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Categories: Environmental: General, Paleontology: Fossils
Published 'Garbatrage' spins e-waste into prototyping gold
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Building on work in human-computer interaction that aims to incorporate sustainability and reuse into the field, researchers introduce 'garbatrage,' a framework for prototype builders centered around repurposing underused devices.
Published Ancient Amazonians intentionally created fertile 'dark earth'
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A new study suggests patches of fertile soil in the Amazon, known as dark earth, were intentionally produced by ancient Amazonians as a way to improve the soil and sustain large and complex societies.
Published Socially vulnerable populations are disproportionately exposed to wildfires in the Western US
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People experiencing a high degree of social vulnerability are also more exposed to wildfires in Oregon and Washington as wildfire risk increases, a new study shows.
Published Alarming results from world first study of two decades of global smoke pollution
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The world's first study of the increase in pollution from landscape fires across the globe over the past two decades reveals that over 2 billion people are exposed to at least one day of potentially health-impacting environmental hazard annually -- a figure that has increased by 6.8 per cent in the last ten years.
Published Efficient next-generation solar panels on horizon following breakthrough
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A scientific breakthrough brings mass production of the next generation of cheaper and lighter perovskite solar cells one step closer.
Published Slow growth in crocodile ancestors pre-dated their semi-aquatic lifestyle
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A groundbreaking study is reshaping our understanding of crocodile evolution by pinpointing the onset of slow growth rates to the Late Triassic period, much earlier than the previously assumed Early Jurassic timeline. The research highlights newly discovered fossil crocodile ancestors (known as crocodylomorphs) that exhibited slow growth rates, similar to modern-day crocodilians. Intriguingly, these early crocodylomorphs were not the lethargic, semi-aquatic creatures we are familiar with today; they were small, active, and fully terrestrial. The study also suggests that this slow-growth strategy was not a mere evolutionary quirk but a survival mechanism, as only the slow-growing crocodylomorphs managed to survive the End-Triassic mass extinction. This stands in stark contrast to the fast-growing dinosaurs of the same era, setting the stage for the divergent evolutionary paths that would later define their modern descendants.
Published Urban light pollution linked to smaller eyes in birds
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The bright lights of big cities could be causing an evolutionary adaptation for smaller eyes in some birds, a new study indicates. Researchers found that two common songbirds, the Northern Cardinal and Carolina Wren, that live year-round in the urban core of San Antonio, Texas, had eyes about 5% smaller than members of the same species from the less bright outskirts. Researchers found no eye-size difference for two species of migratory birds, the Painted Bunting and White-eyed Vireo, no matter which part of the city they lived in for most of the year. The findings have implications for conservation efforts amid the rapid decline of bird populations across the U.S.
Published New Si-based photocatalyst enables efficient solar-driven hydrogen production and biomass refinery
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A research team has achieved a significant breakthrough in the development of a hybrid silicon photocatalyst.
Published New research brings greater understanding of Asian winter monsoon
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Scientists have discovered a new technique which will shed light on the phenomena of winter monsoons -- the heavy autumn and winter rainfalls which can cause floods and landslides across southeast Asia.
Published Prehistoric fish fills 100 million year gap in evolution of the skull
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X-rays of an ancient jawless fish shows earliest-known example of internal cartilage skull, unlike that of any other known vertebrate.
Published Fast-track strain engineering for speedy biomanufacturing
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Using engineered microbes as microscopic factories has given the world steady sources of life-saving drugs, revolutionized the food industry, and allowed us to make sustainable versions of valuable chemicals previously made from petroleum. But behind each biomanufactured product on the market today is the investment of years of work and many millions of dollars in research and development funding. Scientists want to help the burgeoning industry reach new heights by accelerating and streamlining the process of engineering microbes to produce important compounds with commercial-ready efficiency.
Published Cheap and efficient catalyst could boost renewable energy storage
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Storing renewable energy as hydrogen could soon become much easier thanks to a new catalyst based on single atoms of platinum.
Published Glacier Loss Day indiĀcates record breakĀing glacier melt
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In the summer of 2022, one of Tyrol's largest glaciers experienced its most significant loss of mass on record. Last year, the Hintereisferner in Tyrol, Austria, reached its Glacier Loss Day (GLD) earlier than ever before. The GLD serves as an indicator of a glacier's health throughout the year, similar to how the Earth Overshoot Day measures Earth's resource consumption.
Published How wind turbines react to turbulence
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The output of wind turbines can rise or fall by 50 per cent in a matter of seconds. Such fluctuations in the megawatt range put a strain on both power grids and the turbines themselves. A new study presents a new stochastic method that could help to mitigate these sudden swings and achieve a more consistent electricity production.
Published RNA for the first time recovered from an extinct species
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A new study shows the isolation and sequencing of more than a century-old RNA molecules from a Tasmanian tiger specimen preserved at room temperature in a museum collection. This resulted in the reconstruction of skin and skeletal muscle transcriptomes from an extinct species for the first time. The researchers note that their findings have relevant implications for international efforts to resurrect extinct species, including both the Tasmanian tiger and the woolly mammoth, as well as for studying pandemic RNA viruses.
Published Remote work can slash your carbon footprint -- if done right
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Remote workers can have a 54% lower carbon footprint compared with onsite workers, according to a new study, with lifestyle choices and work arrangements playing an essential role in determining the environmental benefits of remote and hybrid work.
Published The pace of climate-driven extinction is accelerating
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Studying a lizard species in Arizona mountains, researchers found 70 years' worth of climate-related extinction occurred in only seven years.
Published Incubator or barrier? Exploring the links between agriculture, biodiversity and the spread of pathogens
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Many pathogens, including the virus that causes COVID-19, are thought to have originated in wild animals before spilling into human populations.
Published Study finds significant chemical exposures in women with cancer
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Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals like PFAS and phenols are implicated in hormone-mediated cancers of the breast, ovaries, skin and uterus. To learn more about the environmental exposures experienced by women who developed these cancers, researchers analyzed data from NHANES and found that women who reported having cancer had significantly higher levels of these chemicals in their bodies.
Published Why do some environmental shocks lead to disaster while others don't?
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It's no longer just about stopping, but how we can live with climate change. To figure this out, we must delve into our cultures. A new study points out how our history could help guide the way.