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Categories: Energy: Fossil Fuels, Environmental: Biodiversity

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Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Ecology: Animals Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: General
Published

Family tree of 'boring' butterflies reveals they're anything but      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Important species often get overlooked if they lack flashy colors or charismatic behavior. This is true of euptychiine butterflies, one of the most common insects in the Amazon Rainforest that have been largely ignored by scientists and naturalists throughout the 20th century. A new study pieces together the natural history of the group, in which males can look so unlike females, they've been repeatedly mistaken for separate species, diversity has been drastically underestimated, and more than 100 unnamed species are waiting on scientific description.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Ecology: Extinction Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Scientists advocate for integration of biogeography and behavioral ecology to rapidly respond to biodiversity loss      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An interdisciplinary team of researchers is advocating for convergent research that integrates the fields of biogeography and behavioral ecology to more rapidly respond to challenges associated with climate change and biodiversity loss.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Energy: Fossil Fuels Energy: Nuclear Energy: Technology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Shutting down nuclear power could increase air pollution      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study shows that if U.S. nuclear power plants are retired, the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas to fill the energy gap could cause more than 5,000 premature deaths.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Animals Ecology: Extinction Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems
Published

In Florida study, nonnative leaf-litter ants are replacing native ants      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new look at decades of data from museum collections and surveys of leaf-litter ants in Florida reveals a steady decline in native ants and simultaneous increase in nonnative ants -- even in protected natural areas of the state, researchers report.

Energy: Fossil Fuels Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Moving towards 3 degrees of warming -- the phasing out of coal is too slow      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The use of coal power is not decreasing fast enough. The Paris Agreement's target of a maximum of 2 degrees of warming appear to be missed, and the world is moving towards a temperature increase of 2.5 -- 3 degrees. At the same time it is feasible to avoid higher warming.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Geoscience: Earth Science
Published

A detailed map of the microverse: Microbial niches      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

What defines the habitat -- the ecological niche -- of a microorganism? It is a combination of environmental factors such as temperature, moisture, and nutrient content. But the exact contribution of each of these factors is difficult to predict. A research team has redefined microbial niches by determining which microorganisms live together.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Fossil Fuels Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Sailing cargo ships can benefit from new aerodynamic tech      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research team has demonstrated a unique method that reduces the aerodynamic resistance of ships by 7.5 per cent. This opens the way for large cargo ships borne across the oceans by wind alone, as wind-powered ships are more affected by aerodynamic drag than fossil-fueled ones.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Trees Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems
Published

Insect decline also occurs in forests      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The number of insects has been declining for years. This has already been well documented for agricultural areas. In forests, however, temporal trends are mostly studied for insect species that are considered pests. Now, a research team has studied the trends of very many insect species in German forests. Contrary to what the researchers had suspected, the results showed that the majority of the studied species are declining.

Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Extinction Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Paleontology: Climate
Published

Innovative method predicts the effects of climate change on cold-blooded animals      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In the face of a warming climate that is having a profound effect on global biodiversity and will change the distribution and abundance of many animals, a research team has developed a statistical model that improves estimates of habitat suitability and extinction probability for cold-blooded animals as temperatures climb.

Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General
Published

Can cities make room for woodpeckers?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers are deploying the latest mapping techniques to identify the most important suburban habitat for North America's largest woodpecker. Wildlife habitat in congested places is becoming increasingly fragmented as forests give way to new construction. Eventually, this could spell trouble to an animal with specific habitat needs like the pileated woodpecker.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Ants took over the world by following flowering plants out of prehistoric forests      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Today, ants are pretty much everywhere. To learn more about how these insects conquered the world, scientists used a combination of fossils, DNA, and data on the habitat preferences of modern species to piece together how ants and plants have been evolving together over the past 60 million years. They found that when flowering plants spread out from forests, the ants followed, kicking off the evolution of the thousands of ant species alive today.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Marine Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Detecting coral biodiversity in seawater samples      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed a method to measure coral biodiversity through extracting the environmental DNA (or eDNA) from a liter of surface seawater collected from above a reef. The method has been confirmed to work through observations made by scientific divers in the same areas of ocean. This has paved the way for large-scale comprehensive surveys of reef-building coral to take place and removes the reliance of direct observations made through scientific scuba diving or snorkeling.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Turtles and crocodiles with unique characteristics are more likely to go extinct      (via sciencedaily.com) 

New study demonstrates that the most endangered turtles and crocodile species are those that have evolved unique life strategies. Many of the most threatened species carry out important ecosystem functions that other species depend on. Habitat loss was identified as the key overall threat to turtles and crocodiles, followed by climate change and global trade. Unique species faced additional pressure from local consumption, diseases, and pollution.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Fossil Fuels Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Team uses natural catalysts to develop low-cost way of producing green hydrogen      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed a practical way to produce green hydrogen using sustainable catalysts and say their work is a major step towards production simpler, more affordable and more scalable.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Fossil Fuels Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Probe where the protons go to develop better fuel cells      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have uncovered the chemical inner-workings of an electrolyte they developed for a new generation of solid oxide fuel cells. To uncover the location of the proton-introduction reaction, the team studied extensively the hydration reaction of their scandium-substituted barium zirconate perovskite through a combination of synchrotron radiation analysis, large-scale simulations, machine learning, and thermogravimetric analysis. The new data has the potential to accelerate the development of more efficient fuel cells.