Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Volcanoes
Published

Iceland's volcano eruptions may last decades      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists predict from geochemical data that Iceland is entering a new volcanic era that will last for decades, possibly centuries. Under an hour's drive from the country's capital city, the ongoing eruptions pose considerable risks for economic disruption, and they leave evacuated communities uncertain of a possible return.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General
Published

Small, adsorbent 'fins' collect humidity rather than swim through water      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Clean, safe water is a limited resource and access to it depends on local bodies of water. But even dry regions have some water vapor in the air. To harvest small amounts of humidity, researchers developed a compact device with absorbent-coated fins that first trap moisture and then generate potable water when heated. They say the prototype could help meet growing demands for water, especially in arid locations.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Underwater mountains have a big impact on ocean circulation      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Colossal undersea mountains, towering up to thousands of metres high, stir up deep sea currents: impacting how our ocean stores heat and carbon. An international team used numerical modelling to quantify how underwater turbulence around these mountains, called seamounts, influences ocean circulation; finding it is an important mechanism in ocean mixing and one that is missing from climate models used in policymaking.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General
Published

Researchers develop new training technique that aims to make AI systems less socially biased      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have created a new, cost-effective training technique for artificial intelligence systems that aims to make them less socially biased.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Next platform for brain-inspired computing      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Computers have come so far in terms of their power and potential, rivaling and even eclipsing human brains in their ability to store and crunch data, make predictions and communicate. But there is one domain where human brains continue to dominate: energy efficiency.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Robots face the future      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have found a way to bind engineered skin tissue to the complex forms of humanoid robots. This brings with it potential benefits to robotic platforms such as increased mobility, self-healing abilities, embedded sensing capabilities and an increasingly lifelike appearance. Taking inspiration from human skin ligaments, the team included special perforations in a robot face, which helped a layer of skin take hold.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Meet CARMEN, a robot that helps people with mild cognitive impairment      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Meet CARMEN, short for Cognitively Assistive Robot for Motivation and Neurorehabilitation -- a small, tabletop robot designed to help people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) learn skills to improve memory, attention, and executive functioning at home.

Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Paleontology: Climate
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Carbon dioxide's heavy stamp on temperature: Doubling CO2 may mean 7 to 14 degree increase      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A doubling of the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere could cause an increase in the average temperature on earth from 7 to even a maximum of 14 degrees. That is shown in the analysis of sediments from the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR) Mathematics: Modeling Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Prying open the AI black box      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Meet SQUID, a new computational tool. Compared with other genomic AI models, SQUID is more consistent, reduces background noise, and can yield better predictions regarding critical mutations. The new system aims to bring scientists closer to their findings' true medical implications.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Restoring the Great Salt Lake would have environmental justice as well as ecological benefits      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Inland seas around the world are drying up due to increasing human water use and accelerating climate change, and their desiccation is releasing harmful dust that pollutes the surrounding areas during acute dust storms. Using the Great Salt Lake in Utah as a case study, researchers show that dust exposure was highest among Pacific Islanders and Hispanic people and lower in white people compared to all other racial/ethnic groups, and higher for individuals without a high school diploma. Restoring the lake would benefit everyone in the vicinity by reducing dust exposure, and it would also decrease the disparities in exposure between different racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups.

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

Changing climate will make home feel like somewhere else      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The impacts of climate change are being felt all over the world, but how will it impact how your hometown feels? An interactive web application allows users to search 40,581 places and 5,323 metro areas around the globe to match the expected future climate in each city with the current climate of another location, providing a relatable picture of what is likely in store.

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

When in drought: Researchers map which parts of the Amazon are most vulnerable to climate change      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Some areas of the Amazon rainforest are more resilient to drought than others, new research shows. But if not managed carefully, we could 'threaten the integrity of the whole system,' researchers say.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Researchers teach AI to spot what you're sketching      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new way to teach artificial intelligence (AI) to understand human line drawings -- even from non-artists -- has been developed.

Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
Published

Climate change: rising temperatures may impact groundwater quality      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

As the world's largest unfrozen freshwater resource, groundwater is crucial for life on Earth. Researchers have investigated how global warming is affecting groundwater temperatures and what that means for humanity and the environment. Their study indicates that by 2100, more than 75 million people are likely to be living in regions where the groundwater temperature exceeds the highest threshold set for drinking water by any country.

Biology: Biochemistry Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Understanding the Green Sahara's collapse      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Abrupt shifts within complex systems such as the Earth's climate system are extremely hard to predict. Researchers have now succeeded in developing a new method to anticipate such tipping points in advance. They successfully tested the reliability of their method using one of the most severe abrupt climate changes of the past: the shift of the once-green Sahara into a desert.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General
Published

AI recognizes athletes' emotions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using computer-assisted neural networks, researchers have been able to accurately identify affective states from the body language of tennis players during games. For the first time, they trained a model based on artificial intelligence (AI) with data from actual games. Their study demonstrates that AI can assess body language and emotions with accuracy similar to that of humans. However, it also points to ethical concerns.

Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geography
Published

An earthquake changed the course of the Ganges: Could it happen again?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A major earthquake 2,500 years ago caused one of the largest rivers on Earth to abruptly change course, according to a new study. The previously undocumented quake rerouted the main channel of the Ganges River in what is now densely populated Bangladesh, which remains vulnerable to big quakes.

Computer Science: Quantum Computers Geoscience: Earth Science Physics: General Physics: Optics Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Quantum entanglement measures Earth rotation      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers carried out a pioneering experiment where they measured the effect of the rotation of Earth on quantum entangled photons. The work represents a significant achievement that pushes the boundaries of rotation sensitivity in entanglement-based sensors, potentially setting the stage for further exploration at the intersection between quantum mechanics and general relativity.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General Engineering: Robotics Research Mathematics: Modeling
Published

Researchers use large language models to help robots navigate      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A technique can plan a trajectory for a robot using only language-based inputs. While it can't outperform vision-based approaches, it could be useful in settings that lack visual data to use for training.