Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Research Ecology: Trees Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

A fifth of California's Sierra Nevada conifer forests are stranded in habitats that have grown too warm for them      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers created maps showing where warmer weather has left trees in conditions that don't suit them, making them more prone to being replaced by other species. The findings could help inform long-term wildfire and ecosystem management in these 'zombie forests.'

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR)
Published

How can the metaverse improve public health?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The metaverse is a technological revolution in the field of virtual reality, with potential benefits to public health research. A new article proposes several new ways in which the metaverse can help us design, test, and experience health-promoting environments to minimize the risk of non-communicable diseases.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

New technique maps large-scale impacts of fire-induced permafrost thaw in Alaska      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed a machine learning-based ensemble approach to quantify fire-induced thaw settlement across the entire Tanana Flats in Alaska, which encompasses more than 3 million acres. They linked airborne repeat lidar data to time-series Landsat products (satellite images) to delineate thaw settlement patterns across six large fires that have occurred since 2000. The six fires resulted in a loss of nearly 99,000 acres of evergreen forest from 2000 to 2014 among nearly 155,000 acres of fire-influenced forests with varying degrees of burn severity. This novel approach helped to explain about 65 percent of the variance in lidar-detected elevation change.

Computer Science: General Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR) Engineering: Graphene
Published

Virtual and augmented reality: Researchers pioneer process to stack micro-LEDs      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers are using emerging technology to demonstrate a process that will enable more immersive and realistic virtual and augmented reality displays with the world's smallest and thinnest micro-LEDs.

Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Western wildfires destroying more homes per square mile burned      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Between 2010 and 2020, human ignitions started 76% of the Western wildfires that destroyed structures, and those fires tended to be in flammable areas where buildings are increasingly common. Three times as many homes and other structures burned in these ten years than in the previous decade.

Biology: Botany Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Invasive Species Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Understanding plants can boost wildland-fire modeling in uncertain future      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new conceptual framework for incorporating the way plants use carbon and water, or plant dynamics, into fine-scale computer models of wildland fire provides a critical first step toward improved global fire forecasting.

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR) Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math
Published

Autonomous steering system keeps human drivers engaged      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed an automated driving system based on the concept of 'collaborative steering', which aims to increase transportation safety, efficiency, and comfort by encouraging active interaction between autonomous vehicles and their human drivers.

Environmental: Wildfires
Published

How to apply lessons from Colorado's costliest wildfire to drinking water systems      (via sciencedaily.com) 

While communities and governments nationwide have been facing the impact of wildfires on drinking water systems, no national synthesis of scientific and policy needs has been conducted. Now, a study has outlined the scientific and policy needs specific to drinking water systems' resilience to wildfires.

Ecology: General Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Unprecedented levels of high-severity fire burn in Sierra Nevada      (via sciencedaily.com) 

High-severity wildfire in California's Sierra Nevada forests has nearly quintupled compared to before Euro-American settlement, rising from less than 10% per year then to up to 43% today, a new study finds.

Environmental: Wildfires
Published

In the wake of a wildfire, embers of change in cognition and brain function linger      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Five years after the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history, researchers document persistent differences in cognitive function among survivors.

Environmental: Wildfires
Published

What's driving re-burns across California and the West?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Seasonal temperature, moisture loss from plants and wind speed are what primarily drive fires that sweep across the same landscape multiple times, a new study reveals. These findings and others could help land managers plan more effective treatments in areas susceptible to fire, particularly in the fire-ravaged wildland-urban interfaces of California.

Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

20,000 premature US deaths caused by human-ignited fires each year      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study shows that smoke particles from human-lit fires are responsible for over 80% of smoke-related deaths each year. The study shows that smoke pollution is on the rise, reducing air quality, and leading to increased illness and premature deaths.

Ecology: General Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Bird diversity increased in severely burned forests of Southern Appalachian mountains      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study found bird diversity increased in North Carolina mountain forest areas severely burned by wildfire in 2016, reinforcing that while wildfire can pose risks to safety and property, it can be beneficial to wildlife. The study results could help forest managers better predict bird responses to wildfire, and manage forests to benefit birds.

Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Wildfire threats not commonly disclosed by US firms despite risk to economy      (via sciencedaily.com) 

U.S. firms rarely report their wildfire risks in required federal filings and instead bury such risks in nonspecific risk disclosures, according to new research.

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR)
Published

Virtual reality game to objectively detect ADHD      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A virtual reality game offers an objective assessment of attention deficit disorders and may lead to an improved therapeutic approach.

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR)
Published

When using virtual reality as a teaching tool, context and 'feeling real' matter      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Psychologists had people learn words from two phonetically similar languages in virtual reality environments. Those who learned each language in its own unique context mixed up fewer words and were able to recall 92% of the words they had learned. In contrast, participants who had learned both sets of words in the same VR context were more likely to confuse terms between the two languages and retained only 76% of the words. Regardless of group, those participants who felt immersed in the VR world remembered more than those who did not feel immersed.

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR) Engineering: Robotics Research
Published

Researchers develop wireless, ultrathin 'Skin VR' to provide a vivid, 'personalized' touch experience in the virtual world      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Enhancing the virtual experience with the touch sensation has become a hot topic, but today's haptic devices remain typically bulky and tangled with wires. Researchers have now developed an advanced wireless haptic interface system, called WeTac, worn on the hand, which has soft, ultrathin soft features, and collects personalized tactile sensation data to provide a vivid touch experience in the metaverse.

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR)
Published

Does throwing my voice make you want to shop here?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

By breaking the laws of physics in a virtual reality environment, researchers find that changing the location of a virtual assistant's voice in specific ways can be used as a tool to build rapport with customers.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires Paleontology: Climate
Published

Climate whiplash increased wildfires on California's west coast about 8,000 years ago      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have been studying the effects of the sudden decrease in global temperatures that occurred about 8,200 years ago, the so-called 8.2-kiloyear event, with the help of mineral deposits present in White Moon Cave in Northern California. New indications show that oscillations between extreme wetness and aridity in California were closely linked with the occurrence of wildfires. The researchers have concluded that such events are likely to become more common in the face of human-induced climate change.