Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Paleontology: Climate
Published

Climate change and mercury pollution stressed plants for millions of years      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The link between massive flood basalt volcanism and the end-Triassic (201 million years ago) mass-extinction is commonly accepted. However, exactly how volcanism led to the collapse of ecosystems and the extinction of entire families of organisms is difficult to establish. Extreme climate change from the release of carbon dioxide, degradation of the ozone layer due to the injection of damaging chemicals, and the emissions of toxic pollutants, are all seen as contributing factors. One toxic element stands out: mercury.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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Machine listening: Making speech recognition systems more inclusive      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

One group commonly misunderstood by voice technology are individuals who speak African American English, or AAE. Researchers designed an experiment to test how AAE speakers adapt their speech when imagining talking to a voice assistant, compared to talking to a friend, family member, or stranger. The study tested familiar human, unfamiliar human, and voice assistant-directed speech conditions by comparing speech rate and pitch variation. Analysis of the recordings showed that the speakers exhibited two consistent adjustments when they were talking to voice technology compared to talking to another person: a slower rate of speech with less pitch variation.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Zoology Chemistry: Biochemistry Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Trotting robots reveal emergence of animal gait transitions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A four-legged robot trained with machine learning has learned to avoid falls by spontaneously switching between walking, trotting, and pronking -- a milestone for roboticists as well as biologists interested in animal locomotion.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Published

Built-in bionic computing      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The use of pliable soft materials to collaborate with humans and work in disaster areashas drawn much recent attention. However, controlling soft dynamics for practical applications has remained a significant challenge. Researchers developed a method to control pneumatic artificial muscles, which are soft robotic actuators. Rich dynamics of these drive components can be exploited as a computational resource.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General
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Computer vision researcher develops privacy software for surveillance videos      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Computer vision can be a valuable tool for anyone tasked with analyzing hours of footage because it can speed up the process of identifying individuals. For example, law enforcement may use it to perform a search for individuals with a simple query, such as 'Locate anyone wearing a red scarf over the past 48 hours.'

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Warming Arctic reduces dust levels in parts of the planet      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Dust can have a huge impact on local air quality, food security, energy supply and public health. Previous studies have found that dust levels are decreasing across India, particularly northern India, the Persian Gulf Coast and much of the Middle East, but the reason has remained unclear. Researchers found that the decrease in dust can be attributed to the Arctic warming much faster than the rest of the planet, a phenomenon known as Arctic amplification. This process destabilizes the jet stream and changes storm tracks and wind patterns over the major sources of dust in West and South Asia.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Earth Science
Published

Unveiling the lionfish invasion in the Mediterranean Sea      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have published a comprehensive study on the invasion of lionfish in the Mediterranean Sea, highlighting a rapid spread and the potential ecological impacts. The research shows the lionfish species Pterois miles has significantly expanded its territory in the Mediterranean since the invasion began around ten years ago. The invasive species has established presence in the eastern Mediterranean, with observations now extending to colder waters previously thought to be unsuitable for the species.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology
Published

Human activities have an intense impact on Earth's deep subsurface fluid flow      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Hydrologists predict human-induced underground fluid fluxes to rise with climate change mitigation strategies like carbon sequestration.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Computer Science: General Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Nature Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Artificial intelligence helps scientists engineer plants to fight climate change      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists are using artificial intelligence software to analyze plant root systems, laying out a protocol that can be applied to gather data on crop and model plant phenotypes (physical characteristics) more efficiently and with equal or greater accuracy than existing methods.

Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geography
Published

Managing meandering waterways in a changing world      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Just as water moves through a river, rivers themselves move across the landscape. They carve valleys and canyons, create floodplains and deltas, and transport sediment from the uplands to the ocean.

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

Why can't robots outrun animals?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Robotics engineers have worked for decades and invested many millions of research dollars in attempts to create a robot that can walk or run as well as an animal. And yet, it remains the case that many animals are capable of feats that would be impossible for robots that exist today.

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

Computer game in school made students better at detecting fake news      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A computer game helped upper secondary school students become better at distinguishing between reliable and misleading news.

Environmental: General Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
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Modeling broader effects of wildfires in Siberia      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

As wildfires in Siberia become more common, global climate modeling estimates significant impacts on climate, air quality, health, and economies in East Asia and across the northern hemisphere.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Physics: Optics
Published

High-resolution lidar sees birth zone of cloud droplets      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists demonstrated the first-ever remote observations of the fine-scale structure at the base of clouds. The results show that the air-cloud interface is a transition zone where aerosol particles suspended in Earth's atmosphere give rise to the droplets that ultimately form clouds. The research will enable scientists to gain insight into how changes in atmospheric aerosol levels could affect clouds and climate.

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

Asian monsoon lofts ozone-depleting substances to stratosphere      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Powerful monsoon winds, strengthened by a warming climate, are lofting unexpectedly large quantities of ozone-depleting substances high into the atmosphere over East Asia, according to new research. The study found that the East Asian Monsoon delivers more than twice the concentration of very short-lived ozone-depleting substances into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere than previously reported.

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

Warming climate is putting more metals into Colorado's mountain streams      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Warming temperatures are causing a steady rise in copper, zinc and sulfate in the waters of Colorado mountain streams affected by acid rock drainage. Concentrations of these metals have roughly doubled in these alpine streams over the past 30 years, presenting a concern for ecosystems, downstream water quality and mining remediation, according to a new study. Natural chemical weathering of bedrock is the source of the rising acidity and metals, but the ultimate driver of the trend is climate change, the report found, and the results point to lower stream volumes and exposure of rock once sealed away by ice as the likely causes.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Physics: General Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Toward unification of turbulence framework -- weak-to-strong transition discovered in turbulence      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astrophysicists have made a significant step toward solving the last puzzle in magnetohydrodynamic turbulence theory by observing the weak to strong transition in the space plasma turbulence surrounding Earth with newly developed multi-spacecraft analysis methods.