Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Wildfires emit potent climate-warming organic particles      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers found that wildfires are causing a much greater warming effect than has been accounted for by climate scientists. The work, which focuses on the role of 'dark brown carbon' -- an abundant but previously unknown class of particles emitted as part of wildfire smoke -- highlights an urgent need to revise climate models and update approaches for the changing environment.

Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Scientists dig into wildfire predictions, long-term impacts      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Wildfires are an ancient force shaping the environment, but they have grown in frequency, range and intensity in response to a changing climate. Scientists are working on several fronts to better understand and predict these events and what they mean for the carbon cycle and biodiversity.

Ecology: General Ecology: Research Ecology: Trees Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Research supports use of managed and prescribed fires to reduce fire severity      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists found that fires in America's dry conifer forests are burning hotter and killing more trees today than in previous centuries. The main culprit? Paradoxically, a lack of fires.

Computer Science: Encryption Computer Science: General
Published

Why computer security advice is more confusing than it should be      (via sciencedaily.com) 

If you find the computer security guidelines you get at work confusing and not very useful, you're not alone. A new study highlights a key problem with how these guidelines are created, and outlines simple steps that would improve them -- and probably make your computer safer.

Ecology: General Ecology: Research Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Picturing where wildlands and people meet at a global scale      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have created the first tool to map and visualize the areas where human settlements and nature meet on a global scale. The tool could improve responses to environmental conflicts like wildfires, the spread of zoonotic diseases and loss of ecosystem biodiversity.

Ecology: General Ecology: Research Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Understanding the many different ways animals are evolving in response to fire could help conservation efforts      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In our modern era of larger, more destructive, and longer-lasting fires -- called the Pyrocene -- plants and animals are evolving quickly to survive. By synthesizing the wide body of research about rapid animal evolution in response to fire, a multidisciplinary team of ecology experts hopes to leverage what we already know to help foster evolution-informed conservation plans. In this way, they suggest, we can try to harness the ways in which fire impacts animals to protect vulnerable species -- working with evolution instead of against it.

Ecology: Invasive Species Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Hidden cameras spot wildlife returning home after 2018 megafire      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers analyzed more than 500,000 motion-sensor camera trap images taken at a Northern California reserve in the years before and after the Mendocino Complex Fire to understand how the blaze impacted small- and medium-sized mammals. The study is one of the first to compare wildlife observations made before and after a megafire, and is also one of a limited number of studies to focus on the impacts of megafires on California's oak woodlands.

Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Landslides
Published

What causes mudslides and floods after wildfires? Hint: It's not what scientists thought      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists once assumed that flooding and mudslides after wildfires were linked to the waxy coating that builds up on charred soil, preventing water absorption. Researchers found that water flow came from absorbed water in both burnt and unburnt areas, suggesting that water was, in fact, being absorbed into burnt ground. The discovery provides valuable insights into where and when potential flooding and mudslides may occur and how landscapes recover after a wildfire.

Biology: Microbiology Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate
Published

Fungi blaze a trail to fireproof cladding      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have shown it's possible to grow fungi in thin sheets that could be used for fire-retardant cladding or even a new kind of fungal fashion.

Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Addressing justice in wildfire risk management      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The unequal distribution of wildfire risk in our society is influenced by various factors, such as social vulnerabilities and intersecting forms of inequality, including gender, age, ethnicity, or disability. A new article calls for more integrated and inclusive wildfire risk management approaches and proposes a novel framework mapping different justice aspects.

Computer Science: Encryption
Published

Solving rare disease mysteries ... and protecting privacy      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have demonstrated a new way of linking personal records and protecting privacy. The first application is in identifying cases of rare genetic disorders. There are many other potential applications across society.

Computer Science: Encryption
Published

Stressed for a bit? Then don't click it, cybersecurity experts advise      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Workers feeling a specific form of stress are more likely than others to become the victims of a phishing attack, according to a new study.

Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Three things to know: Climate change's impact on extreme-weather events      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers found that the effects of climate change on the intensity, frequency, and duration of extreme weather events, like wildfires, could lead to massive increases in all three.

Computer Science: Encryption Mathematics: General Mathematics: Modeling
Published

Evaluating cybersecurity methods      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers created a generic framework that enables an engineer or scientist to evaluate the effectiveness of defense schemes that seek to limit a hacker's ability to learn secret information by observing the behavior of a victim computer program.

Computer Science: Encryption Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

How secure are voice authentication systems really?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Computer scientists have discovered a method of attack that can successfully bypass voice authentication security systems with up to a 99% success rate after only six tries.

Environmental: General Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Wildfire smoke downwind affects health, wealth, mortality      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Smoke particulates from wildfires could cause between 4,000 and 9,000 premature deaths and cost between $36 to $82 billion per year in the United States, according to new research.

Ecology: General Ecology: Research Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Wildfire spread risk increases where trees, shrubs replace grasses      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study found that as woody plants like shrubs and trees replace herbaceous plants like grasses, spot fires can occur farther away from the original fire perimeter.

Ecology: Nature Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
Published

African smoke over the Amazon      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Up to two-thirds of the soot above the central Amazon rainforest originates in Africa. Researchers differentiate soot particles using their relative properties and attribute them to their respective points of origin. They found that bush fires and burning savannah in the north and south of Africa make a substantial contribution to air pollution in the central Amazon all year round, thereby playing an important role in the earth radiation budget and water cycle. This is caused by the efficient transatlantic transport of particles through the atmosphere.

Anthropology: General Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Earth Science
Published

Scientists discover fire records embedded within sand dunes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study shows that sand dunes can serve as repositories of fire history and aid in expanding scientific understanding of fire regimes around the world.

Environmental: General Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Methane from megafires: More spew than we knew      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using a new detection method, scientists found a massive amount of methane, a super-potent greenhouse gas, coming from wildfires -- a source not currently being accounted for by California state air quality managers.