Most recent 40 articles: PHYS.ORG - Biology
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Attaching seaweed spores to used scallop shells could restore UK's coastal kelp forests - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 28) |
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Mar 28 · Unlike many other restoration techniques, this method is cheap and easy to carry out. There's no need for expensive, labor-intensive dive teams to install kelp onto the seabed. Once gravel or shells have been seeded with kelp in aquariums, teams can simply drop them over the side of a boat where they sink, allowing the kelp to attach to the seabed where it grows to maturity. This is as effective as hand-deployment by divers and far more economical. Our team of marine scientists is working with the Fishmongers' Company's Charitable Trust and the Kelp Conservation Initiative to develop this "green gravel" approach. First pioneered in Norway, green gravel techniques have ... Read more ... |
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Bifunctional catalyst enables high-performance batteries for sustainable energy storage - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 28) |
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Mar 28 · They successfully designed and synthesized an efficient tetraphenylporphyrin (tpp) modified heterophase rhodium-copper alloy metallene (RhCu M-tpp). This bifunctional catalyst exhibits remarkable capabilities in both the electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reaction (NO3RR) and ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) in a neutral medium, overcoming the monofunctional limitations of traditional metal-based solid catalysts and providing a valuable reference for the design of sustainable energy storage in the future. "This study highlights the significance of molecule-metal relay catalysis to efficient NH3 electrosynthesis in NO3RR and offers a multifunctional battery prototype that shows ... Read more ... |
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Ecologists call for strengthening nature-based climate solutions at the federal level - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 28) |
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Mar 28 · These solutions, which include strategies like protecting carbon-dense forests and wetlands, improving land management, and restoring natural ecosystems, are crucial for enhancing carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The stakes are very high—getting NbCS right could mean the difference between achieving long-term global greenhouse gas reduction goals or missing those targets and further destabilizing the climate system. Although NbCS strategies have potential, on the ground implementation of NbCS has been controversial, often outpacing the scientific understanding of their long-term benefits. The group calls for a more robust, ... Read more ... |
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New method provides automated calculation of surface properties in crystals - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 28) |
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Mar 28 · In an article published in the journal npj Computational Materials, they report that this can speed up the search for relevant materials for applications in key areas such as the energy sector. They also plan to combine the method with artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to accelerate the process further. So far, similar methods have focused on bulk materials rather than surfaces, the two physicists explain. "All the relevant processes for energy conversion, production, and storage occur on surfaces," says Cocchi, who heads the Theoretical Solid State Physics research group at the University of Oldenburg. However, calculating the material properties ... Read more ... |
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Sawfish are spinning, and dying, in Florida waters as rescue effort begins - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 28) |
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Mar 28 · The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced what it calls an "emergency response" focused on the Florida Keys starting next week. A NOAA news release called the effort unprecedented. "If the opportunity presents itself, this would be the first attempt ever to rescue and rehabilitate smalltooth sawfish from the wild," said Adam Brame, NOAA Fisheries' sawfish recovery coordinator. Sawfish, related to rays, skates and sharks, are named for their elongated, flat snout that contains a row of teeth on each side. They can live for decades and grow quite large, some as long as 16 feet (about 5 meters). They were once found all along the Gulf of Mexico and ... Read more ... |
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Scientists confirm that methane-processing microbes produce a fossil record - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 28) |
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Mar 28 · A study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that silica-rich nanoparticles form on cell aggregates in culture, even when the chemical composition of water should have prevented it. It suggests that microbial activity is involved in their formation. Microbes called anaerobic methanotrophic archaea form communities with sulfate-reducing bacteria. These communities can consume methane without the need for oxygen. Processes associated with these microbes can create silica deposits that appear to entomb the communities. Silica deposition helps to preserve aggregates in the geological record. This discovery connects the way microbes process ... Read more ... |
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Venomous snakes could start migrating in large numbers if we hit 5ºC warming, predict scientists - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 28) |
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Mar 28 · Macroecology professor Pablo Ariel Martinez, one of the authors of the study, says the international community must take steps now to prevent this from happening. Which snakes did you study? Of the 209 venomous snakes we mapped, 43 species were from the African continent. The World Health Organization classifies venomous snake species into type I (high risk and likely to cause disability or death) and type II (low risk) according to their public health risk. In our study, 30 of the African snakes were type I—extremely venomous—and 13 were type II. Some of the type I snakes whose distribution patterns we predict will change include the carpet ... Read more ... |
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Crowdsourced data provides accurate biodiversity picture to aid conservation efforts - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 27) |
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Mar 27 · This combination of fields, technologies, and methodologies is solid and improves species distribution maps formerly based solely on limited data gathered by scientists using traditional surveys. Ecosystems—and their direct and indirect contributions to human society—have been rapidly declining in recent years. To address this, the United Nations Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF) has a target of protecting 30% of Earth's land and ocean area by 2030 (30x30) and requires companies to monitor and transparently disclose their impacts on biodiversity. To do so, it's essential to accurately assess the state of biodiversity over space and time, with ... Read more ... |
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Effective data management plays vital role for smallholder sheep and goat breeding programs - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 27) |
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Mar 27 · Sheep and goat breeding plays a vital socioeconomic role in the agricultural sector across Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) and beyond, providing valuable resources such as meat, milk, and wool. However, insufficient or ill-adapted breeding programs and practices are compromising the conservation and improvement of animal genetic resources, resulting in lower quality and less productive herds, which in turn impacts farmers' incomes and livelihoods. To address these issues, the CBBPs supported by ICARDA and its partners focus on empowering farmers to improve selection methods without undermining indigenous breeds' resilience and genetic integrity and without ... Read more ... |
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How eutrophication and climate change alter food webs in the Baltic Sea - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 27) |
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Mar 27 · How much energy reaches the different organisms depends on their position in the food web. Around 90 percent of the energy is lost as heat from one level to the next. The more levels a food web has, the less energy reaches the organisms in the highest positions, such as predatory fish. "The phytoplankton of the central Baltic Sea has changed considerably over the last three decades. In summer, it is increasingly dominated by mass developments of filamentous cyanobacteria. The phenomenon is known as blue-green algae blooms," says Markus Steinkopf, a marine biologist at the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research (IOW). The blue-green algae are competitively superior ... Read more ... |
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New design for a small, highly sensitive gravimeter that can operate stably at room temperature - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 27) |
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Mar 27 · A team of physicists and engineers affiliated with several institutions in China has developed a new kind of small, highly sensitive gravimeter that can operate stably at room temperature. In their project, reported in the journal Physical Review Letters, the group developed a dual magnet strategy that used a laser to measure changes in gravity. Gravity measurement devices have existed for some time. Unfortunately, the two main types have drawbacks - those based on small oscillators tend to age quickly, resulting in loss of precision. And those based on superconducting materials require cold containers, which means they use a lot of power and are difficult to move around. In ... Read more ... |
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New technique incorporates carbon-14 in a single step for safer, more efficient drug discovery - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 27) |
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Mar 27 · "Because this approach is so much more streamlined, it could help accelerate this step in the drug development process and make it less dangerous since probing the distribution and fate of a drug in the body is required for any pharmaceutical candidate to be approved," says Bruce A. Arndtsen, a James McGill Professor who teaches in the Department of Chemistry at McGill and is the senior author on the paper describing the new process, published recently in Nature Chemistry. Before a drug makes it to market it is tested to make sure that the molecules reach the appropriate areas of the body. This is typically done by adding a radioactive atom (e.g., carbon-14) to the drug so ... Read more ... |
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Research finds fragrant screw pines are pollinated by sap beetles rather than by wind - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 27) |
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Mar 27 · The discovery overturned the long-held belief that these plants were pollinated by wind. The researchers also found that fragrant screw pines' male and female flowers produced heat at night stably, making them the first such species in the family Pandanaceae. The findings were published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. The genus Pandanus, a member of the family Pandanaceae, boasts around 450 species spread around the paleotropical region. The species of this genus have male inflorescences, clusters of flowers on branches, that are pendent and nectarless, which has made scientists assume they are pollinated by wind. However, some of their other properties, ... Read more ... |
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Scientists warn that the Baltic Sea gray seal hunt is too large - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 27) |
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Mar 27 · After decades of hard hunting and environmental contamination by toxins such as PCBs, there were only 5,000 gray seals left in the entire Baltic Sea by the 1970s, falling from an initial size of more than 90,000 at the beginning of the century. Since then, the population has partially recovered, and today stands at around 55,000 animals for all countries combined. Baltic gray seals are genetically isolated from the closest gray seal populations in the Atlantic. They are generally slightly smaller and, unlike solely land breeding seals found in the British Isles, can give birth to young on both drift ice and on land. The population is now facing new challenges in a world ... Read more ... |
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Sounds emanating from coral reefs found to change as the moon rises and sets - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 27) |
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Mar 27 · In their study, published in PLOS ONE, the group used underwater microphones to listen to sounds coming from coral reefs over the year 2020 to 2021. For this new study, the research team explored changes to reef noise levels when the moon rises and sets. Noise levels vary between night and day due to the amount of light shining through the water—the moon reflects a lot of light; thus, the team thought its presence in the sky might also have an impact on coral organism activity and the resulting amount of noise. To find out if the moon might have an impact on coral reef noise levels, the group lowered sonic monitoring devices into the vicinity of coral reefs off the ... Read more ... |
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Study of 34 countries finds ocean protection delivers overlooked economic benefits to fishing, tourism - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 27) |
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Mar 27 · "In every corner of the globe, ocean protection boosts economies," said Dr. Mark John Costello, the study author and a professor at Norway's Nord University. "For far too long, marine parks have been overlooked as GDP generators and job creators. This study offers the strongest evidence yet that protecting the ocean replenishes it with abundant fish, protects it against climate change, but also boosts local and national economies. Now, we can add tourism operators and fisheries to the list of ocean protection beneficiaries." The study builds on research that has found fully protected areas can help restore fish populations by 500% on average, yield bigger fish over time, and ... Read more ... |
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These extraordinary Australian islands are teeming with life - and we must protect them before it's too late - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 27) |
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Mar 27 · But as our report released today reveals, this special place in Australia's territory is at risk. In particular, climate change is warming the waters around the islands, threatening a host of marine life. More than 20 years ago, a marine reserve was declared over the islands and parts of the surrounding waters. At the time, it was a significant step forward in environmental protection. But since then, science has progressed and the threats have worsened. Our report reviewed these protections and found they are no longer adequate. The marine reserve surrounding the Heard and McDonald islands must urgently be expanded. Spotlight on the reserve system The Heard ... Read more ... |
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Understanding cattle grazing personalities may foster sustainable rangelands - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 27) |
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Mar 27 · Recognizing those personality differences could help ranchers select herds that best meet grazing needs on rangelands, leading to better animal health and environmental conditions, according to a new paper from the University of California, Davis, published in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science. "Cattle can actually be beneficial for the rangelands," said lead author Maggie Creamer, who recently earned her Ph.D. in animal behavior at UC Davis. "Vegetation in rangelands actually need these kinds of disturbances like grazing." Ranchers can add elements to the rangeland such as water, mineral supplements and fencing to influence where cattle graze, but little ... Read more ... |
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Coral research finds bleaching impedes reproduction and hinders recovery - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 26) |
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Mar 26 · Aerial surveys over the Keppel Islands in February observed extensive bleaching in nearshore areas consistent with increased sea surface temperatures and accumulated heat exposure in the wider southern region. In-water surveys conducted by AIMS are continuing in order to assess the severity of the bleaching. Lead author Nico Briggs said his study found a 21% decrease in the reproductive output of Acropora millepora despite apparent recovery and low mortality after the 2020 mass bleaching event. "Coral bleaching isn't always a death sentence for every coral. Corals can and do recover if stress inducing conditions subside. But our research shows there is a price to pay for ... Read more ... |
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Discovery of amino acid unveils how light makes stomata open in plants - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 26) |
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Mar 26 · "This phosphorylation event, previously unknown, activates the proton pump, facilitating stomatal opening and enhancing photosynthetic activity," senior researcher Toshinori Kinoshita said. "The findings shed light on the intricate signaling pathways underlying plant responses to light and hold promise for future applications in plant engineering." Stomata are microscopic pores on the surface of plant leaves. They play a crucial role in gas exchange by regulating the uptake of carbon dioxide essential for photosynthesis. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that govern stomatal opening in response to environmental signals, such as light, is fundamental to plant ... Read more ... |
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Early spring, earlier nesting birds - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 26) |
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Mar 26 · Did spring arrive early this year? Some people think so. Apparently, some birds do, too. The NestWatch project at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology documents when and where birds are nesting. The evidence from recent years shows that birds are nesting weeks earlier than they used to and this spring may be no exception. As climate change causes seasons to shift and the world to get hotter, becoming a NestWatcher is an even more important part of the overall effort to understand its impact on birds. Joining NestWatch is free, and it only takes about 15 minutes to learn how to participate, keeping the safety of the birds in mind. Simply find a bird's nest or monitor a nest box ... Read more ... |
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How climate change could affect the microbes that ferment grapes and give wine its specific flavors - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 26) |
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Mar 26 · In New Zealand, winemaking is an important business, with exports worth more than NZ$2 billion per year. Earlier studies have already suggested that grapevine characteristics such as flowering and grape sugar ripeness may be linked to climatic changes. But so far, the microbes that ferment grapes have received little attention. Our new research explores how yeasts, bacteria and fungi may be affected by changes in temperature and rainfall. Microbes, wine and the coveted gold star Without microbes, all we have is grape juice. It is well established that individual strains of yeast (most commonly Saccharomyces cerevisiae) used to ferment grape juice into ... Read more ... |
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Researchers discover 125,000-year-old coastal ecosystem underneath spaceport in Kourou - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 26) |
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Mar 26 · Covering over 270 species in total, including bony fish, sharks and numerous plants, they reflect the kind of climatic conditions that calculations suggest are set to reoccur in the year 2100. The team's findings have now been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Consisting of more than 270 animal, plant and micro-organism species, these coastal fossils are the first to have been unearthed in the equatorial Atlantic. They provide information about the prevailing environmental and climatic conditions in the region, both during a very warm period in the last interglacial between 128,000 and 116,000 years ago and during the subsequent glacial, i.e., ... Read more ... |
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Seagrass meadows face uncertain future, scientists say - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 26) |
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Mar 26 · James Cook University scientists who analyzed seagrass meadows around the world say the crucial habitats are under increasing threat and need to incorporate new management strategies if they are to survive climate change. The study is published in Global Change Biology. JCU Master's Graduate Riccardo Losciale led the study of 28 World Heritage (WH) listed seagrass meadows. "We assessed that more than 50% of WH seagrass habitats are highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, with long-term increases in sea-surface temperature and short-term marine heat waves being the greatest threats," said Mr. Losciale. Among the largest natural carbon sinks on the planet, ... Read more ... |
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Solar eclipse could scramble bird behavior - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 26) |
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Mar 26 · On April 8, the shadow of a total solar eclipse will race across North America. At the same time, researchers from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and partners will be hurrying to measure the impact of daytime darkness on the movements of birds, bats, and insects - flying creatures that are very attuned to changes in light levels. Spring migration is underway right now and with most birds flying at night, a solar eclipse could heavily impact them. "Light is such a fundamental and ubiquitous cue, governing so many aspects of life on Earth," said Cecilia Nilsson, lead author of a previous Cornell Lab study when she was a Rose Postdoctoral Fellow. "But it's pretty hard to ... Read more ... |
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A microalgae–material hybrid promotes carbon neutrality - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 25) |
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Mar 25 · With the intensification of global warming and the proposal of China's dual carbon reduction goals, the role of microalgal photosynthesis is getting more and more attention. Therefore, exploiting microalgae photosynthetic energy is a promising approach to energy transition for carbon peak and neutrality. However, the photosynthetic conversion efficiency is a major limitation of microalgae biofuel production. Generally, only about 4–8% of the light energy can be converted into chemical energy in the form of biomass (the theoretical maximum is 9%). Therefore, the microalgae production for biofuels cannot meet the human energy needs. Genetic engineering and metabolic ... Read more ... |
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Food prices will climb everywhere as temperatures rise due to climate change - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 25) |
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Mar 25 · The new analysis shows that global warming could cause food price inflation to increase by between 0.9 and 3.2 percentage points per year by 2035. The same warming will cause a smaller rise in overall inflation (between 0.3 and 1.2 percentage points), so a greater proportion of household income would need to be spent on buying food. This effect will be felt worldwide, by high and low-income countries alike, but nowhere more so than in the global south. As with various other consequences of climate change, Africa will be worst affected despite contributing little to its causes. Our own research on food security in Ghana, west Africa, gives a sense of what price inflation ... Read more ... |
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Food production using controlled environment agriculture and agrivoltaics systems could become the new normal - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 25) |
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Mar 25 · Controlled environment agriculture systems are typically enclosed or indoors. They include greenhouses, vertical farms, and hydroponics that use horticultural and engineering techniques beyond traditional, soil-based outdoor production. Agrivoltaics involve the use of land for both farming and solar photovoltaic energy generation. A recent publication by USDA and Virginia Tech researchers highlights that these innovative techniques could increase yields, enhance nutrition, improve access to local foods, and provide better year-round access to fresh food than traditional large-scale outdoor production. Erik Dohlman led the team with Karen Maguire, Wilma Davis, Megan ... Read more ... |
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Most detailed long-term study in the world provides science to support Scottish salmon recovery - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 25) |
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Mar 25 · Atlantic salmon have long been identified as a threatened species because they need marine and freshwater habitats during their complex lifecycle and both are being affected by climate change. To gain a greater understanding of this lifecycle, fish traps were installed in the Girnock Burn in Royal Deeside in 1966 to monitor this salmon population. Salmon are an iconic species that is important for both conservation and the Scottish rural economy. The River Dee, like many large Scottish rivers, provides a renowned freshwater habitat for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and is popular with anglers from all over the world. The Girnock, draining mountains and moorland, ... Read more ... |
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Rapid production of isocyanate-free, biobased polyurethane foams at ambient temperature - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 25) |
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Mar 25 · This innovation offers a cutting-edge alternative to the traditional process based on toxic isocyanates. The study is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Polyurethane foams (PU), produced for decades by the toxic isocyanate chemistry and currently under strict restrictions on use, are still essential materials in our everyday lives. Rigid PU foams are major actors in the drastic reduction of our energetic needs when used as thermal insulating panels in floors, walls and roofs, as well as in refrigerator doors. In their flexible versions, the foams are mainly used for comfort applications in mattresses, sofas, car seats and soles of sports shoes, but also ... Read more ... |
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What your fruit bowl reveals about climate breakdown - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 25) |
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Mar 25 · The culprit is climate change. Milder, wetter winters and warmer springs coupled with increasingly variable weather have caused blossom dates to advance across growing regions and a variety of fruit trees. While this might scupper the travel plans of those hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous cherry blossom in Japan, changing blossom dates are causing a much larger headache for those in charge of over 40 million hectares of fruit orchards worldwide. Fruit trees have a complex relationship with the climate. In winter, trees need a period of cold weather (known as chill accumulation) to exit their dormant winter state and resume growth. This is followed by a period of ... Read more ... |
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Gray-headed flying-fox population is stable - 10 years of monitoring reveals this threatened species is doing well - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 24) |
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Mar 24 · But our decade-long survey of one of these species—the gray-headed flying fox—brings some encouraging news. Our data show the population has been relatively stable since 2012, when surveys first began under the National Flying-fox Monitoring Program. Incredibly, the species emerged from the Black Summer of 2019–20 relatively unscathed. Flying foxes also suffer in heat waves and many die, but overall numbers have remained stable. While this study is good news for the species, we must not become complacent. Heat waves are expected to become more frequent and intense as the climate changes. Only further monitoring can determine its effects. Hanging ... Read more ... |
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Nevada's first big-game moose hunt will be tiny as unusual southern expansion defies climate change - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 24) |
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Mar 24 · In what will be a tiny big-game hunt for some of the largest animals in North America, Nevada is planning its first-ever moose hunting season this fall. Wildlife managers say explosive growth in Nevada moose numbers over the past five years, increasing to a population of more than 100, justifies the handful of harvests planned. Scientists say the experiment of sorts should also provide a real-time peek at how the complexities of climate change affect wildlife, and why these majestic - some say goofy-looking - mammals the size of a horse have unexpectedly expanded their range into warmer territory. "Moose are newcomers to North America," said Cody McKee, a Nevada ... Read more ... |
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Tasmania's tall eucalypt forests will be wiped out by heat waves unless we step in to help them - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 23) |
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Mar 23 · But climate change is making it harder for these forests to remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it in wood. During heat waves, they stop removing carbon altogether and release it instead. What will happen as heat waves occur more frequently? Tasmania's tall eucalypt forests will become carbon sources more and more of the time. As temperatures continue to rise, the forests will reach a "tipping point". When this happens the forests will no longer be able to store carbon and mass tree deaths will occur. My new report released today makes recommendations about preparing for this. There are serious implications for greenhouse gas emissions, conservation and wood ... Read more ... |
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Bedtime or go time? Observing what animals do during a total solar eclipse - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 22) |
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Mar 22 · When darkness falls on central Ohio during the total solar eclipse on April 8, will animals think it's time to go to bed? Will they be anxious? Will they care? Scientists from The Ohio State University and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium are taking advantage of the rare celestial event to find out. "It's a unique opportunity to understand how so many different animals respond to a weird thing," said Courtney Anderson, a Ph.D. student in the School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR) who is spearheading the effort for Ohio State's College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Her counterpart at the zoo is Adam Felts, director of animal ... Read more ... |
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Cherry blossoms attract tourists and UW researchers - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 21) |
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Mar 21 · Couples strolled, TikTokers danced and friends shared takeout under the gnarled branches dappled in pale pink blossoms on the University of Washington's Quad on the last night of winter. With the help of record heat over the weekend, the blossoms exploded into peak bloom - when at least 70% of buds have emerged - Tuesday. The exact date the Quad's Yoshino cherry trees may burst into puffs of pale pink and white blossoms varies each year. But university researchers are trying to add clarity to the annual bloom that draws thousands of tourists and locals. In 2018, they began collecting data on bud development and bloom for more than 100 trees covering 25 species on campus, ... Read more ... |
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Excess temperatures found to cause low flocking concerns in Australia - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 21) |
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Mar 21 · Work conducted by a transdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Adelaide and South Australian Research Development Institute (SARDI), found that days above 32°C during the week of mating caused the significant loss of potential lambs. "This modeling is important as it demonstrates that heat events threaten the sustainability of sheep production, both within Australia and globally," says the University of Adelaide's Associate Professor William van Wettere, who led the study. Not only does heat stress decrease the number of lambs born, but it can also reduce lamb birthweight by between 0.6–1.4kg. "If the effects of birthweight are accounted ... Read more ... |
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Say hello to biodegradable microplastics: Plant-based polymers that can disappear within seven months - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 21) |
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Mar 21 · Microplastics can take anywhere from 100 to 1,000 years to break down and, in the meantime, our planet and bodies are becoming more polluted with these materials every day. Finding viable alternatives to traditional petroleum-based plastics and microplastics has never been more important. New research from scientists at the University of California San Diego and materials science company Algenesis shows that their plant-based polymers biodegrade—even at the microplastic level—in under seven months. The paper, whose authors are all UC San Diego professors, alumni or former research scientists, appears in Scientific Reports. "We're just starting to ... Read more ... |
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Water woes in southern Alberta could spell disaster for aquatic ecosystems, and the people who rely on them - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 21) |
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Mar 21 · The Bow River—in addition to the Oldman and South-Saskatchewan sub-basins—play a vital role in Western Canada. These rivers also have a large number of competing uses including agricultural and irrigation needs, municipal uses, hydroelectric developments, industrial consumption and recreational and cultural uses—including a world-class sports fishery. The Rocky Mountains serve as Western Canada's water towers and are the critical source of the snowpack which plays a major role in groundwater recharge. The diminishing winter snowpack, combined with increasing frequencies of multi-year droughts in the Prairies from below-average regional precipitation, is ... Read more ... |
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Crawfish could transfer ionic lithium from their environment into food chain - PHYS.ORG - Biology  (Mar 20) |
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Mar 20 · "As aquatic organisms, crawfish can take up large amounts of lithium dissolved in water. Because other creatures—including people—eat crawfish, looking at them allows us to see how lithium moves through the food chain and potentially into us," says Joseph Kazery, a professor of biology. Two undergraduate students in Kazery's lab at Mississippi College, Andrew Doubert and Javian Ervin are presenting the results of their experiments on the uptake of ionic lithium by different crawfish organs, as well as the impact of seasonal temperatures. "If crawfish are raised near a landfill or a polluted site, runoff could expose them to lithium, with effects we don't yet fully ... Read more ... |
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