Geoscience: Geology
Published

Map of ancient ocean 'dead zones' could predict future locations, impacts      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have created a map of oceanic 'dead zones' that existed during the Pliocene epoch, when the Earth's climate was two to three degrees warmer than it is now. The work could provide a glimpse into the locations and potential impacts of future low oxygen zones in a warmer Earth's oceans.

Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

Bering Land Bridge formed surprisingly late during last ice age      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study that reconstructs the history of sea level at the Bering Strait shows that the Bering Land Bridge connecting Asia to North America did not emerge until around 35,700 years ago, less than 10,000 years before the height of the last ice age (known as the Last Glacial Maximum). The findings indicate that the growth of the ice sheets -- and the resulting drop in sea level -- occurred surprisingly quickly and much later in the glacial cycle than previous studies had suggested.

Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geology
Published

Hawai'i earthquake swarm caused by magma moving through 'sills'      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A machine-learning algorithm reveals the shape of massive subterranean structures linking active volcanoes.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

New study models the transmission of foreshock waves towards Earth      (via sciencedaily.com) 

As the supersonic solar wind surges towards Earth, its interaction with our planet's magnetic field creates a shock to deflect its flow, and a foreshock filled with electromagnetic waves. How these waves can propagate to the other side of the shock has long remained a mystery.

Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Volcanoes
Published

Predicting lava flow      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A team is collecting data that will be used to create models that can help improve lava flow forecasting tools that are useful in determining how hazards impact populations. One such tool, known as MOLASSES, is a simulation engine that forecasts inundation areas of lava flow.

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.

Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

Changes in Earth's orbit may have triggered ancient warming event      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Changes in Earth's orbit that favored hotter conditions may have helped trigger a rapid global warming event 56 million years ago. Researchers found the shape of Earth's orbit, or eccentricity, and the wobble in its rotation, or precession, favored hotter conditions at the onset of the PETM and that these orbital configurations together may have played a role in triggering the event.

Geoscience: Geology
Published

Fish larvae find their way using external cues      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The first global analysis of larval orientation studies found that millimeter-size fish babies consistently use external cues to find their way in the open ocean.  There are many external cues available to marine fish including the Sun, Earth's magnetic field, and sounds. The new study offers important insight into understanding this perilous phase of marine fish.

Geoscience: Geology Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Fossil site reveals giant arthropods dominated the seas 470 million years ago      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Discoveries at a major new fossil site in Morocco suggest giant arthropods -- relatives of modern creatures including shrimps, insects and spiders -- dominated the seas 470 million years ago.

Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Volcanoes
Published

Signals from the ionosphere could improve tsunami forecasts      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The powerful volcanic eruption in January 2022 created ripple effects throughout the world's atmosphere and oceans. Analysis of the Hunga Tonga eruption shows how signals from the ionosphere could help monitor future volcanoes and tsunamis.

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.

Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geology
Published

Finding faults deeply stressful      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Evidence that a complete stress release may have contributed to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake that broke records. Both sedimentary formations above and below the plate boundary fault lie in the stress state of normal faults in which vertical stress is greater than maximum horizontal stress. The new data show good consistency with previous results above the fault -- at the boundary between the North American plate and the subducting Pacific plate -- suggesting that combining geophysical data and core samples to comprehensively investigate stress states is effective.

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR)
Published

Improving the accuracy of markerless gait analysis      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Gait analysis systems measure certain metrics to give their results. These results then drive clinical treatment for gait correction. However, detailed gait analysis requires expensive equipment, and a lot of space, markers, time. Measurements from markerless, video-based gait analysis systems, on the other hand, are inaccurate. To improve upon existing systems, researchers have now combined RGB camera-based pose estimation and an inertial measurement unit sensor for gait analysis. This significantly reduces errors in the process.

Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Climate
Published

Fresh understanding of ice age frequency      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A chance find of an unstudied Antarctic sediment core has led researchers to flip our understanding of how often ice ages occurred in Antarctica.

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR) Mathematics: Puzzles
Published

Purchasing loot boxes in video games associated with problem gambling risk, says study      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Gamers who buy 'loot boxes' are up to two times more likely to gamble, shows new research.

Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geology
Published

Earthquake lab experiments produce aftershock-like behavior      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Earthquakes are notoriously hard to predict, and so too are the usually less-severe aftershocks that often follow a major seismic event.

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR)
Published

Crowding makes time seem to pass more slowly      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Testing time perception in an unusually lifelike setting -- a virtual reality ride on a New York City subway train -- an interdisciplinary research team found that crowding makes time seem to pass more slowly.

Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds
Published

The evolution of Asia's mammals was dictated by ancient climate change and rising mountains      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study compiles data on more than 3,000 species to show how climate and geologic changes across Asia over the last 66 million years have shaped the evolution of the continent's mammals.