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Categories: Engineering: Nanotechnology, Geoscience: Geography

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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.

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While pollinator populations of many species have plummeted worldwide, one bee species is blowing up the map with its rapid population expansion. The key to this insect's success? Its passion for pumpkins, zucchinis, and other squashes, and the massive increase in cultivation of these crops across North America over the last 1,000 years. A new study found that the squash bee (Eucera pruinosa) has evolved in response to intensifying agriculture -- namely squashes in the genus Curcurbita. The research has demonstrated the role of agriculture as an evolutionary force acting on a wild insect pollinator and may have implications for food security.

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For tiny salamanders squirming skin-to-soil, big-picture weather patterns may seem as far away as outer space. But for decades, scientists have mostly relied on free-air temperature data at large spatial scales to predict future salamander distributions under climate change. The outlook was dire for the mini ecosystem engineers, suggesting near elimination of habitat in crucial areas.

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Engineering researchers have developed a novel way to capture carbon dioxide from the air and store it in the 'infinite sink' of the ocean. The approach uses an innovative copper-containing polymeric filter and essentially converts CO2 into sodium bicarbonate (aka baking soda) that can be released harmlessly into the ocean. This new hybrid material, or filter, is called DeCarbonHIX (i.e., decarbonization through hybrid ion exchange material). The research has demonstrated a 300 percent increase in the amount of carbon captured compared with existing direct air capture methods.

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End-of-dry-season CO2 pulses recur each year in the atmosphere above the Australian continent, a discovery made by an international research team led by an environmental physicist. To investigate the carbon fluxes over Australia, the researchers studied atmospheric CO2 measurements. Their analyses show that CO2 emissions spike when heavy rain falls on dried-out soil, thus activating microorganisms in that soil.

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The Indo-West Pacific is the largest marine ecosystem on Earth, but scientists who study its diversity have to contend with a problem so well-known it was remarked upon by Charles Darwin: related species in the IWP have similar appearances, making it difficult to assess just how many there are. A new study reveals that nearly identical crab species have one consistently distinguishing feature, which only evolves when their ranges overlap.

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Antarctic circulation could slow by more than 40 per cent over the next three decades, with significant implications for the oceans and the climate.

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The advantages of living in cities for children and adolescents' healthy growth and development are shrinking across much of the world, according to a new global analysis of trends in child and adolescent height and body mass index (BMI).

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Being able to withstand hurricane-force winds is the key to a long life for many buildings on the Eastern Seaboard and Gulf Coast of the U.S. Determining the right level of winds to design for is tricky business, but support from artificial intelligence may offer a simple solution.

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Life comes in all shapes in sizes, but some sizes are more popular than others, new research has found. A survey of body sizes of all Earth's living organisms has uncovered an unexpected pattern. Contrary to what current theories can explain, our planet's biomass -- the material that makes up all living organisms -- is concentrated in organisms at either end of the size spectrum.

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Salt marshes are some of the most biologically productive ecosystems on Earth. They play an outsized role in nitrogen cycling, act as carbon sinks, protect coastal development from storm surge, and provide critical habitats and nurseries for many fish, shellfish, and coastal birds. According to new research, more than 90 percent of the world's salt marshes are likely to be underwater by the end of the century. These findings come from a 50-year study of ecosystem changes in Great Sippewissett Marsh in Falmouth, Mass.

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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.

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A team develops layering-charged, polymer-based stable high-capacity anode material.

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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.

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An international research team develops a rubric for governments and policymaking bodies to evaluate preparedness for ocean acidification.

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Shooting ions is very different from shooting a gun: By firing highly charged ions onto tiny gold structures, these structures can be modified in technologically interesting ways. Surprisingly, the key is not the force of impact, but the electric charge of the projectiles.

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As part of a comparative international study, researchers have successfully tested and validated a method of investigating dynamic protein structures.

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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.

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The world's salty, tidal marshes are hotspots of carbon storage and productivity, building up sediments and plant material to stay above sea level. However, as sea level rises at an increasing rate, scientists debate whether it's possible for wetlands to win the race. New research reveals how salt marshes along the U.S. East Coast have responded to accelerating sea level rise by building elevation more quickly to keep pace with the sea over the last century.

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Stacked layers of ultrathin semiconductor materials feature phenomena that can be exploited for novel applications. Physicists have studied effects that emerge by giving two layers a slight twist.