Showing 20 articles starting at article 721

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Environmental: Ecosystems, Physics: Quantum Computing

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

AI analysis shows pollution levels, extreme weather events and increasing temperatures devastates biodiversity in freshwater lakes. 

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers are creating a database that harmonizes the recording of disturbances caused by insects and diseases in forests in 8 European countries by combining remote sensing, satellite images and field data.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of marine scientists has identified and officially named four species of algae new to science, challenging previous taxonomical assumptions within the Porolithon genus. The discovery has far-reaching implications for our understanding of the ecological role of these algae in the coral reef ecosystem. 

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Over the past few decades, algae have been slowly edging corals out of their native reefs across the globe by blocking sunlight, wearing the corals down physically, and producing harmful chemicals. But in recent years, a new type of algal threat has surfaced in tropical regions like the Caribbean -- one that spreads quickly and forms a crust on top of coral and sponges, suffocating the organisms underneath and preventing them from regrowing. Marine biologists report that peyssonnelioid alga crusts, or PACs, are expanding quickly across reefs worldwide, killing off corals and transforming entire ecosystems.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers in Germany and the USA have produced the first theoretical demonstration that the magnetic state of an atomically thin material, ?-RuCl3, can be controlled solely by placing it into an optical cavity. Crucially, the cavity vacuum fluctuations alone are sufficient to change the material's magnetic order from a zigzag antiferromagnet into a ferromagnet.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using global satellite data, a research team has mapped the tree cover of the world's protected areas. The study shows that regions with abundant large herbivores in many settings have a more variable tree cover, which is expected to benefit biodiversity overall.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers studied how young trees respond to a hotter, drier climate. Their findings can help shape forest management policy and our understanding of how landscapes will change.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Re-establishing plantings of trees, grasses and other vegetation is essential for restoring degraded ecosystems, but a new survey of almost 2,600 restoration projects from nearly every type of ecosystem on Earth finds that most projects fail to recognize and control one of the new plants' chief threats: hungry critters that eat plants.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Adult fragments of a coral species can better tolerate bleaching and recover faster when treated with tougher heat-evolved symbionts, new research indicates. The study also found that treatment with the heat-evolved symbionts did not compromise the coral's ability to grow. This differs from previous studies on Great Barrier Reef corals which found that naturally heat tolerant symbionts could enhance heat resistance in adult corals, but at a cost to its growth.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The heat given off by car engines warms up underground car parks in such a way that the heat passes through the ground into the groundwater. In Berlin alone, enough energy is transferred to the groundwater to supply 14,660 households with heat. According to the researchers, this warming could have long-term effects on groundwater quality. In their study, they also propose a solution. Using geothermal energy and heat pumps, the heat could be extracted from the ground and utilized.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have discovered how superfluid helium 3He would feel if you could put your hand into it. The interface between the exotic world of quantum physics and classical physics of the human experience is one of the major open problems in modern physics. Nobody has been able to answer this question during the 100-year history of quantum physics.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Biodegradable waste from plant and animal sources released into freshwater ecosystems is a significant environmental concern. Nonetheless, current methods for assessing water quality seem more or less impractical due to their complexity and high costs. In a promising development, a team of researchers has successfully constructed a self-sustaining and buoyant biosensor using inexpensive carbon-based materials for monitoring water quality at the inlets of freshwater lakes and rivers.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Single-photon emitters quantum mechanically connect quantum bits (or qubits) between nodes in quantum networks. They are typically made by embedding rare-earth elements in optical fibers at extremely low temperatures. Now, researchers have developed an ytterbium-doped optical fiber at room temperature. By avoiding the need for expensive cooling solutions, the proposed method offers a cost-effective platform for photonic quantum applications.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study provides the first characterization of the coral microbiome under hypoxia, insufficient oxygen in the water.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Local hunters in the Icefjord near Ilulissat have long known about a special ringed seal -- the Kangia seal -- which is significantly larger and has a markedly different fur color and pattern than typical Arctic ringed seals. Now scientific studies have shown that the Kangia ringed seal has been isolated from other ringed seals for a long period of time -- more than 100,000 years.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study reveals increasing warming rates in the world's oceans in recent decades and the locations with the greatest heat uptake.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new paper revealed that human activities are making Earth's air, soil and freshwater saltier, which could pose an 'existential threat' if current trends continue. Geologic and hydrologic processes bring salts to Earth's surface over time, but human activities such as mining and land development are rapidly accelerating this natural 'salt cycle.'

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of scientists has revealed the mechanism a desert plant native to the United Arab Emirates uses to capture moisture from the desert air in order to survive.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Quantum physicists show that imperfect timekeeping places a fundamental limit to quantum computers and their applications. The team claims that even tiny timing errors add up to place a significant impact on any large-scale algorithm, posing another problem that must eventually be solved if quantum computers are to fulfill the lofty aspirations that society has for them.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Deforestation in the Amazon causes land surfaces up to 100 kilometers away to get warmer, suggests a new study.   The research suggests that tropical forests play a critical role in cooling the land surface -- and that effect can play out over considerable distances.