by their horrible energy – wind.”
In reality, wind is the cheapest source of new power in the United States today.
It’s true that ... Read more ...
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Educators talk climate at Connected Learning Ecosystems gathering:
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| Educators talk climate at Connected Learning Ecosystems gathering - newscentermaine |
Sep 16 · Example video title will go here for this video
ORONO, Maine - Educators from across the state gathered in August to discuss ways to teach kids about climate research as well as the impacts of climate change.
The Gulf of Maine Research Institute has been coordinating the Connected Learning Ecosystems gathering for the past eight years.
“[It's about] really empowering the next generation of climate stewards through connecting learning across contexts in and out of the classroom,” Molly Auclair, senior specialist of Connected Learning Ecosystems at GMRI, said.
This year's event was held Aug. 19 at the Wells Conference Center on the University of Maine campus in ... Read more ...
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Electric cars overtake petrol models in Norway:
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| Electric cars overtake petrol models in Norway - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 17 · Hot on the heels of still-dominant diesel cars, electric vehicles now outnumber petrol models for the first time in oil-rich Norway, a world first that puts the country on track to taking fossil fuel vehicles off the road.
Of the 2.8 million private cars registered in Norway, 754,303 are all-electric, compared to 753,905 that run on petrol, the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV), an industry organization, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Diesel models remain most numerous at just under one million, but their sales are falling sharply.
"This is historic. A milestone few saw coming 10 years ago," OFV director Oyvind Solberg Thorsen said in a statement.
"The ... Read more ...
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Endangered sea corals moved from South Florida to the Texas Gulf Coast for research and restoration:
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| Endangered sea corals moved from South Florida to the Texas Gulf Coast for research and restoration - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · Scientists have moved about 300 endangered sea corals from South Florida to the Texas Gulf Coast for research and restoration.
Nova Southeastern University and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi researchers packed up the corals Wednesday at the NSU's Oceanographic Campus in Dania Beach. The sea creatures were then loaded onto a van, taken to a nearby airport and flown to Texas.
"The process that we're undertaking today is a really great opportunity for us to expand the representation of the corals that we are working with and the locations where they're stored," Wever said. "Increasing the locations that they're stored really acts as safeguards for us to protect them ... Read more ...
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Epic floods are wreaking havoc from Africa to Asia to Europe:
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| Epic floods are wreaking havoc from Africa to Asia to Europe - Yale Climate Connections - Weather |
Sep 18 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our newsletters.
Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Drawing on a record global supply of atmospheric moisture – and with a jet stream “stuck” in a mode identified in climate change research – a series of catastrophic floods has been slamming far-flung parts of the Northern Hemisphere in September.
One link among all of these systems: Warmer global temperatures allow more water to evaporate from oceans and intensify rainfall, even as they also suck moisture from parched landscapes where it’s not raining (the ... Read more ...
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Ethanol: A viable alternative to sugar-based carbon sources for biomanufacturing:
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| Ethanol: A viable alternative to sugar-based carbon sources for biomanufacturing - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Sep 18 · In a recent review published in Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts, a research team led by Associated Professor Wang Peng from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Dr. Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro from Imperial College London, provided a comprehensive overview of ethanol as a renewable carbon source for producing various high-value products, offering new perspectives for the development of eco-friendly industrial biotechnology processes.
Industrial biotechnology often relies on microbes to convert carbohydrate substrates from sugar- or starch-rich crops to valuable products. However, this reliance poses challenges ... Read more ...
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EU Issues 'Climate Breakdown' Warning Amid Record Flooding And Deadly Wildfires:
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| EU Issues 'Climate Breakdown' Warning Amid Record Flooding And Deadly Wildfires - Huffington Post |
Sep 18 · BRUSSELS (AP) - Devastating floods through much of Central Europe and deadly wildfires in Portugal are joint proof of a “climate breakdown” that will become the norm unless drastic action is taken, the European Union’s head office said Wednesday.
“Make no mistake. This tragedy is not an anomaly. This is fast becoming the norm for our shared future,” said EU Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarcic.
The worst flooding in years moved Tuesday across a broad swath of Central Europe, taking lives and destroying homes. At the other end of the 27-nation EU, raging fires through northern Portugal have killed at least six people.
“Europe is the fastest warming ... Read more ...
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Europe floods: Four die in Romania as heavy rain sweeps through central Europe:
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| Europe floods: Four die in Romania as heavy rain sweeps through central Europe - BBC |
Sep 13 · Romania has set up displacement camps and launched rescue operations after floods killed at least four people and destroyed thousands of homes in the east of the country.
Military boats and planes are being used to move people to safety, and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has said the priority now is to prevent further loss of life.
Recent days have seen torrential rain sweep through central and eastern Europe, swelling rivers and triggering flood warnings in the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary.
The flood barriers in Czech capital Prague have been raised, while in parts of Poland residents have been evacuated.
The four dead people were ... Read more ...
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European Green Deal is a double-edged sword for global emissions, analysis suggests:
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| European Green Deal is a double-edged sword for global emissions, analysis suggests - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 20 · The European Union aims to be carbon-neutral by 2050 as part of the comprehensive Green Deal that was agreed upon four years ago. However, an analysis of the policy documents outlining the practical measures of the Green Deal shows that it will decrease carbon emissions in Europe, but also increase carbon emissions outside the EU.
This increase is more than double the amount of carbon emissions saved by the Green Deal. This analysis was published in Nature Sustainability by an international team of scientists led by Klaus Hubacek, Professor of Science, Technology and Society at the University of Groningen.
The European Green Deal is a set of policies intended to fully ... Read more ...
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Evacuations as tail of Storm Boris floods northeast Italy:
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| Evacuations as tail of Storm Boris floods northeast Italy - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · Italian authorities evacuated some 1,000 people from their homes as the tail end of Storm Boris pummel a northeastern region that was devastated by deadly flooding last year, regional authorities said on Thursday.
The strong winds and rains which have swept across central and eastern Europe, killing 24 people, lashed the Emilia-Romagna and Marche regions on Wednesday, leaving some towns under water.
Deputy Transport Minister Galeazzo Bignami told a press conference that two people were missing after they took refuge on a roof which then collapsed.
Schools closed and trains were cancelled Thursday as the rains lashed the same area hit by two floods in May 2023, ... Read more ...
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Even Marine Animals in Untouched Habitats Are at Risk from Human Impacts:
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| Even Marine Animals in Untouched Habitats Are at Risk from Human Impacts - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Sep 24 · Climate change and a range of other human impacts are putting marine animals at risk of extinction -- even those living in almost pristine marine habitats and diverse coastal regions -- reports a new study by Casey O'Hara of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, and colleagues, published September 18, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.
Human activities on land and sea, in combination with climate change, are degrading coastal ecosystems, increasing the risk of extinction for multiple species and threatening important ecosystem services that humans depend on. To effectively address these threats, ... Read more ...
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Explaining Dramatic Planet-Wide Changes After World's Last 'Snowball Earth' Event:
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| Explaining Dramatic Planet-Wide Changes After World's Last 'Snowball Earth' Event - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Sep 24 · Some of the most dramatic climatic events in our planet's history are "Snowball Earth" events that happened hundreds of millions of years ago, when almost the entire planet was encased in ice up to 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) thick.
These "Snowball Earth" events have happened only a handful of times and do not occur on regular cycles. Each lasts for millions of years or tens of millions of years and is followed by dramatic warming, but the details of these transitions are poorly understood.
The study recently published in Nature Communications focuses on ancient rocks known as "cap carbonates," thought to have formed as the glacial ice thawed. These rocks preserve clues to ... Read more ...
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Explaining dramatic planetwide changes after world's last 'Snowball Earth' event:
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| Explaining dramatic planetwide changes after world's last 'Snowball Earth' event - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · Some of the most dramatic climatic events in our planet's history are "Snowball Earth" events that happened hundreds of millions of years ago, when almost the entire planet was encased in ice up to 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) thick.
These "Snowball Earth" events have happened only a handful of times and do not occur on regular cycles. Each lasts for millions of years or tens of millions of years and is followed by dramatic warming, but the details of these transitions are poorly understood.
The study published in Nature Communications focuses on ancient rocks known as "cap carbonates," thought to have formed as the glacial ice thawed. These rocks preserve clues to Earth's ... Read more ...
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Exploring climate change through mobile games:
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| Exploring climate change through mobile games - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · To raise awareness about climate change, a UCL researcher teamed up with developers of one of the most popular mobile games, updating it to show science-based predictions of what will happen to Earth after a century of global warming.
Professor Mark Maslin (UCL Geography) authored a white paper for the makers of the mobile game PUBG MOBILE to guide them on the effects a warming climate is likely to have on future environments.
Based on his research, the campaign will see the addition of two new maps that players can use in the game. These maps immerse players in some of the predicted worst-case scenarios for climate change by the year 2124.
In his publicly ... Read more ...
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Forever chemicals persist through waste incineration, researcher finds:
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| Forever chemicals persist through waste incineration, researcher finds - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · PFAS, often called "forever chemicals," present in municipal solid waste can survive the high temperatures of waste incineration and continue to spread into the environment via residues from waste-to-energy plants.
A new doctoral thesis from Sofie Björklund, a student at Umeå University's Industrial Doctoral School, reveals that the most common type of PFAS found in ash, condensate, and flue gases is also the most challenging to capture once they have entered the environment.
"When we began this project a few years ago, there was very little research on PFAS behavior in large-scale waste-to-energy facilities. Now, an increasing number of studies, including those from our ... Read more ...
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From earthquakes to starquakes: Seismology research helps understand exoplanet migration:
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| From earthquakes to starquakes: Seismology research helps understand exoplanet migration - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Sep 18 · When Jared Bryan talks about his seismology research, it's with a natural finesse. He's a fifth-year Ph.D. student working with MIT Assistant Professor William Frank on seismology research, drawn in by the lab's combination of GPS observations, satellites, and seismic station data to understand the underlying physics of earthquakes.
He has no trouble talking about seismic velocity in fault zones or how he first became interested in the field after summer internships with the Southern California Earthquake Center as an undergraduate student.
"It's definitely like a more down-to-earth kind of seismology," he jokingly describes it. It's an odd comment. Where else could ... Read more ...
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Gene-based model predicts when Japan's cherry buds awake from dormancy:
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| Gene-based model predicts when Japan's cherry buds awake from dormancy - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · Japan in spring is famous for its cherry blossoms, or sakura, which begin flowering in the southern region of Kyushu and blaze upwards to the remote north of Hokkaido. The most abundant cherry tree cultivar, Somei Yoshino, is the iconic symbol of spring, as the cloned trees flower simultaneously at each site, creating a fleeting explosion of white-pink blossom that enraptures locals and tourists alike.
The flowering forecasts of Somei Yoshino are poured over for months before flowering, as visitors plan their trips and locals organize festivals and celebrations. However, due to climate change, the flowering times of these cherry trees are shifting and becoming harder to ... Read more ...
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Global assessment: How to make climate adaptation a success:
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| Global assessment: How to make climate adaptation a success - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · Climate change is forcing people to adapt to changing environmental conditions. But what really makes the difference is how they do it. The recently published "Hamburg Climate Futures Outlook 2024" by 73 authors shows that, in the long run, only sustainable adaptation can succeed. This global assessment by University of Hamburg's Cluster of Excellence Climate, Climatic Change, and Society (CLICCS) also provides practical recommendations.
"Successfully adapting to the impacts of climate change is just as difficult and challenging as reducing emissions of every kind," says Anita Engels, Professor of Sociology and leading author of the assessment. "Yet, both are needed."
On ... Read more ...
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GM offering adapters to help electric vehicle owners access Tesla chargers:
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| GM offering adapters to help electric vehicle owners access Tesla chargers - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 18 · General Motors is now offering adapters to help its electric vehicle owners access Tesla chargers.
The Detroit automaker said Wednesday that it is opening up access to more than 17,800 Tesla Superchargers for its customers, with the use of a GM approved NACS DC adapter. Customers in the United States will be able to buy the adapter for $225 through GM vehicle brand mobile apps.
By using the Tesla Supercharger network, GM EV vehicle owners will have access to more than 231,800 public Level 2 and DC fast chargers in North America.
"Enabling access to even more publicly available fast chargers represents yet another way GM is focused on further improving the customer ... Read more ...
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Google says it will rethink its plans for a big data center in Chile over water worries:
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| Google says it will rethink its plans for a big data center in Chile over water worries - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 17 · Google on Tuesday said it would halt plans to develop a major $200 million data center in Chile to address environmental concerns, a decision reflecting growing worries about the impact of power-thirsty projects around the world.
The U.S. technology company first obtained permits in 2020 to construct the vast project in Chile's capital, Santiago, as demand for the server farms skyrocketed across the globe, fueled by a surge in cloud-based technologies and a craze for generative AI.
But months after a Chilean court partially reversed the center's authorization over water usage concerns, Google announced Tuesday that it would revise the project to comply with more ... Read more ...
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Greenhouse gains: Cucumbers get a genetic upgrade through innovative pollen tech:
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| Greenhouse gains: Cucumbers get a genetic upgrade through innovative pollen tech - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Sep 18 · Genetic modification in horticultural crops, particularly within the Cucurbitaceae family, is often hindered by complex tissue culture requirements and environmental pressures such as climate change. Traditional transformation techniques, like Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer, frequently encounter barriers that limit their success in certain plant species.
Magnetofection, a novel DNA delivery method using magnetic nanoparticles, offers a promising alternative to these conventional approaches. Given these persistent challenges, innovative gene delivery systems are urgently needed to advance crop genetic engineering.
Conducted by scientists at Pusan National University ... Read more ...
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Groundwater cleanup boost: Tailoring 3D media for DNAPL contaminant removal:
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| Groundwater cleanup boost: Tailoring 3D media for DNAPL contaminant removal - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · Groundwater contamination by organic pollutants, such as non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL), poses significant environmental and health risks. These contaminants, often released from industrial activities, can persist in the subsurface environment, forming residual pools that are difficult to remediate.
Understanding how the microscopic structure of porous media influences contaminant behavior is crucial for developing effective remediation strategies. Based on these challenges, there is a need to explore the impact of microstructure on DNAPL migration and develop methods to improve remediation efficiency.
A new study, conducted by researchers from Guangdong Provincial ... Read more ...
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Historic rainfall inflicts chaotic floods across four continents:
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| Historic rainfall inflicts chaotic floods across four continents - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · Severe rains bucketed down on central Europe, Africa, Shanghai and the U.S. Carolinas this week, underscoring the extreme ways in which climate change is altering the weather.
Different meteorological phenomena are behind the series of storms, according to climate scientists, though they agree an underlying factor for the supercharged rainfall is global warming writ large. Research has shown that hotter air is capable of carrying more moisture and is more likely to cause intense precipitation.
And it's not just the amount of rain that falls, but where it lands. Emergency preparation, infrastructure and access to relief funds have led to vastly different outcomes - a ... Read more ...
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Hospitals commit to cutting climate pollution from their food supply chain:
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| Hospitals commit to cutting climate pollution from their food supply chain - Yale Climate Connections - Agriculture |
Sep 19 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
From increasingly severe weather disasters to more extreme heat, climate change poses many risks to people’s health.
So hospitals – which are dedicated to improving and protecting people’s health – are working to limit their own contribution to the problem.
Stoddard: “Health care, more than any other sector, is really on the front lines of climate change. When climate-related emergencies happen, health care is dealing with that.”
John Stoddard is with the nonprofit Health Care Without Harm.
His group is helping hospitals sign up for ... Read more ...
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How a new map of the UK's blue carbon habitats could change how oceans are protected:
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| How a new map of the UK's blue carbon habitats could change how oceans are protected - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · The world's oceans are home to different habitats that capture and store carbon - known as "blue carbon." These include habitats that are typically found along coastlines, such as salt marshes and seagrasses, as well as vast seabed sediments further offshore made of mud, silt and sand. The extent to which these habitats are protected and, where possible, restored, could have huge implications for the world's future climate.
Until now, there was limited coordination of information about how much carbon is stored in UK marine habitats, especially in seabed sediments. But a new report from the Blue Carbon Mapping Project, published today, provides a new baseline for the UK's blue ... Read more ...
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How Education Can Equip Young People to Address Climate Change:
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| How Education Can Equip Young People to Address Climate Change - Climate Change (World Bank - Playlist) |
Sep 18 · Education is the most powerful driver of climate change awareness globally. But there's a catch – climate change is simultaneously undermining learning around the world. Enhancing climate curriculum in schools, developing green skills across all sectors, and adapting education systems to be climate-resilient can empower the next generation to tackle the climate crisis effectively. Read the full report to learn more about how education can drive meaningful climate action: http://wrld.bg/Vma750TqqCz #climateaction #climatechange #climateawareness \n\nWatch the report launch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQQElkRRnYs\n\n00:00 Education is a catalyst for climate action \n00:38 The ... | By World Bank Read more ...
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How humans are affecting the Northern Hemisphere's wind patterns:
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| How humans are affecting the Northern Hemisphere's wind patterns - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · The summer of 2024 was the hottest on record and, unfortunately, this came as no surprise. Summers have been getting hotter and drier around the world, including in the Northern Hemisphere, leading to intense droughts and heat waves in North America and Europe and posing serious risks to society such as wildfires, crop failures and health hazards.
Part of the problem is that the Earth's air circulation systems, which help spread and disperse moisture and heat throughout the world, have been weakening over the years. However, the exact reasons for this weakening have eluded researchers.
Now, in two studies led by Dr. Rei Chemke of the Weizmann Institute of Science, ... Read more ...
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How the Tibetan Plateau is helping us to understand the current and future climate:
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| How the Tibetan Plateau is helping us to understand the current and future climate - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · Imagine the conductor of a vast orchestra stood not at the front, but in the middle of all the musicians, dictating how they work together and the music they produce. The musicians are not stationary; they move past each other and interact, but all the while still controlled by the unmoving conductor.
In the atmospheric sciences, many such orchestras exist; and in the Asian midlatitudes, two key parts of the orchestra are a pair of atmospheric circulation systems - the midlatitude westerlies and the Asian monsoon - and the conductor, stood still at the heart and guiding the interplay between these two systems, is the Tibetan Plateau.
In a special issue of the journal ... Read more ...
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How to prepare for a stormy 'supercharged' September:
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| How to prepare for a stormy 'supercharged' September - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · The effects of climate change have become an ominous presence in our lives, and the dramatic media monikers that accompany them - bomb cyclones, atmospheric rivers, thundersnow, black swan events, heat domes, polar vortexes - sound almost biblical.
The hyperbole may be great for SEO and headlines, but the sheer scope and frequent use of this new lexicon also indicate meteorologists now accept outsize events as our "new normal." To wit, AccuWeather recently anointed this month "Supercharged September," and it seems to have caught on.
Supercharged September refers to the onslaught of storms and hurricanes that are expected in early autumn to supplant the dry, dusty air - ... Read more ...
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How Ukraine can rebuild its energy system:
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| How Ukraine can rebuild its energy system - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 18 · One of the main targets of Russia's ongoing attacks on Ukraine is the energy infrastructure. The extent of the destruction is enormous.
"One year after the start of the war in February 2022, 76% of thermal power plants had been destroyed; now the figure is 95%," says Ukrainian scientist Iryna Doronina. "And all the large hydroelectric power plants have also failed."
The breaching of the Kakhovka dam proved to be particularly devastating. The huge outflow of water - the reservoir covered an area 1.5 times bigger than the canton of Zurich - destroyed thousands of homes and left the reservoir a desert.
Before the war, Doronina was a lecturer at the Kyiv National ... Read more ...
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In a step toward solar fuels, durable artificial photosynthesis setup chains two carbons together:
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| In a step toward solar fuels, durable artificial photosynthesis setup chains two carbons together - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 17 · A key step toward reusing CO2 to make sustainable fuels is chaining carbon atoms together, and an artificial photosynthesis system developed at the University of Michigan can bind two of them into hydrocarbons with field-leading performance.
The system produces ethylene with efficiency, yield and longevity well above other artificial photosynthesis systems. Ethylene is a hydrocarbon typically used in plastics, so one direct application of the system would be to harvest carbon dioxide that would otherwise be vented into the atmosphere for making plastics.
"The performance, or the activity and stability, is about five to six times better than what is typically reported for ... Read more ...
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In French Polynesia, boom in whale-based tourism sparks concern:
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| In French Polynesia, boom in whale-based tourism sparks concern - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Sep 18 · A giant whale stole the show at the Summer Olympic Games, shooting out of the water as athletes competed in women's surfing semi-finals on the French Pacific island of Tahiti last month.
It is for spectacular scenes like this that many tourists travel each year to French Polynesia, one of the world's prime destinations to go whale-watching and even swim with the huge mammals.
But even if the French overseas territory seeks to promote eco-friendly tourism, environmentalists and some scientists warn that growing numbers of travelers present a threat to the majestic species.
Every year, between July and November, humpback whales travel from their breeding grounds in ... Read more ...
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In Step Toward Solar Fuels, Durable Artificial Photosynthesis Setup Chains Two Carbons Together:
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| In Step Toward Solar Fuels, Durable Artificial Photosynthesis Setup Chains Two Carbons Together - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Sep 24 · A key step toward reusing CO2 to make sustainable fuels is chaining carbon atoms together, and an artificial photosynthesis system developed at the University of Michigan can bind two of them into hydrocarbons with field-leading performance.
The system produces ethylene with efficiency, yield and longevity well above other artificial photosynthesis systems. Ethylene is a hydrocarbon typically used in plastics, so one direct application of the system would be to harvest carbon dioxide that would otherwise be vented into the atmosphere for making plastics.
"The performance, or the activity and stability, is about five to six times better than what is typically reported for ... Read more ...
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India coal expansion risks massive methane growth: Report:
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| India coal expansion risks massive methane growth: Report - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · India's plans to expand coal mining could double emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane from its domestic coal sector by 2029, threatening its climate goals, a report warned Thursday.
Methane is the second-most abundant greenhouse gas produced by human activity, after carbon dioxide. It breaks down faster but has a more powerful effect in the short term.
Coal mining is a key source of methane, which leaks from vents, open pits and cracks in the ground.
India is already one of the world's leading sources of coal-mine methane emissions, as well as the second-biggest producer, importer and consumer of the fossil fuel.
To meet rapidly growing energy ... Read more ...
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Innovating Alloy Production: A Single Step from Ores to Sustainable Metals:
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| Innovating Alloy Production: A Single Step from Ores to Sustainable Metals - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Sep 24 · Max Planck scientists design a process that merges metal extraction, alloying and processing into one single, eco-friendly step. Their results are now published in the journal Nature.
Metal production is responsible for 10% of global CO2 emissions, with iron production emitting two tons of CO2 for every ton of metal produced, and nickel production emitting 14 tons of CO2 per ton and even more, depending on the ore used. These metals form the foundation of alloys that have a low thermal expansion, called Invar. They are critical for the aerospace, cryogenic transport, energy and precision instrument sectors. Recognizing the environmental toll, scientists at the Max Planck ... Read more ...
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Intel stock surges on plans to make AI chips for Amazon and to turn foundry into subsidiary:
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| Intel stock surges on plans to make AI chips for Amazon and to turn foundry into subsidiary - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 17 · CEO Pat Gelsinger said in a message to employees late Monday that Intel will create an AI fabric chip for Amazon's cloud services division at its foundry business, a struggling division that he said would become a subsidiary of Intel.
"A subsidiary structure will unlock important benefits," Gelsinger said. "It provides our external foundry customers and suppliers with clearer separation and independence from the rest of Intel. Importantly, it also gives us future flexibility to evaluate independent sources of funding and optimize the capital structure of each business to maximize growth and shareholder value creation."
Harlan Sur of JP Morgan believes that making the ... Read more ...
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Invasive caterpillars can make aspen forests more toxic for native insects - ecologists explain how:
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| Invasive caterpillars can make aspen forests more toxic for native insects - ecologists explain how - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Sep 19 · When we walked with a colleague into an aspen forest near Madison, Wisconsin, in the early spring of 2021, we expected to finalize our plans for a research project on several species of insects that live and feed on the trees. Instead, we found a forest laden with fuzzy, brown egg masses.
These masses, belonging to an invasive species known as the spongy moth, brought our plans to a screeching stop. We knew that within weeks, hungry spongy moth caterpillars would strip the forest bare.
We are chemical ecologists interested in how plant chemistry influences the interactions between plants and plant-feeding insects. As seasoned scientists, we've seen that good science ... Read more ...
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Lake ice quality degrading as planet warms - skaters, hockey players, ice truckers on thin ice:
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| Lake ice quality degrading as planet warms - skaters, hockey players, ice truckers on thin ice - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · Ice may look safe for a game of pick-up hockey on the lake, but as a new study out of York University found, looks can be deceiving. Warming winters are not only affecting ice thickness and timing - when a lake freezes and thaws - but also quality, making it potentially unstable and unsafe.
When lakes and rivers freeze, there are two predominant layers of ice, what's called white ice and black ice. White ice is generally opaque, like snow, and filled with more air bubbles and smaller ice crystals, diminishing its strength and stability, while black ice is clear and dense with few air pockets and larger ice crystals making it a lot stronger.
"Ice quality is important ... Read more ...
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LHC experiments observe quantum entanglement at the highest energy yet:
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| LHC experiments observe quantum entanglement at the highest energy yet - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · Quantum entanglement is a fascinating feature of quantum physics - the theory of the very small. If two particles are quantum-entangled, the state of one particle is tied to that of the other, no matter how far apart the particles are. This mind-bending phenomenon, which has no analog in classical physics, has been observed in a wide variety of systems and has found several important applications, such as quantum cryptography and quantum computing.
In 2022, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger for groundbreaking experiments with entangled photons. These experiments confirmed the predictions for the manifestation of ... Read more ...
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Liftoff: The Climate Project at MIT takes flight:
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| Liftoff: The Climate Project at MIT takes flight - MIT - Evironment |
Sep 18 · d="M12.132,61.991a5.519,5.519,0,0,1-5.866,5.753A5.554,5.554,0,0,1,.4,61.854a5.809,5.809,0,0,1,1.816-4.383,6.04,6.04,0,0,1,4.05-1.37C9.9,55.965,12.132,58.43,12.132,61.991Zm-8.939-.137c0,2.328,1.117,3.7,3.073,3.7s3.073-1.37,3.073-3.7-1.117-3.835-3.073-3.835C4.45,58.156,3.193,59.526,3.193,61.854Z" transform="translate(-0.4 -55.965)" fill="#333"/> d="M17.884,67.531l-3.352-5.753-1.257-2.191v7.944H10.9V56.3h2.793l3.212,5.616c.419.822.7,1.37,1.257,2.328V56.3h2.374V67.531Z" transform="translate(3.765 -55.889)" fill="#333"/> ... Read more ...
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Limited net poleward movement of reef species over a decade of climate extremes:
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| Limited net poleward movement of reef species over a decade of climate extremes - Nature Climate Change |
Sep 18 · Warming seas are expected to drive marine life poleward. However, few systematic observations confirm movement among entire communities at both warm and cool range edges. We analysed two continent-scale reef monitoring datasets to quantify changes in latitudinal range edges of 662 Australian shallow-water reef fishes and invertebrates over a decade punctuated by climate extremes. Temperate and tropical species both showed little net movement overall, with retreat often balancing expansion across the continent. Within regions, however, range edges shifted ~100?km per decade, on average, in the poleward or equatorward directions expected from warming or cooling. Although some species ... Read more ...
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Location, location, location: Snowpack storage and runoff timing in burn scars depend on site and terrain:
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| Location, location, location: Snowpack storage and runoff timing in burn scars depend on site and terrain - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 20 · Increasingly severe wildfires at high elevations are impacting snowpack - an important reservoir for the U.S. West. The altered landscape makes it more challenging to predict when snow will melt and how much water will be available for use.
Colorado State University researchers studied the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire's effects on snowpack across mountainous terrain and found that location is key to melt rate and timing.
Snowmelt rates vary from slope to slope, based on how much sun the slope receives and vegetation. Snow generally melts faster on south-facing slopes, which get more sun. The researchers found that the amount of water in the snow on a burned south aspect peaks ... Read more ...
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Lost in translation: What spirituality and Einstein have to do with misunderstandings about climate change:
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| Lost in translation: What spirituality and Einstein have to do with misunderstandings about climate change - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 17 · As a child growing up in the early 1990s, I remember learning in school about the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide released by burning fossil fuels traps heat near the Earth's surface, like the glass of a greenhouse. I imagined myself on the playground, roasting inside a humid hothouse.
Fast forward 30 years, and the terms have changed.
For a while, "global warming" was the go-to expression for talking about rising global temperatures and the role of human activities, particularly the use of fossil fuels. It had a spike in internet searches in 2007, probably due to former Vice President Al Gore's documentary "An Inconvenient Truth: A Global Warning," which hit theaters ... Read more ...
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Low-carbon ammonia offers green alternative for agriculture and hydrogen transport:
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| Low-carbon ammonia offers green alternative for agriculture and hydrogen transport - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 19 · A new way of making ammonia, by harnessing the unique power of liquid metal, could lead to significant cuts in carbon emissions caused by production of the widely-used chemical.
Ammonia is used in fertilizer to grow much of our food, but also plays a role in clean energy as a carrier to safely transport hydrogen.
The global production of ammonia, however, comes at a high environmental cost: It consumes over 2% of global energy and produces up to 2% of global carbon emissions.
The work appears in Nature Catalysis .
"Ammonia production worldwide is currently responsible for twice the emissions of Australia. If we can improve this process and make it less energy ... Read more ...
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Low-noise amplifiers aboard the Arctic Weather Satellite:
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| Low-noise amplifiers aboard the Arctic Weather Satellite - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 17 · The Arctic Weather Satellite (AWS) of the European Space Agency (ESA) was sent on its journey to a polar orbit 600 km above the Earth on August 16, 2024. On board: four low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF in Freiburg. They are essential components of the passive microwave radiometer with which the AWS measures temperature and humidity in the Arctic more precisely than ever before. This should contribute to a better understanding of both the Arctic and the climate change that is particularly visible in it.
If the mission is successful, ESA plans to launch a global constellation of identical small satellites into space to ... Read more ...
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MAGA's scariest environmental proposal:
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| MAGA's scariest environmental proposal - Heated World |
Sep 17 · Diane Cotter is a proud “firewife”: the wife and mother of firefighters. On a phone call last week, she told me she’s “very much afraid” for her family and firefighting community, because of a little-known environmental proposal in Project 2025.
In the Heritage Foundation’s 900-page blueprint for Donald Trump’s second term, there’s a brief proposal to potentially deregulate a class of toxic chemicals called PFAS, found in firefighting foam and gear and linked to high rates of cancer among firefighters nationwide. Written by former members of Trump’s administration, it says the Environmental Protection Agency should “revisit the designation of PFAS chemicals as 'hazardous ... Read more ...
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Michigan Can Get Solar for All Right With These Steps:
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| Michigan Can Get Solar for All Right With These Steps - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy |
Sep 17 · Michigan, along with many other states, is set to receive significant funding under the federal Inflation Reduction Act’s Solar for All program (more than $156 million for Michigan specifically). With these funds the state can dramatically increase community and household access to the benefits of solar energy. The program requires that participating low-income households see a minimum of 20% savings in their electricity bills - but it’s important for Michigan officials to get the details right in setting up the program.
Last month, the Empower Michigan coalition shared resources on best practices for community engagement and program design with the Michigan Department of ... Read more ...
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Moderate levels of exotic species invasions may help maintain biodiversity, study suggests:
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| Moderate levels of exotic species invasions may help maintain biodiversity, study suggests - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Sep 19 · Globally, more than 13,000 plant species, equivalent to the entire native flora of Europe, have been naturalized outside their native ranges. A study, jointly conducted by scientists from China and the U.S., provides new insights about biodiversity, exotic invasion, and their relationship to climate change.
A long-standing debate exists over the impact of exotic species on native ecosystems and how to manage it. Some researchers argue that exotic species are simply "hitchhiking" on environmental change rather than driving ecosystem transformation. Understanding whether climate change drives both the loss of native biodiversity and the increase in exotic invasions is critical ... Read more ...
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NASA develops process to create very accurate eclipse maps:
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| NASA develops process to create very accurate eclipse maps - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · New NASA research reveals a process to generate extremely accurate eclipse maps, which plot the predicted path of the moon's shadow as it crosses the face of Earth. Traditionally, eclipse calculations assume that all observers are at sea level on Earth and that the moon is a smooth sphere that is perfectly symmetrical around its center of mass. As such, these calculations do not take into account different elevations on Earth or the moon's cratered, uneven surface.
For slightly more accurate maps, people can employ elevation tables and plots of the lunar limb - the edge of the visible surface of the moon as seen from Earth. However, now eclipse calculations have gained even ... Read more ...
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NASA, GE aerospace advancing hybrid-electric airliners with HyTEC:
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| NASA, GE aerospace advancing hybrid-electric airliners with HyTEC - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 17 · Hybrid-electric cars have been a staple of the road for many years now.
Soon that same idea of a part-electric-, part-gas-powered engine may find its way into the skies propelling a future jet airliner.
NASA is working in tandem with industry partner GE Aerospace on designing and building just such an engine, one that burns much less fuel by including new components to help electrically power the engine.
In this hybrid jet engine, a fuel-burning core powers the engine and is assisted by electric motors. The motors produce electric power, which is fed back into the engine itself - therefore reducing how much fuel is needed to power the engine in the first ... Read more ...
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Nearly 6 million children affected as floods and landslides devastate Southeast Asia in the wake of Typhoon Yagi - Viet Nam:
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| Nearly 6 million children affected as floods and landslides devastate Southeast Asia in the wake of Typhoon Yagi - Viet Nam - reliefweb |
Sep 18 · BANGKOK, 18 September 2024 – Floods and landslides triggered by Typhoon Yagi have ravaged Viet Nam, Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand, affecting nearly 6 million children and compromising their access to clean water, education, healthcare, food, and shelter—pushing already marginalized communities deeper into crisis.
“The most vulnerable children and families are facing the most devastating consequences of the destruction left behind by Typhoon Yagi,” said June Kunugi, UNICEF Regional Director for East Asia and Pacific. “The immediate priority must be to restore the essential services that children and families so critically depend on, including clean ... Read more ...
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New 'Grumpy' Fish Species Discovered in the Red Sea:
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| New 'Grumpy' Fish Species Discovered in the Red Sea - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Sep 24 · A team of researchers at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and the University of Washington has discovered a new species of fish that seems perpetually displeased. The researchers decided to call this new species the grumpy dwarfgoby.
Despite its small size of less than 2 centimeters, the grumpy dwarfgoby has a surprisingly menacing appearance. Its large canines and fierce expression give it a rather intimidating look for such a small fish.
Lucía Pombo-Ayora, who gave the species its grumpy common name, comments on its distinctive appearance: "I imagine in its own tiny world, it is a fearsome predator. Its grumpy expression and large canines ... Read more ...
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New Aotearoa New Zealand climate projections released:
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| New Aotearoa New Zealand climate projections released - environment.govt.nz |
Sep 18 · Projections show potential changes to temperature, wind and rainfall over the rest of the century.
New projections have been released which show how the climate could change in Aotearoa New Zealand over the rest of this century.
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) developed the projections, using information on New Zealand’s unique landscape and climate conditions alongside global data and science.
They have been made available publicly for the first time by the Ministry for the Environment through the government’s Climate Data Initiative, with funding from the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment.
Making these ... Read more ...
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New model points to increased coastal metal emissions:
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| New model points to increased coastal metal emissions - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · There is a high risk of increased metal emissions from coastal areas in the future. In a new model published in Limnology and Oceanography Letters, researchers from the University of Gothenburg show that climate change and overpopulation can flush out heavy metals that have long been buried in sediments, and where on Earth the risk of this is greatest.
Coastal sediments and soils have a good capacity to bind metal pollutants. Low oxygen levels and slow decomposition environments bury the metals and protect surrounding, often sensitive, marine environments from harm.
However, climate change and direct human impact can lead to the release of metals into the sea. A slightly ... Read more ...
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New Research for Week #37 2024:
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| New Research for Week #37 2024 - Skeptical Science |
Sep 19 · A just world on a safe planet: a Lancet Planetary Health–Earth Commission report on Earth-system boundaries, translations, and transformations, Gupta et al., The Lancet Planetary Health:
The health of the planet and its people are at risk. The deterioration of the global commons—ie, the natural systems that support life on Earth—is exacerbating energy, food, and water insecurity, and increasing the risk of disease, disaster, displacement, and conflict. In this Commission, we quantify safe and just Earth-system boundaries (ESBs) and assess minimum access to natural resources required for human dignity and to enable escape from poverty. Collectively, these ... Read more ...
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New study reveals evolution's role in ecosystem stability and tipping points:
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| New study reveals evolution's role in ecosystem stability and tipping points - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Sep 18 · Monash University biologists have discovered that evolution can significantly impact the stability and tipping points of ecosystems, potentially causing early ecosystem collapse or aiding in their recovery.
The study, led by Ph.D. candidate Chris Blake and Associate Professor Mike McDonald from the Monash University School of Biological Sciences, and published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution, provides the first experimental evidence that evolutionary processes can influence ecosystem tipping points.
The team evolved a microbial community for 4,000 generations, offering critical insights for managing larger ecosystems facing environmental threats.
"Many ... Read more ...
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New study uncovers unexpected interaction between Mars and the solar wind:
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| New study uncovers unexpected interaction between Mars and the solar wind - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · Scientists of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) in Kiruna and Umeå University find that under certain conditions the induced magnetosphere of Mars can degenerate. The findings are presented in a new study published in Nature.
An induced magnetosphere is formed when a planet lacks an internal magnetic field and instead the atmosphere of the planet interacts directly with the solar wind. The solar wind is a stream of charged particles from the sun with an embedded magnetic field.
The scientists have been using computer models and observations from scientific instruments, such as IRF's Analyzer of Space Plasmas and Energetic Atoms (ASPERA-3), onboard the ESA ... Read more ...
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Newly developed electrolyte could boost renewable energy storage:
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| Newly developed electrolyte could boost renewable energy storage - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 16 · Renewable energy sources like wind and solar are critical to sustaining our planet, but they come with a big challenge: They don't always generate power when it's needed. To make the most of them, we need efficient and affordable ways to store the energy they produce, so we have power even when the wind isn't blowing or the sun isn't shining.
Columbia Engineering materials scientists have been focused on developing new kinds of batteries to transform how we store renewable energy. In a new study published in Nature Communications, the team used K-Na/S batteries that combine inexpensive, readily-found elements - potassium (K) and sodium (Na), together with sulfur (S) - to ... Read more ...
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NOAA debuts first imagery from GOES-19:
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| NOAA debuts first imagery from GOES-19 - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · On Sept. 18, 2024, NOAA shared the first images of the Western Hemisphere from its GOES-19 satellite. The satellite's Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument recently captured stunning views of Earth.
GOES-19, NOAA's newest geostationary satellite, launched on June 25, 2024, onboard a Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Previously known as GOES-U, the satellite was renamed GOES-19 upon reaching geostationary orbit on July 7, 2024.
GOES-19 orbits 22,236 miles above the equator at the same speed the Earth rotates. This allows the satellite to constantly view the same area of the planet and track weather conditions and hazards as they happen.
The ... Read more ...
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Nuclear theorists turn to supercomputers to map out matter's building blocks in 3D:
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| Nuclear theorists turn to supercomputers to map out matter's building blocks in 3D - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 17 · Deep inside what we perceive as solid matter, the landscape is anything but stationary. The interior of the building blocks of the atom's nucleus - particles called hadrons that a high school student would recognize as protons and neutrons - are made up of a seething mixture of interacting quarks and gluons, known collectively as partons.
A group of physicists has now come together to map out these partons and disentangle how they interact to form hadrons. Based at the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and known as the HadStruc Collaboration, these nuclear physicists have been working on a mathematical description of the interactions of ... Read more ...
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Ocean sediment is a 'mudtropolis' - meet the carbon-cycling creatures thriving beneath the seabed:
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| Ocean sediment is a 'mudtropolis' - meet the carbon-cycling creatures thriving beneath the seabed - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Sep 18 · Sitting in darkness, deep below the sunlit surface, an iridescent nightmare awaits its prey. With precision and speed, it strikes and slices a passing fish clean in half with a set of jaws twice the width of its head. The armor-plated creature retreats into its hole, quarry in tow, to rejoin the bustling metropolis of animals living in a network of burrows in the mud.
This scene of a hunting bobbit worm is not one of science fiction, set on a far-flung planet. This creature lives within the seabed of the Earth's continental shelf. This alien world, collectively the size of the North American continent, has been largely ignored.
Our current research brings the seabed to ... Read more ...
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Ocean warming as a trigger for irreversible retreat of the Antarctic ice sheet:
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| Ocean warming as a trigger for irreversible retreat of the Antarctic ice sheet - Nature Climate Change |
Sep 19 · Warmer ocean conditions could impact future ice loss from Antarctica due to their ability to thin and reduce the buttressing of laterally confined ice shelves. Previous studies highlight the potential for a cold to warm ocean regime shift within the sub-shelf cavities of the two largest Antarctic ice shelves - the Filchner–Ronne and Ross. However, how this impacts upstream ice flow and mass loss has not been quantified. Here using an ice sheet model and an ensemble of ocean-circulation model sub-shelf melt rates, we show that transition to a warm state in those ice shelf cavities leads to a destabilization and irreversible grounding line retreat in some locations. Once this ocean ... Read more ...
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Ocean waves grow way beyond known limits, new research finds:
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| Ocean waves grow way beyond known limits, new research finds - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · Scientists have discovered that ocean waves may become far more extreme and complex than previously imagined.
The new study, published in Nature today, reveals that under specific conditions, where waves meet each other from different directions, waves can reach heights four times steeper than what was once thought possible.
It has often been assumed that waves are two-dimensional and understanding of wave breaking to-date has been based on these assumptions. Yet in the ocean, waves can travel in many directions and rarely fit this simplified model.
New insights by a team of researchers, including Dr. Samuel Draycott from The University of Manchester and Dr. Mark ... Read more ...
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Oceanic life found to be thriving thanks to Saharan dust blown from thousands of kilometers away:
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| Oceanic life found to be thriving thanks to Saharan dust blown from thousands of kilometers away - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 20 · Iron is a micronutrient indispensable for life, enabling processes such as respiration, photosynthesis, and DNA synthesis. Iron availability is often a limiting resource in today's oceans, which means that increasing the flow of iron into them can increase the amount of carbon fixed by phytoplankton, with consequences for the global climate.
Iron ends up in oceans and terrestrial ecosystems through rivers, melting glaciers, hydrothermal activity, and especially wind. But not all its chemical forms are "bioreactive," that is, available for organisms to take up from their environment.
"Here we show that iron bound to dust from the Sahara blown westward over the Atlantic ... Read more ...
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Oil and Gas Sponsorships in Major League Sports:
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| Oil and Gas Sponsorships in Major League Sports - Legal Planet |
Sep 19 · If California Attorney General Rob Bonta attends a home game to cheer on his local NBA team - the Sacramento Kings - he may encounter sponsorship ads promoting not one but two of the oil companies he’s suing for allegedly deceiving the public about climate change.
Then again, Attorney General Bonta, a former soccer player and self-described soccer dad, might be more likely to attend a Los Angeles Football Club game at BMO Stadium while working in L.A. There too, he’ll encounter a corporate sponsor that he and the state of California allege have created a public nuisance that is “truly staggering.” And if Bonta were to take in a baseball game in San Francisco, Oakland, or L.A. ... Read more ...
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Organic Matter On Mars from Formaldehyde:
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| Organic Matter On Mars from Formaldehyde - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Sep 24 · Although Mars is currently a cold, dry planet, geological evidence suggests that liquid water existed there around 3 to 4 billion years ago. Where there is water, there is usually life. In their quest to answer the burning question about life on Mars, researchers at Tohoku University created a detailed model of organic matter production in the ancient Martian atmosphere.
Organic matter refers to the remains of living things such as plants and animals, or the byproduct of certain chemical reactions. Whatever the case, the stable carbon isotope ratio (13C/12C) found in organic matter provides valuable clues about how these building blocks of life were originally formed, giving ... Read more ...
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Over Nearly Half a Billion Years, Earth's Global Temperature Has Changed Drastically, Driven by Carbon Dioxide:
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| Over Nearly Half a Billion Years, Earth's Global Temperature Has Changed Drastically, Driven by Carbon Dioxide - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Sep 24 · The start of the Phanerozoic Eon 540 million years ago is marked by the Cambrian Explosion, a point in time when complex, hard-shelled organisms first appeared in the fossil record. Although researchers can create simulations all the way back to 540 million years ago, the temperature curve in the study focuses on the last 485 million years since there is limited geological data of temperature before then.
"It's hard to find rocks that are that old and have temperature indicators preserved in them -- even at 485 million years ago we don't have that many. We were limited with how far back we could go," said study co-author Jessica Tierney, a paleoclimatologist at the University ... Read more ...
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Photos show how climate change is shaping the Louisiana coast:
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| Photos show how climate change is shaping the Louisiana coast - Yale Climate Connections - Arts |
Sep 17 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
After a big hurricane hits the Louisiana coast, photos of the devastation make front-page news – houses with roofs torn off, people wading through flooded streets, broken furniture piled on lawns.
Hanusik: “There’s almost like a stock imagery that we use to describe climate change.”
But photographer Virginia Hanusik tells the story of the region in a different way.
Her images capture how the distinctive landscape of the Louisiana coast has been shaped by nature and by human hands. A home on stilts overlooks a grassy bayou. Ripples of water ... Read more ...
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Pollen Affects Cloud Formation and Precipitation Patterns:
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| Pollen Affects Cloud Formation and Precipitation Patterns - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Sep 24 · Ground-based and satellite observations in the United States show that increased pollen concentrations in spring lead to more cloud ice and more precipitation -- even at temperatures between minus 15 and minus 25 degrees Celsius. "This is supported by laboratory results showing that pollen acts as an ice nucleus, influencing the freezing temperature of water in clouds and promoting precipitation," says meteorologist Dr Jan Kretzschmar, lead author of the study. Without these ice-nucleating particles (INPs), water in clouds only freezes at temperatures below minus 38 degrees Celsius.
"In the Breathing Nature Cluster of Excellence project, we therefore asked whether this effect ... Read more ...
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Pollen affects cloud formation and precipitation patterns, researchers find:
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| Pollen affects cloud formation and precipitation patterns, researchers find - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 17 · Ground-based and satellite observations in the United States show that increased pollen concentrations in spring lead to more cloud ice and more precipitation - even at temperatures between minus 15 and minus 25 degrees Celsius.
"This is supported by laboratory results showing that pollen acts as an ice nucleus, influencing the freezing temperature of water in clouds and promoting precipitation," says meteorologist Dr. Jan Kretzschmar, lead author of the study. Without these ice-nucleating particles (INPs), water in clouds only freezes at temperatures below minus 38 degrees Celsius. The findings were published in Environmental Research Letters.
"In the Breathing Nature ... Read more ...
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Poor indoor air quality isn't just making us sick. It's also polluting our cities:
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| Poor indoor air quality isn't just making us sick. It's also polluting our cities - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · According to the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution is one of the greatest environmental health challenges that we face today. Various studies have shown that in addition to the lungs, it affects essential organs like the heart and brain, and that those who suffer most from its consequences are the most exposed or vulnerable people in society. It is a pervasive issue that affects all of humanity, and reinforces entrenched inequalities.
While vehicles and industry pollute the air outside, indoors we are exposed to a range of chemical pollutants that - even in moderate amounts - can cause headaches, dizziness, fatigue and nausea. In the long term, they can lead to ... Read more ...
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Portugal battles ferocious wildfires as toll rises to seven:
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| Portugal battles ferocious wildfires as toll rises to seven - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 17 · Thousands of firefighters on Tuesday battled wildfires in Portugal that have killed seven people and burnt more land in a matter of days than the rest of the summer combined.
Fanned by bellowing winds in the stifling heat, the three largest fires concentrated in the northern Aveiro region scorched some 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) by Monday evening, according to a civil protection report.
Three firefighters died on Tuesday when their vehicle was trapped by the flames, civil protection authorities said, bringing the fire-related toll up to seven, with some 50 injured.
The two women and a man were killed while fighting flames in the central region of Coimbra, the ... Read more ...
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Portugal tackles last of deadly northern forest fires:
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| Portugal tackles last of deadly northern forest fires - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · Portugal's firefighters have mastered most of the deadly forest fires in the north of the country, according to official data Thursday.
And improving weather conditions have raised hopes that they could extinguish the last of the blazes by the end of the day.
The wildfires, which sprang up over the weekend fed by crushing heat and strong winds, have killed five people, four of them firefighters. Another 77 people were injured, 12 of them seriously.
By late morning on Thursday the civil protection service website said 1,200 firefighters were battling the six remaining fires in the northern districts of Aveiro and Viseu.
A day earlier, 3,900 firefighters were ... Read more ...
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Prehistoric Earth Was Very Hot. That Offers Clues About Future Earth.:
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| Prehistoric Earth Was Very Hot. That Offers Clues About Future Earth. - New York Times - Climate Section |
Sep 19 · At times during the past half-billion years, carbon dioxide warmed our planet more than previously thought, according to a new reconstruction of Earth’s deep past.
Over the past 500 million years, our planet has gone from hot to cold to hot again. The oceans have risen and fallen. Ice caps have melted and reformed. It is a story with several acts, and sunlight and carbon dioxide are the main players. | By Raymond Zhong Read more ...
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Production of solar fuels: Storing the sun's heat at 1,200°C:
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| Production of solar fuels: Storing the sun's heat at 1,200°C - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 19 · Closing the CO2 cycle by converting climate-damaging carbon dioxide back into kerosene, gasoline and diesel: That is the idea behind Synhelion. The ETH spin-off uses the heat of the sun to produce synthetic fuels (Synfuels) from CO2 and water.
In June 2024, in the German city of Jülich, Synhelion inaugurated DAWN: the world's first industrial plant for the production of solar fuels. Thanks to a collaboration with the Empa Laboratory for High-Performance Ceramics, DAWN can produce renewable fuels around the clock, even at night.
To turn CO2 and water back into fuels, DAWN needs one thing above all - energy. A large mirror field focuses the sunlight onto a single point on ... Read more ...
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Projections show future droughts could be longer than expected:
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| Projections show future droughts could be longer than expected - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · The average longest periods of drought could be ten days longer by the end of the century than previously predicted by climate models, according to research published in Nature. The findings suggest that the hazards droughts pose to societies and ecosystems in the coming decades may be greater than expected.
Climate models project an increase of dry extremes in many world regions, but uncertainties make it difficult to implement effective adaptation strategies to minimize the environmental impact of droughts.
Irina Petrova, Diego Miralles, and colleagues investigated potential biases in drought projections made by a range of climate models under both moderate- and ... Read more ...
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Propagated corals reveal increased resistance to bleaching across the Caribbean during the fatal heat wave of 2023:
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| Propagated corals reveal increased resistance to bleaching across the Caribbean during the fatal heat wave of 2023 - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · SECORE International's Coral Seeding approach utilizes assisted reproduction, the breeding of corals, for reef restoration. This approach is realized within a training and partner network throughout the Caribbean. Now, a study shows that all the effort was worthwhile: during the devastating heat wave in the Caribbean in 2023, the young, bred corals out on the reef stayed healthy while most of the remaining wild corals bleached and many died in the aftermath.
The study, "Assisted sexual coral recruits show high thermal tolerance to the 2023 Caribbean mass bleaching event," is published in PLoS ONE.
The summer of 2023 was deadly for many corals in the Caribbean Basin. An ... Read more ...
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Proteins in tooth enamel offer window into ancient and modern human wellness:
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| Proteins in tooth enamel offer window into ancient and modern human wellness - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · A new way of looking at tooth enamel could give scientists a path to deeper understanding of the health of human populations, from the ancient to the modern.
The method, published this week in the Journal of Archaeological Science, examines two immune proteins found embedded in human tooth enamel: immunoglobulin G, an antibody that fights infection, and C-reactive protein, which is present during inflammation in the body.
"These proteins are present in tooth enamel, and they are something we can use to study the biological and potentially the emotional health of past human populations," said Tammy Buonasera, an assistant professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks ... Read more ...
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Quantum tech breakthrough could enable precision sensing at room temperature:
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| Quantum tech breakthrough could enable precision sensing at room temperature - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 17 · A breakthrough in quantum technology research could help realize a new generation of precise quantum sensors that can operate at room temperature.
The findings could help unlock a new class of quantum sensors which could be used to probe biological systems, novel materials, or electronic devices by measuring magnetic fields with high sensitivity and spatial resolution.
Enabled by using molecules as the quantum sensor, future devices which build on the team's research could measure magnetic fields down to nanometer-length scales in a way which is convenient to deploy.
In a paper, titled "Room-temperature optically detected coherent control of molecular spins" ... Read more ...
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Reducing floodplain development doesn't need to be complex, say researchers:
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| Reducing floodplain development doesn't need to be complex, say researchers - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · A paper, titled "How local governments avoid floodplain development through consistent implementation of routine municipal ordinances, plans, and programs," published in Oxford Open Climate Change uncovers evidence suggesting that, contrary to expectations, most U.S. cities are not doing too badly in avoiding development in areas prone to flooding, and those that are effective appear to be applying existing tools and strategies well, rather than doing anything particularly novel.
Despite billions of dollars of investments and widespread mitigation efforts, the costs of disasters in the United States have grown dramatically. Floods are the most prevalent and expensive U.S. ... Read more ...
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Research predicts rise in tropical hydraulic failure:
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| Research predicts rise in tropical hydraulic failure - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · Hydraulic failure in tropical environments is expected to increase, according to new research published in New Phytologist. As weather patterns change and temperatures rise, plants will need to adapt in order to survive. Hydraulic failure occurs when more water is lost from transpiration than is taken in through the roots. If uncorrected, the xylem loses conductivity and the plant will not survive.
"Increases in hydraulic failure rates will likely increase mortality and vegetation turnover. Over extended periods, this will alter the vegetative composition, forcing more drought-tolerant species to become a more significant proportion of forests," said Zachary Robbins, a ... Read more ...
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Research shows that auto plants grew their workforces after transitioning to electric vehicle production:
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| Research shows that auto plants grew their workforces after transitioning to electric vehicle production - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 17 · U.S. auto plants producing battery electric vehicles have required a larger workforce than traditional internal combustion engine plants - a finding that runs counter to early predictions about how EVs would impact the industry.
"There is a shortage of information out there about how the transition is shaping up," said Anna Stefanopoulou, the William Clay Ford Professor of Technology and senior author of the study published in Nature Communications. "What we're seeing, with the data that's available, is that the loss of employment predicted for EVs is not happening."
Previous estimates of what EV manufacturing would mean for autoworkers depicted a 30% to 40% reduction - ... Read more ...
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Researchers build AI model database to find new alloys for nuclear fusion facilities:
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| Researchers build AI model database to find new alloys for nuclear fusion facilities - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · A study led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory details how artificial intelligence researchers have created an AI model to help identify new alloys used as shielding for housing fusion applications components in a nuclear fusion reactor. The findings mark a major step towards improving nuclear fusion facilities.
This project began several years ago under former AI Initiative Director David Womble. ORNL AI data scientist Massimiliano Lupo Pasini advocated for it to continue under the initiative's Artificial Intelligence for Scientific Discovery, or AISD, thrust area. The results of this study are published in the journal Scientific Data.
"These ... Read more ...
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Researchers create tiny nuclear-powered battery thousands of times more efficient than predecessors:
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| Researchers create tiny nuclear-powered battery thousands of times more efficient than predecessors - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 19 · A team of physicists and engineers affiliated with several institutions in China has developed an extremely small nuclear battery that they claim is up to 8,000 times more efficient than its predecessors. Their paper is published in the journal Nature.
Scientists have been looking for a way to create tiny nuclear power packs for decades. These could power virtually any device, from phones to robots and cars, for many years. Unfortunately, the development of such power packs has been stymied by the dangerous nature of nuclear power plants, regardless of size.
One approach is the development of devices powered by batteries that are charged by nuclear material. Such devices ... Read more ...
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Researchers simulate how wildfires spread through communities:
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| Researchers simulate how wildfires spread through communities - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · California has already recorded more than 6,000 wildfires this year, underscoring the need for better mitigation strategies to reduce their devastating impact. Now, researchers have created a model that may shed light on how these fires spread through communities in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), enabling us to better assess the risks of wildfire and take steps to build more resilient communities.
In a study recently published in the Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, a team of researchers led by Michael Gollner, professor of mechanical engineering, demonstrated how this new model simulates wildfires as they propagate through communities.
By reconstructing two ... Read more ...
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Rugged Falklands landscape was once a lush rainforest, researchers say:
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| Rugged Falklands landscape was once a lush rainforest, researchers say - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · A study by Dr. Zoë Thomas, leading an international team of scientists, reveals that the South Atlantic archipelago was once covered in cool, wet woodland - similar to the present day rainforests found in Tierra del Fuego, off the tip of South America.
Detailed findings of the research are newly published in the journal Antarctic Science.
The scientists conducted the research after clues to the whereabouts of buried remains of the ancient forest reached them via word of mouth in the tight-knit community of Port Stanley, the Falklands' capital. Chance conversations led them to find perfectly preserved prehistoric tree remains and pollen at a building site in early ... Read more ...
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Scientists decipher the energy patterns in our cells:
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| Scientists decipher the energy patterns in our cells - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 17 · Our cells harness energy for essential functions such as division, wound healing, and our immune response to diseases including cancer. But until now, the mechanics of how that energy affects cell behavior - and how this relates to health outcomes - have remained elusive.
Scientists at the Yale Systems Biology Institute have discovered the thermodynamic principles underpinning energy use in our cells. Published in Nature Physics, the discovery comes from the lab of Michael Murrell, associate professor of Biomedical Engineering and Physics.
For the first time, the scholars measured how energy is arranged into different wave patterns formed in the cell's external membrane ... Read more ...
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Scientists design high-performance polymer-based electrode binder for lithium and sodium-ion batteries:
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| Scientists design high-performance polymer-based electrode binder for lithium and sodium-ion batteries - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 17 · Global demand for electronic devices and electric vehicles is set to continue growing and diversifying in the coming years. This rise in demand calls for powerful batteries with enhanced efficiency, performance, and safe storage technologies.
Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have been ruling this secondary ion battery sector for over three decades now. However, the supply of lithium is gradually declining due to concerns about unsustainable extraction practices, high costs, and uneven geographic distribution.
This has led researchers and the industry to find an alternative to LIBs. A promising contender is sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) because sodium is abundant in nature, is ... Read more ...
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Scientists develop AI models able to predict future drought conditions with high accuracy:
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| Scientists develop AI models able to predict future drought conditions with high accuracy - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · "The results were promising. The AI models were able to predict future drought conditions with high accuracy. The AI models demonstrated strong correlations with multiple drought indicators and consistently outperformed existing indices," said Dr. Mohamed Abdallah, University of Sharjah's Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, and the study's lead author.
The authors attribute the absence of reliable drought forecasts to the complex nature of the phenomenon and varying hydroclimatic conditions.
They write, "As a result of the inherent complexity of drought phenomena and hydroclimatic condition differences, no universal drought index is available for effectively ... Read more ...
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Scientists discover an unexpected involvement of sodium transport in mitochondrial energy generation:
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| Scientists discover an unexpected involvement of sodium transport in mitochondrial energy generation - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Sep 19 · The GENOXPHOS (Functional Genetics of the Oxidative Phosphorylation System) group at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) has discovered a crucial role of sodium in the generation of cellular energy.
The study, led by Dr. José Antonio Enríquez, also involved the participation of scientists from the Complutense University of Madrid, the Biomedical Research Institute at Hospital Doce de Octubre, the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and the Spanish research networks on frailty and healthy aging (CIBERFES) and cardiovascular disease (CIBERCV).
The study, published in Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics, reveals that ... Read more ...
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Scientists find new use for spent lithium-ion batteries in hydrogen peroxide production:
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| Scientists find new use for spent lithium-ion batteries in hydrogen peroxide production - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 18 · The global use of lithium-ion batteries has doubled in just the past four years, generating alarming amounts of battery waste containing many hazardous substances. The need for effective recycling methods for spent lithium-ion batteries is becoming increasingly critical. In the journal ChemElectroChem, scientists from various Polish research institutions have presented a promising solution to this issue.
"Hydrogen peroxide is one of the fundamental chemical molecules, essential to numerous industries. Large-scale production of this substance typically demands high pressures and temperatures, costly catalysts, and various toxic electrolytes. Our focus was on developing a more ... Read more ...
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Scientists quantify energetic costs of the migratory lifestyle in a free flying songbird:
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| Scientists quantify energetic costs of the migratory lifestyle in a free flying songbird - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · Millions of birds migrate every year to escape winter, but spending time in a warmer climate does not save them energy, according to research by the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB). Using miniaturized loggers implanted in wild blackbirds, scientists recorded detailed measurements of heart rate and body temperature from birds every 30 minutes from fall to the following spring - the first time the physiology of free flying birds has been quantified continuously at this scale over the entire wintering period.
The data offers unprecedented insights into the true energetic costs of migrant and resident strategies and reveal a previously unknown mechanism used by ... Read more ...
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Scientists Quantify Energetic Costs of the Migratory Lifestyle in a Free Flying Songbird:
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| Scientists Quantify Energetic Costs of the Migratory Lifestyle in a Free Flying Songbird - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Sep 24 · Millions of birds migrate every year to escape winter, but spending time in a warmer climate does not save them energy, according to research by the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB). Using miniaturized loggers implanted in wild blackbirds, scientists recorded detailed measurements of heart rate and body temperature from birds every 30 minutes from fall to the following spring -- the first time the physiology of free flying birds has been quantified continuously at this scale over the entire wintering period. The data offer unprecedented insights into the true energetic costs of migrant and resident strategies and reveal a previously unknown mechanism used by migrants ... Read more ...
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Scientists seek a balance between crop production and protecting the environment:
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| Scientists seek a balance between crop production and protecting the environment - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Sep 19 · Scientists at the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory (NPARL), in Sidney, Montana, completed a study that shows the use of continuous cropping systems can better sustain crop yields while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in semi-arid regions.
"The study revealed that long-term no-till continuous cropping systems can reduce GHG emissions while sustaining crop yields compared to the conventional till crop-fallow system, which is the traditional two-year crop rotation of dryland farming in the Northern Great Plains," explained Sainju.
As the demand for agricultural production increases, it is becoming more ... Read more ...
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Scientists urge new conservation approach to save vulnerable species from climate change impacts:
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| Scientists urge new conservation approach to save vulnerable species from climate change impacts - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Sep 18 · A team of international scientists alarmed by the loss of biodiversity across the world due to climate change has proposed a new approach to managing vulnerable landscapes, focusing on sites that are least impacted by changing weather.
Known as climate change-refugia, these places experience weather conditions that are the most favorable for their survival and could hold the key to reducing species extinctions, ecologists say.
In a new paper authored by scientists from Australia, Canada, the United States and Hungary, the researchers have laid out a framework to identify, protect and restore refugia from climate change.
The paper, published in Trends in Ecology & ... Read more ...
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Sea Surface Temperature Record in the Southwestern Pacific: Coral Colony from Fiji Reveals Warmest Temperatures in Over 600 Years:
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| Sea Surface Temperature Record in the Southwestern Pacific: Coral Colony from Fiji Reveals Warmest Temperatures in Over 600 Years - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Sep 24 · The sea surface temperature in the Fijian archipelago in the southwestern Pacific is now at its maximum for more than 600 years. This is the result of an international research team's evaluation of a new coral record providing further evidence for unprecedented warming in the western Pacific Ocean. According to this, the year 2022 was the warmest year in the region since 1370. The scientists used the giant coral Diploastrea heliopora colony in Fiji to obtain the data for the new reconstruction. These unique and long-lived massive corals record long-term climatic and environmental changes in their chemical composition that have shaped the reef and the giants themselves over many ... Read more ...
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Shein is officially the biggest polluter in fast fashion:
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| Shein is officially the biggest polluter in fast fashion - Yale Climate Connections - Arts |
Sep 19 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
In 2023, the fast fashion giant Shein was everywhere. Crisscrossing the globe, airplanes ferried small packages of its ultra-cheap clothing from thousands of suppliers to tens of millions of customer mailboxes in 150 countries. Influencers’ “#sheinhaul” videos advertised the company’s trendy styles on social media, garnering billions of views.
At every step, data was created, collected, and analyzed. To manage all this information, the fast fashion industry has begun embracing emerging AI technologies. Shein uses proprietary machine-learning ... Read more ...
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Side effects of wide-scale forestation could reduce water availability by 15% in vulnerable regions:
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| Side effects of wide-scale forestation could reduce water availability by 15% in vulnerable regions - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · The side effects of large-scale forestation initiatives could have serious consequences for water availability, a pioneering study has found.
The study found that large-scale forestation could result in a surface cooling of up to 2°C at low latitudes by 2100, driven by a 10% increase in evaporative cooling. However, this cooling effect comes with trade-offs.
Building on previous work examining the atmospheric and radiative effects of forest expansion, this study focuses on the implications for water availability. The research found that in certain regions, particularly in the tropics, plant water stress more than doubles when forest expansion is implemented, raising ... Read more ...
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Slow-moving landslides a growing, but ignored, threat to mountain communities:
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| Slow-moving landslides a growing, but ignored, threat to mountain communities - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 17 · As urban centers in mountainous regions grow, more people are driven to build on steeper slopes prone to slow-moving landslides, a new study finds. Slow-moving landslides are frequently excluded from estimates of landslide risk, but they could threaten hundreds of thousands of people globally, the researchers conclude.
Slow-moving landslides can move as little as one millimeter per year and up to three meters per year. Slopes with slow-moving landslides may seem safe to settle on; the slide itself may be inconspicuous or undetected altogether.
As the slide creeps along, houses and other infrastructure can be damaged. The slow slide can accelerate abruptly, likely in ... Read more ...
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So where does the oceans' plastic waste come from?:
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| So where does the oceans' plastic waste come from? - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · In the form of bottles, tires, packaging and piping, millions of tons of plastic waste are dumped every year in the world's waterways, often ending up in the oceans.
And their amount could almost double by 2060, unless strong measures are taken against the pollution, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warns.
Due to mass production of the material from the 1950s to 2019, 140 million tons have already accumulated in the rivers, lakes and oceans, the OECD said in a 2023 report.
Some 22 percent of this forms a "plastic soup" in the oceans and 78 percent is found in freshwater ecosystems.
Plastic burned in open pits or tossed in ... Read more ...
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Storm Boris toll rises to 22 in central Europe:
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| Storm Boris toll rises to 22 in central Europe - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 17 · The death toll in the extreme weather and flooding let loose by Storm Boris in central Europe has risen to 22, authorities said on Tuesday, after three more victims were reported in Poland and one in Austria.
High winds and unusually heavy rainfall have hit swathes of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia since last week.
Although the weather seemed to be stabilizing in several places, the ground remained saturated and rivers were overflowing, with authorities asking people to remain cautious.
Two big cities in Poland - Opole in the south and Wroclaw in the west - were still awaiting the flood wave and there were concerns that the dykes ... Read more ...
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Study charts how Earth's global temperature has drastically changed over the past 485 million years, driven by CO2:
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| Study charts how Earth's global temperature has drastically changed over the past 485 million years, driven by CO2 - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · A new study co-led by the Smithsonian and the University of Arizona offers the most detailed glimpse yet of how Earth's surface temperature has changed over the past 485 million years.
In a paper published Sept. 19, in the journal Science, a team of researchers, including paleobiologists Scott Wing and Brian Huber from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, produce a curve of global mean surface temperature (GMST) across deep time - the Earth's ancient past stretching over many millions of years.
The new curve reveals that Earth's temperature has varied more than previously thought over much of the Phanerozoic Eon, the past 540 million years of geologic ... Read more ...
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Study discovers that fruit flies' visual navigation tactics differ by environment:
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| Study discovers that fruit flies' visual navigation tactics differ by environment - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 17 · The fruit flies that hover around the apples on your counter have to navigate a cluttered environment to find that food, from the built environment and vegetation around your house to the objects in your kitchen. Desert fruit flies, not so much.
They fly through a mostly barren landscape dotted with a much smaller number of relatively predictable obstacles to find cactus fruit. Nonetheless, it has long been believed that other species of fruit fly navigate and maintain balance the same way as urban fruit flies, regardless of habitat.
A new study contradicts that belief with the discovery that species of flies living in the two distinct visual habitats have significantly ... Read more ...
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Study finds marine animals in untouched habitats are at greater risk from human impacts than previously thought:
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| Study finds marine animals in untouched habitats are at greater risk from human impacts than previously thought - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · Climate change and a range of other human impacts are putting marine animals at risk of extinction - even those living in almost pristine marine habitats and diverse coastal regions - reports a new study by Casey O'Hara of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis at the University of California, Santa Barbara, U.S., and colleagues, published September 18, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.
Human activities on land and sea, in combination with climate change, are degrading coastal ecosystems, increasing the risk of extinction for multiple species and threatening important ecosystem services that humans depend on. To effectively address these threats, ... Read more ...
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Study outlines cost-effective paths to eliminating greenhouse gas production:
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| Study outlines cost-effective paths to eliminating greenhouse gas production - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 18 · A new study lays out a wide range of options available to cost-effectively eliminate greenhouse gas production from the energy system in the United States by 2050. The findings give policymakers and industry leaders valuable insights on how to chart a path forward to address climate change.
The paper, "Diverse Decarbonization Pathways Under Near Cost-Optimal Futures," is published in the open-access journal Nature Communications.
"There isn't just one way to cost-effectively decarbonize our energy system," says Jeremiah Johnson, co-author of the study and a professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering at North Carolina State University.
"In fact, ... Read more ...
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Study reveals that future climate change may reduce the Amazon rainforest's ability to act as a carbon sink:
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| Study reveals that future climate change may reduce the Amazon rainforest's ability to act as a carbon sink - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · The Amazon, often called the "lungs of the planet," is the world's largest tropical forest, playing a crucial role in the global climate system due to its vast carbon storage. While it is typically warm and humid all year round, continued climate change poses the threat of more frequent and severe droughts and heat extremes.
A study published in Nature Communications delves into future projections of the Amazon carbon cycle, focusing specifically on the impacts driven by climate change.
Scientists use the latest generation of Earth system models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, which contributed to the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report.
In the study ... Read more ...
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Study: Decarbonization Efforts Bring Companies $200M in Annual Net Benefits:
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| Study: Decarbonization Efforts Bring Companies $200M in Annual Net Benefits - Sustainable Brands |
Sep 18 · BCG and CO2 AI’s 4th Carbon Emissions Survey highlights the substantial rewards some companies are reaping from decarbonization - including significant financial gains, enhanced reputations and operational efficiencies.
Despite the escalating climate crisis and 2023 marking the hottest year on record, corporate progress on decarbonization has slowed around the world. A new study released Tuesday by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and CO2 AI reveals that companies have made minimal progress on climate issues over the past year - yet, those at the forefront report substantial financial benefits from decarbonization.
The fourth edition of the companies’ fourth annual Carbon ... Read more ...
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Supply chain report tackles hydropower's missing links:
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| Supply chain report tackles hydropower's missing links - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 19 · Solar panels and wind turbines get a lot of attention in the current conversation about renewable energy. Meanwhile, hydropower is quietly, consistently producing large amounts of clean energy - and has been for more than a century. In fact, nearly 27% of all current renewable energy generation in the United States comes from hydroelectric operations.
But in order for hydropower to continue contributing to the nation's clean energy goals, a strong domestic supply chain must be put in place to enable new construction, plant upgrades, and refurbishments to aging systems.
Shoring up that supply chain is the focus of a recently released report, titled "Hydropower Supply ... Read more ...
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Surface water sampling reveals large numbers of juvenile krill undetected by conventional monitoring methods:
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| Surface water sampling reveals large numbers of juvenile krill undetected by conventional monitoring methods - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Sep 17 · In 2018–2019, researchers of Wageningen Marine Research joined the Japanese research vessel Kaiyo-maru (Fisheries Agency Japan; FAJ) on an Antarctic expedition to sample the upper surface waters with the Surface and Under Ice Trawl. Results showed that a large part of the Antarctic krill population resided in the upper two meters of the water column.
The upper surface layer is usually missed by standard survey nets or acoustics that are used in monitoring. The individuals that remained close to the surface were almost all juvenile krill, in contrast to deeper water layers in which adult individuals were also found. During the second half of the expedition, the krill ... Read more ...
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Synthetic mini-motor: Researchers convert chemical energy into rotational energy at the supramolecular level:
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| Synthetic mini-motor: Researchers convert chemical energy into rotational energy at the supramolecular level - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 17 · Until now, the conversion of chemical energy into rotational energy on a supramolecular level, i.e., for small objects consisting of more than one molecule, was only known from biology. Primitive bacteria, known as archaea, use the chemical fuel ATP to rotate their tiny fin-like locomotion organs, the flagella, and thus move around.
Synthetic replicas of this process have not existed until now. In the future, the new development could be used in nanorobots that swim through blood vessels to detect tumor cells, for example.
The peptide ribbons developed by a team led by Brigitte and Christine Kriebisch and Job Boekhoven, Professor of Supramolecular Chemistry, are a few ... Read more ...
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The Economic (& Environmental & Health) Case for Regenerative Farming & Food:
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| The Economic (& Environmental & Health) Case for Regenerative Farming & Food - Sustainable Brands |
Sep 13 · Despite their benefits for soil and ecosystem health, regenerative practices are not going to make a positive dent in the food system long term unless there is a true economic case for farmers and others in the value chain. And there is.
There is science supporting the environmental principles of regenerative farming – keeping living roots to build soil organic matter, enhance water infiltration, and sequester carbon; fostering biodiversity to create a system that can better sustain itself in times of adversity; integrating animals as walking composters to enhance biology and fertility; etc. But the truth is, regenerative practices are not going to make a positive dent in the ... Read more ...
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The Electricity Distribution System Can Stay Resilient in Extreme Weather:
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| The Electricity Distribution System Can Stay Resilient in Extreme Weather - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy |
Sep 17 · When Hurricane Beryl hit Texas this past July, millions of customers lost their power, some for over a week. This event, though saddening, is not a unique one. In recent years the frequency of extreme weather events has skyrocketed, and many events have included power outages that threaten people’s safety and even lives.
Extreme weather, which is increasing due to climate change, can degrade the electricity system and cause these failures. In fact, between 2000 and 2023, 80% of all major power outages in the United States were due to weather, including severe storms, wildfires, and extreme heat. Power outages are costly, can have extreme impacts on both the health and safety ... Read more ...
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The Fed’s Interest Rate Cut Could Actually Be A Good Thing For Climate Change:
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| The Fed’s Interest Rate Cut Could Actually Be A Good Thing For Climate Change - Huffington Post |
Sep 18 · The Federal Reserve’s decision Wednesday to start cutting interest rates could bolster green energy investments, which took a hit as the U.S. central bank drastically increased the cost of borrowing money over the past two years in a scramble to tamp down post-pandemic inflation.
At its 2 p.m. meeting, the Fed slashed interest rates by 50 basis points ? one-half a percentage point ? delivering an even larger cut than the quarter of a percentage point Wall Street forecasters initially expected.
But analysts said the market needs rates to come down further to reverse the project delays and cancellations slowing the global transition away from fossil fuels, as well as ... | By October, the International Energy Agency warned that higher rates were spiking the cost of building all kinds of clean energy projects. Before the end of that month, the world’s largest offshore turbine developer, the Danish giant Ørsted, canceled its high-profile wind farm off the coast of New Jers Read more ...
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The Hidden Environmental Costs of Food:
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| The Hidden Environmental Costs of Food - New York Times - Climate Section |
Sep 19 · Say a pound of beef costs $5.34 at your local supermarket. That price, according to researchers, leaves out something important: beef’s heavy environmental toll.
Add in things like deforestation and water use, they say, and the price of ground beef would be a lot higher.
Damage to the natural world isn’t factored into the price of food. But some governments are experimenting with a new way of exposing the larger costs of what we eat.
As pricey as a run to the grocery store has become, our grocery bills would be considerably more expensive if environmental costs were included, researchers say. The loss of species as cropland takes over habitat. Groundwater ... | By Lydia DePillis, Manuela Andreoni and Catrin EinhornIllustrations by Allie Sullberg Read more ...
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The memory in seeds: How plants carry environmental clues across generations:
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| The memory in seeds: How plants carry environmental clues across generations - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Sep 19 · Phenotypic plasticity enables plants to adjust their physical traits in response to environmental variations, playing a vital role in their survival and adaptability. While past research has primarily focused on how these traits manifest within a single generation, the genetic basis of transgenerational inheritance remains largely unexplored. Addressing this gap is essential to fully understand how plants transmit adaptive traits from one generation to the next.
Utilizing a nested experimental design, the study explored how maternal light conditions influence the phenotypic traits of Arabidopsis thaliana offspring. By integrating ecological and computational methods, the ... Read more ...
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Tropical cyclone intensity exacerbated by increasing depth of ocean mixed layer, finds study:
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| Tropical cyclone intensity exacerbated by increasing depth of ocean mixed layer, finds study - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · Tropical cyclones can have severe consequences for both the marine and terrestrial environments, as well as the organisms and communities who inhabit them. In the oceans, there can be alterations in sea surface temperature that disrupt biological processes and hospitable conditions for life, the devastation of surface algae and other primary producers, which impacts complex marine food chains, as well as damaging coral reefs. Meanwhile, on land, the heavy rainfall, strong winds and storm surges can lead to significant damage to property and infrastructure, as well as loss of lives.
These natural phenomena are powered by warm surface waters, as the rising water vapor causes ... Read more ...
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UK calls for “ambition” on COP29 climate finance goal but won’t talk numbers:
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| UK calls for “ambition” on COP29 climate finance goal but won’t talk numbers - Climate Change News - Politics |
Sep 17 · The UK’s new foreign minister, David Lammy, says Global North rhetoric on climate action must be matched by funding but stays silent on the size of a new global finance goal
David Lammy makes his speech at Kew Gardens on September 17, 2024 (Photos: Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office/Ben Dance)
Britain’s new foreign minister has called on governments to set an “ambitious” new goal for climate finance to help developing countries at the COP29 UN climate summit, but declined to discuss how much it should be.
In his first major speech in government, after the Labour Party won power in July, Foreign Secretary David Lammy told ... | By Joe Lo Read more ...
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UK campaigners in green energy standoff reject 'nimby' label:
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| UK campaigners in green energy standoff reject 'nimby' label - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 19 · With its medieval church and picturesque village green, the tranquil hamlet of Friston in eastern England should be an unlikely place for a showdown with the UK government and an energy giant.
But Friston, population 341, is on the frontline of a bitter green energy battle between locals in the rural county of Suffolk and those who want to locate a vast energy hub there.
If the plans by National Grid - backed by both the new Labour government and its Conservative predecessor - go ahead, it will see the area transformed by steel and concrete for onshore substations.
Undersea cables from offshore windfarms would make landfall somewhere on the nearby coastline before ... Read more ...
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UK public is becoming more 'carbon capable' - here's what that means:
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| UK public is becoming more 'carbon capable' - here's what that means - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 17 · As climate change intensifies, rising public awareness and incremental behavioral changes will hopefully evolve into transformative action. We investigate how lifestyles and systems of governance need to change to bring about a sustainable, low-carbon future in the UK.
In a recent scientific paper, we reviewed over 240 academic studies to summarize the ways in which people can act in their different roles to take action on climate change. Then we compared surveys from 2008 and 2022 which asked the British public about their knowledge of climate change, their attitudes towards it, and their consumer choices. We call the knowledge, skills and motivation necessary to reduce a ... Read more ...
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Unlocking the future of energy storage: The dendrite-free potassium anode:
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| Unlocking the future of energy storage: The dendrite-free potassium anode - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Sep 18 · Potassium metal batteries (PMBs) are gaining attention as a cost-effective alternative to lithium-ion batteries, thanks to potassium's abundance and similar chemical properties. However, issues like uncontrolled dendrite growth and interfacial instability undermine the performance and safety of PMBs, posing a major challenge that demands new solutions to stabilize the anode interface and prevent dendrite formation.
This interface enhances ion and electron transport dynamics, resulting in an anode with improved electrochemical performance and prolonged stability over 2,000 hours of cycling.
The team developed a KF/Zn hybrid interface layer on potassium metal anodes using ... Read more ...
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Using Sunlight to Turn Two Greenhouse Gases Into Valuable Chemicals:
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| Using Sunlight to Turn Two Greenhouse Gases Into Valuable Chemicals - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Sep 24 · McGill University researchers have harnessed the power of sunlight to transform two of the most harmful greenhouse gases into valuable chemicals. The discovery could help combat climate change and provide a more sustainable way to produce certain industrial products.
"Imagine a world where the exhaust from your car or emissions from a factory could be transformed, with the help of sunlight, into clean fuel for vehicles, the building blocks for everyday plastics, and energy stored in batteries," said co-first author Hui Su, a Postdoctoral Fellow in McGill's Department of Chemistry. "That's precisely the kind of transformation this new chemical process enables."
Turning to ... Read more ...
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Vast France building project sunk by sea level rise fears:
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| Vast France building project sunk by sea level rise fears - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · An ambitious housing project in the northwestern French city of Caen has run aground over worries that rising waters driven by climate change could make the area unlivable within the century.
Conceived in the early 2010s, the development was to transform a strip of industrial wasteland between the River Orne and the canal linking Caen to the sea into 2,300 homes, as well as tens of thousands of square meters of office space.
But the construction "will not happen", said Thibaud Tiercelet, director general of the "Caen Peninsula" planning society in charge of the "Nouveau Bassin" (New Basin) project.
In 2023, just as all the authorizations to start work on the ... Read more ...
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Video: Can a colossal extreme weather event galvanize action on the climate crisis?:
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| Video: Can a colossal extreme weather event galvanize action on the climate crisis? - Yale Climate Connections - Weather |
Sep 19 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our newsletters.
Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Since the summer of 1988, there have been many extreme weather and climate events – each consistent with human-caused warming – that, in another world, would have triggered the U.S. to make the transformational change needed to address the climate crisis. In this video version of this post, meteorologist Jeff Masters reviews those events and discusses the implications of our failure to take transformational action.
We help millions of people understand climate ... Read more ...
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Viewpoint: Climate science needs to talk more about 'justice' - here's how philosophy can help:
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| Viewpoint: Climate science needs to talk more about 'justice' - here's how philosophy can help - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · Climate scientists have all kinds of language to discuss their scientific theories. But when it comes to values and justice, scientific language is less helpful. This matters, because when scientists claim a climate policy or scenario is "just," they sometimes can't or don't explain what they actually mean.
This leads to confusion. Consider by how much a given country should cut its emissions. If I say a plan is fair and you say it's unfair, but we don't have an explanation of what our underlying assumptions are, we'll just end up talking past each other.
Scientists recognize this challenge and have been calling for shared justice language they can use.
As a ... Read more ...
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Violations Discovered at Nation’s First Carbon Capture and Storage Project:
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| Violations Discovered at Nation’s First Carbon Capture and Storage Project - desmog |
Sep 13 · The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found multiple Safe Drinking Water Act violations at the nation’s first carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) storage project, PoliticoPro’s E&E News reported today.
The Decatur, IL, project, run by Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), violated rules meant to protect against leaks of captured carbon, the EPA wrote in a notice of violation issued on August 14th.
The EPA said it had inspected three ADM wells in mid-June - one used for storing captured carbon dioxide and two used to monitor for leaks and other problems.
Stay up to date with DeSmog news and alerts
ADM told E&E News that the violations relate to corrosion in one ... Read more ...
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What the jet stream and climate change had to do with the hottest summer on record:
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| What the jet stream and climate change had to do with the hottest summer on record - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · Summer 2024 was officially the Northern Hemisphere's hottest on record. In the United States, fierce heat waves seemed to hit somewhere almost every day.
Phoenix reached 100 degrees for more than 100 days straight. The 2024 Olympic Games started in the midst of a long-running heat wave in Europe that included the three hottest days on record globally, July 21-23. August was Earth's hottest month in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's 175-year record.
Overall, the global average temperature was 2.74 degrees Fahrenheit (1.52 degrees Celsius) above the 20th-century average.
That might seem small, but temperature increases associated with ... Read more ...
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What to ask when you’re hiring a solar company:
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| What to ask when you’re hiring a solar company - Yale Climate Connections - Energy |
Sep 18 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Many solar companies promise homeowners big savings. But it can be hard to know which claims to believe or which installation company to hire.
Sherwood: “The biggest issue is when companies oversell what the solar can do.”
Larry Sherwood is president and CEO of the nonprofit Interstate Renewable Energy Council.
His group created a checklist of questions to ask when having solar installed.
Sherwood: “ … to help the consumers be as knowledgeable as possible.”
For example, it recommends you compare bids from multiple ... Read more ...
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What we know about the fire 'pandemic' plaguing Brazil:
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| What we know about the fire 'pandemic' plaguing Brazil - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 19 · Brazil is burning. From the Amazon rainforest to the Pantanal wetlands, flames have consumed millions of hectares of forest and farmland in recent weeks.
Nearly two-thirds of Latin America's biggest country is under smoke.
While fueled by extreme drought, which the government says serves as "a demonstration of the gravity of climate change," many of the fires were set by "criminals," in the words of environment minister Marina Silva.
Here is what we know about Brazil's "fire pandemic," as Supreme Court judge Flavio Dino has described the state of affairs.
According to data collected by satellites of the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), a total of ... Read more ...
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What’s the True Price of a School Lunch?:
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| What’s the True Price of a School Lunch? - New York Times - Climate Section |
Sep 19 · Subscriber-only Newsletter
Climate Forward
An emerging body of research aims to put dollar figures on the environmental costs of foods we eat everyday.
When government agencies are choosing how to spend tax dollars, they typically have one primary benchmark: Who can deliver goods or services at the cheapest price.
For years, economists have been developing a system of “true cost accounting” based on the growing body of evidence about the environmental damage caused by different types of agriculture. Now, emerging research aims to translate this damage to the planet into dollar figures.
In an article published today that I wrote with Manuela Andreoni and ... | By Lydia DePillis Read more ...
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Which plant species will survive the global change challenge?:
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| Which plant species will survive the global change challenge? - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Sep 18 · In a temperate montane forest in southern Québec, all is quiet. But if you dig a little deeper, you'll see the landscape has a story to tell. Waterloo plant ecologist Dr. Julie Messier, alongside her collaborators from Sherbrooke, is uncovering vital insights into the changes affecting our forests - knowledge that could be crucial in safeguarding Canada's temperate forests.
Her study derives from previous research in 1970 and 2012 that showed some species were thriving after 40 years of global change, while others were declining, and it wasn't clear why.
"Many factors can change how favorable an environment is, and a lot of them are based on climate change and air ... Read more ...
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Whistleblower testifies Titan sub tragedy was 'inevitable':
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| Whistleblower testifies Titan sub tragedy was 'inevitable' - BBC |
Sep 17 · A former employee of the company behind the doomed Titan submersible has told a public hearing he believed a safety incident was "inevitable" as the firm "bypassed" all standard rules.
OceanGate's former operations director David Lochridge testified to US Coast Guard investigators that he had warned of potential safety problems before he was fired in 2018, but was ignored.
Five people on board the Titan sub died when the experimental deep-sea craft imploded in June 2023 as it began a planned descent to the wreck of the Titanic.
The public hearings began on Monday as part of a two-week inquiry by the US Coast Guard into the disaster. The investigation has been ... Read more ...
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Why petting your cat leads to static electricity:
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| Why petting your cat leads to static electricity - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · Anyone who has ever pet a cat or shuffled their feet across the carpet knows that rubbing objects together generates static electricity. But an explanation for this phenomenon has eluded researchers for more than two millennia.
Now, Northwestern University scientists have finally uncovered the mechanics at play.
When an object slides, the front and back parts of that object experience different forces, researchers found. This difference in forces causes different electrical charges to build up on the front and back parts of the object. And the difference in electrical charges creates a current, leading to a light zap.
The study was published in the journal Nano ... Read more ...
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Why Petting Your Cat Leads to Static Electricity:
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| Why Petting Your Cat Leads to Static Electricity - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Sep 24 · Anyone who has ever pet a cat or shuffled their feet across the carpet knows that rubbing objects together generates static electricity. But an explanation for this phenomenon has eluded researchers for more than two millennia.
Now, Northwestern University scientists have finally uncovered the mechanics at play.
When an object slides, the front and back parts of that object experience different forces, researchers found. This difference in forces causes different electrical charges to build up on the front and back parts of the object. And the difference in electrical charges creates a current, leading to a light zap.
The study was published yesterday (Sept. 17) in ... Read more ...
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Wildland Firefighters Hit Their STRIDE:
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| Wildland Firefighters Hit Their STRIDE - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Sep 24 · You're a hotshot working to contain a wildfire. The conflagration jumps the fire line, forcing your crew to flee using pre-determined escape routes. At the start of the day, the crew boss estimated how long it should take to get to the safety zone. With the flames at your back, you check your watch and hope they were right.
Firefighters mostly rely on life-long experience and ground-level information to choose evacuation routes, with little support from digital mapping or aerial data. The tools that do exist tend to consider only a landscape's steepness when estimating the time it takes to traverse across terrain. However, running up a steep road may be quicker than navigating ... Read more ...
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World off track on climate fight but AI could help: UN:
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| World off track on climate fight but AI could help: UN - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 18 · The world remains far off track in tackling climate crisis, but the UN voiced hope Wednesday that artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies will help address the towering challenges.
In a new report, the United Nations warned the goals laid out in the 2015 Paris climate accord, aiming to keep global temperature rises below 1.5 Celsius above pre-industrial levels, appeared to be slipping away, with disastrous consequences.
The multi-agency "United in Science" report, coordinated by the UN's World Meteorological Organization, highlighted that greenhouse gas concentrations have hit record levels, fueling temperature increases into the future.
"The ... Read more ...
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Zirconium metals under extreme conditions found to deform in surprisingly complex ways:
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| Zirconium metals under extreme conditions found to deform in surprisingly complex ways - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Sep 17 · Materials are crucial to modern technology, especially those used in extreme environments like nuclear energy systems and military applications. These materials need to withstand intense pressure, temperature and corrosion. Understanding their lattice-level behavior under such conditions is essential for developing next-generation materials that are more resilient, cheaper, lighter and sustainable.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and collaborators compressed single crystal samples of the metal zirconium and found that under high pressure, the material deformed in surprisingly complex ways. The research appears in two journals, Physical Review Letters ... Read more ...
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