Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Work-from-home success might depend on home office setup      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In a new survey study, Dutch employees who worked from home tended to report higher levels of productivity and less burnout if they were more satisfied with their home office setup. The study also linked more air ventilation in the home office to higher self-reported productivity.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Forever chemical pollution can now be tracked      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers developed a way to fingerprint organofluorine compounds -- sometimes called 'forever chemicals' --which could help authorities trace them to their source when they end up in aquifers, waterways or soil.

Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: General
Published

When mammoths roamed Vancouver Island      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Mammoths, the massive pre-historic ice age cousins of the modern-day elephant, have always been understood to have inhabited parts of British Columbia, but the question of when has always been a bit woolly. Now, a new study has given scientists the clearest picture yet when the giant mammals roamed Vancouver Island.

Computer Science: Quantum Computers Engineering: Nanotechnology Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

X-ray imagery of vibrating diamond opens avenues for quantum sensing      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists at three research institutions capture the pulsing motion of atoms in diamond, uncovering the relationship between the diamond's strain and the behavior of the quantum information hosted within.

Chemistry: General Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
Published

Study on planet-warming contrails 'a spanner in the works' for aviation industry      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Modern commercial aircraft flying at high altitudes create longer-lived planet-warming contrails than older aircraft, a new study has found.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Used concrete transformed into new bricks while trapping CO2      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have turned concrete from a demolished school building and carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air into new blocks strong enough to build a house with. The process involved grinding the old concrete into powder, reacting it with CO2 from the air, pressurizing it in layers in a mold and finally heating it to form the new block. Instead of making buildings from new concrete only, this technique could offer a way to recycle old materials while also trapping carbon dioxide in the process. The blocks could theoretically be remade again and again, through the same process.

Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Genetics Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Pesticide contamination is more than apple skin deep      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Pesticides and herbicides are critical to ensuring food security worldwide, but these substances can present a safety risk to people who unwittingly ingest them. Protecting human health, therefore, demands sensitive analytical methods to identify even trace levels of potentially harmful substances. Now, researchers have developed a high-tech imaging method to detect pesticide contamination at low levels, and its application on fruits reveals that current food safety practices may be insufficient.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

South Florida estuaries warming faster than Gulf of Mexico, global ocean, USF research shows      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Estuaries in South Florida have experienced rapid warming over the past two decades, including a record-breaking marine heat wave in 2023, research shows. The findings paint a troubling picture for the marine life that calls Florida home. Possible causes include evaporation, water capacity and residence time (the amount of time water spends in an estuary). No single factor has been identified as dominant.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Most existing heat wave indices fail to capture heat wave severity      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Even though climate change is bringing more frequent and severe heat waves, there is no standard, global way to measure heat-wave severity, and existing indices have different thresholds for defining dangerous heat-stress conditions. Researchers report that five out of six existing heat-wave indices were unable to capture the severity and spatial distribution of recent lethal heat waves in India, Spain, and the USA. The sixth index -- the lethal heat-stress index -- was better able to identify dangerous heat-stress conditions, particularly in low-humidity regions.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology
Published

Scientists uncover hidden forces causing continents to rise      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have answered one of the most puzzling questions in plate tectonics: how and why 'stable' parts of continents gradually rise to form some of the planet's greatest topographic features.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

New York City's fireworks display prompts temporary surge of air pollution      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In 2023, roughly 60,000 firework shells exploded above Manhattan's East River as part of Macy's Fourth of July show. The resulting air pollutant levels were many times higher in the hours after the display than those seen when smoke from a Canadian wildfire had blanketed the area a month before, according to the results of a new study.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Advanced chelators offer efficient and eco-friendly rare earth element recovery      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The world is going to need a lot of weird metals in the coming years, according to chemistry professor. But he isn't talking about lithium, cobalt or even beryllium. He's interested in dysprosium, which is so hidden in the periodic table that you'd be forgiven for thinking he made it up.

Biology: General Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Mathematics: Modeling
Published

A new way of thinking about the economy could help protect the Amazon, and help its people thrive      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

To protect the Amazon and support the wellbeing of its people, its economy needs to shift from environmentally harmful production to a model built around the diversity of indigenous and rural communities, and standing forests.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Carvings at ancient monument may be world's oldest calendars      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Markings on a stone pillar at a 12,000 year-old archaeological site in Turkey likely represent the world's oldest solar calendar, created as a memorial to a devastating comet strike, experts suggest.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Groundwater reserves in southwestern Europe more stable overall than previously thought      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Groundwater is a vital resource, sustaining plants and ecosystems, ensuring agricultural production and serving as a core component of drinking water supplies. However, climate change and anthropogenic pressures can threaten groundwater availability, especially in southwestern Europe. This threat was evaluated by a research team using multidecadal data from more than 12,000 groundwater wells in Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy. The surprising finding: Groundwater levels are not declining everywhere as widely believed, but primarily in semi-arid regions with intensive agriculture and frequent droughts. Declines are also observed in temperate regions associated with large urban areas. The authors conclude that, with suitable management practices, groundwater can be utilized sustainably.

Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Paleontology: Climate
Published

Antarctic-wide survey of plant life to aid conservation efforts      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The first continent-wide mapping study of plant life across Antarctica reveals growth in previously uncharted areas and is set to inform conservation measures across the region. The satellite survey of mosses, lichens and algae across the continent will form a baseline for monitoring how Antarctica's vegetation responds to climate change.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Study revisits Texas seismic activity occurring before 2017, confirming connection to wastewater injection      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study by seismologists reexamines earthquakes in the Permian Basin that occurred before 2017 against the real-time data collected from earthquakes taking place after 2020. Results confirm that the seismicity occurring from 2009-2017 was causally linked to the underground injection of wastewater that is a byproduct of oil and gas extraction.

Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

Greenland fossil discovery reveals increased risk of sea-level catastrophe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Seeds, twigs, and insect parts found under two miles of ice confirm Greenland's ice sheet melted in the recent past, the first direct evidence that the center -- not just the edges -- of the two-mile-deep ice melted away in the recent geological past. The new research indicates that the giant ice sheet is more fragile than scientists had realized until the last few years -- and reveals increased risk of sea-level catastrophe in a warmer future.

Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Forecasting climate's impact on a debilitating disease      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In Brazil, climate and other human-made environmental changes threaten decades-long efforts to fight schistosomiasis, a widespread and debilitating parasitic disease. Now, researchers have developed models that can predict how the disease risk will shift in response to environmental changes.