Showing 20 articles starting at article 941
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Categories: Chemistry: Thermodynamics, Environmental: Ecosystems
Published How fungus farming ants keep their gardens healthy
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source 'Weed early and often' is the key to a productive garden. Interestingly, certain species of ants are also avid gardeners, a practice they've refined over 50 million years. They too weed their underground fungus gardens, but how they know what to weed out has been a mystery. Now, a multidisciplinary team of scientists report how ants distinguish the good fungus from the bad.
Published How will a warming world impact the Earth's ability to offset our carbon emissions?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New work deploys a bold new approach for inferring the temperature sensitivity of ecosystem respiration -- which represents one side of the equation balancing carbon dioxide uptake and carbon dioxide output in terrestrial environments. This will improve scientists' models for climate change scenarios.
Published This salty gel could harvest water from desert air
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Engineers synthesized a superabsorbent material that can soak up a record amount of moisture from the air, even in desert-like conditions.
Published 10-year countdown to sea-ice-free Arctic
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Research team predicts Arctic without ice by the end of 2030s if current increasing rate of greenhouse gas emission continues.
Published Energy harvesting via vibrations: Researchers develop highly durable and efficient device
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international research group has engineered a new energy-generating device by combining piezoelectric composites with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP), a commonly used material that is both light and strong. The new device transforms vibrations from the surrounding environment into electricity, providing an efficient and reliable means for self-powered sensors.
Published Scientists discover urea in atmosphere revealing profound consequences for climate
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Areas of the ocean that are rich in marine life are having a bigger impact on our ecosystems and the climate than previously thought, new research suggests.
Published The life below our feet: Team discovers microbes thriving in groundwater and producing oxygen in the dark
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A survey of groundwater samples drawn from aquifers beneath more than 80,000 square miles of Canadian prairie reveals ancient groundwaters harbor not only diverse and active microbial communities, but also unexpectedly large numbers of microbial cells. Strikingly, some of these microbes seem to produce 'dark oxygen' (in the absence of sunlight) in such abundance that the oxygen may nourish not only those microbes, but may leak into the environment and support other oxygen-reliant microbes that can't produce it themselves.
Published Newly planted vegetation accelerates dune erosion during extreme storms, research shows
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Newly planted vegetation on coastal sand dunes can accelerate erosion from extreme waves.
Published Preserving forests to protect deep soil from warming
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An innovative, decade-long experiment in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada mountains shows carbon stocks buried deep underground are vulnerable to climate change. The findings have implications for mitigating global warming through the natural carbon sinks provided by soil and forests which capture 25% of all carbon emissions.
Published Hotter sand from microplastics could affect sea turtle development
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research has found that extreme concentrations of microplastics could increase the temperature of beach sand enough to threaten the development of incubating sea turtles.
Published Plant remediation effects on petroleum contamination
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Initial choices about fertilization and grass seeding could have a long-lasting effect on how plants and their associated microbes break down pollution in petroleum-contaminated soils.
Published Ancient herbivore's diet weakened teeth leading to eventual starvation, study suggests
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have shed light on the life of the ancient reptile Rhynchosaur, which walked the earth between 250-225 million years ago, before being replaced by the dinosaurs.
Published Eddies: Circular currents and their influence on the world's hottest ocean
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Water from the Pacific Ocean flows into the Indian Ocean via the Indonesia Archipelago thanks to a vast network of currents that act as a conveyor belt, transporting warmth and nutrients. Currents can sometimes form circular motions and these are known as eddies. An international group of researchers has modeled the impacts of eddies on the currents that carry water from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean.
Published MethaneMapper is poised to solve the problem of underreported methane emissions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source MethaneMapper is an artificial intelligence-powered hyperspectral imaging tool that researchers have developed to detect real-time methane emissions and trace them to their sources. The tool works by processing hyperspectral data gathered during overhead, airborne scans of the target area.
Published Sustainable technique to manufacture chemicals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A newly published study details a novel mechanochemistry method that can produce chemicals using less energy and without the use of solvents that produce toxic waste.
Published Lost giants: New study reveals the abundance decline of African megafauna
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A groundbreaking new paper focuses on the size and abundance of living and fossil African large mammals, shedding light on the ecological dynamics behind the decline of these iconic creatures. The findings challenge previous assumptions about the causes of megafaunal extinctions in Africa and provide new insights into the restructuring of ecosystems over millions of years.
Published Scientists use seaweed to create new material that can store heat for reuse
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have created a new material derived from seaweed that can store heat for re-use. It could be used to capture summer sun for use in winter, or to store heat from industry that currently goes up the chimney, potentially slashing carbon emissions. The material is in the form of small beads made from alginate, which is cheap, abundant and non-toxic. It stores heat four times more efficiently than a previous material the team had developed.
Published Coral disease tripled in the last 25 years. Three-quarters will likely be diseased by next century
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Research suggests warming temperatures will see nearly 80 per cent of coral in reefs diseased in the next 80 years.
Published 'Heat highways' could keep electronics cool
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source As smart electronic devices become smaller and more powerful, they can generate a lot of heat, leading to slower processing times and sudden shutdowns. Now researchers use an electrospinning approach to produce a new nanocomposite film. In tests, the film dissipated heat four times more efficiently than similar materials, showing that it could one day be used to keep electronics cool.
Published Older trees accumulate more mutations than their younger counterparts
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study of the relationship between the growth rate of tropical trees and the frequency of genetic mutations they accumulate suggests that older, long-lived trees play a greater role in generating and maintaining genetic diversity than short-lived trees.