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Categories: Geoscience: Oceanography, Mathematics: Puzzles
Published Barnacles may help reveal location of lost Malaysia Airlines flight MH370



Geoscientists have created a new method that can reconstruct the drift path and origin of debris from flight MH370, an aircraft that went missing over the Indian Ocean in 2014 with 239 passengers and crew.
Published 'Coastal squeeze:' Massive loss of U.S. coastline tidal flats over 31 years



The entire contiguous U.S. has experienced massive urban expansions and the Atlantic Coast shows outstandingly high rates. Urban expansion has substantially squeezed the space of tidal flats and affected surrounding environments. In new urban areas, tidal flats have undergone considerable degeneration with more significant patterns as they get closer to new urban locations. Tidal flats protect against the ocean's destructive powers such as hurricanes. Without some inland spaces to move around, they will likely disappear, which will have dire consequences for beachfront communities.
Published Thinning ice sheets may drive sharp rise in subglacial waters



A new study shows that water underneath glaciers may surge due to thinning ice sheets -- a dangerous feedback cycle that could increase glacial melt, sea level rise, and biological disturbances.
Published Unprecedented look at what influences sea ice motion in the Arctic



The in-depth analysis reveals how local tidal currents strongly affect the movement of sea ice in the Arctic ocean and provides an unprecedented look at how the makeup of the seafloor is causing some of the most abrupt changes.
Published World's deepest coral calcification rates measured off Hawaiian Islands


In the waters off the Hawaiian Islands, rates of calcification were measured in the deepest coral colonies.
Published Oceans release microplastics into the atmosphere



Tiny plastic particles can be found in the air over the oceans even far away from the coast. According to a new study, microplastics are not only carried by the wind, but also escape into the atmosphere from seawater. Researchers present data on the composition and sources of different types of plastic in the air over the North Atlantic and the origin of the particles.
Published Could artificially dimming the sun prevent ice melt?



With methods of so-called geoengineering, the climate could theoretically be artificially influenced and cooled. Researchers have now investigated whether it would be possible to prevent the melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet by artificially 'dimming the sun'. The results show that artificial influence does not work without decarbonization and entails high risks.
Published Microplastics found embedded in tissues of whales and dolphins



Microscopic plastic particles have been found in the fats and lungs of two-thirds of the marine mammals in a graduate student's study of ocean microplastics. The presence of polymer particles and fibers in these animals suggests that microplastics can travel out of the digestive tract and lodge in the tissues.
Published How a massive North Atlantic cooling event disrupted early human occupation in Europe



A new study finds that around 1.12 million years ago a massive cooling event in the North Atlantic and corresponding shifts in climate, vegetation and food resources disrupted early human occupation of Europe.
Published Effectiveness of video gameplay restrictions questioned in new study


Legal restrictions placed on the amount of time young people in China can play video games may be less effective than originally thought, a new study has revealed.
Published Top fish predators could suffer wide loss of suitable habitat by 2100 due to climate change



A study of 12 species of highly migratory fish predators -- including sharks, tuna, and billfish such as marlin and swordfish -- finds that most of them will encounter widespread losses of suitable habitat and redistribution from current habitats in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean (NWA) and the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) by 2100. These areas are among the fastest warming ocean regions and are projected to increase between 1-6°C (+1-10°F) by the end of the century, a sign of climate-driven changes in marine ecosystems.
Published Drops of seawater contain traces of an ancient world



New research links chemical changes in seawater to volcanic activity and changes.
Published Land-sea relationship is major driver of coral reef health outcomes



New research indicates that mitigating both local land and sea-based human impacts, especially in terms of pollutants and over-fishing, provides coral reef ecosystems with the best opportunity to persist under climate change. Along some highly populated areas on the shorelines of Hawai'i, wastewater pollution and urban runoff combine with fishing pressures to put immense stress on coral reefs.
Published Telecommunications cable used to track sea ice extent in the Arctic



A telecommunications fiber optic cable deployed offshore of Oliktok Point, Alaska recorded ambient seismic noise that can be used to finely track the formation and retreat of sea ice in the area, researchers report.
Published An early warning system for joint heat and ozone extremes in China



Scientists have identified large-scale climate patterns that could be used to predict the co-occurrence of extreme heat and ozone days in China months before they occur. Like predictions for hurricane and wildfire seasons, the forecasts could help the government prepare resources and implement policies to mitigate the severity of the season.
Published New Antarctic extremes 'virtually certain' as world warms



Extreme events in Antarctica such as ocean heatwaves and ice loss will almost certainly become more common and more severe, researchers say.
Published Nitrogen fixation hotspots in Atlantic seaweed



A new study examined nitrogen fixation among diazotrophs--microorganisms that can convert nitrogen into usable form for other plants and animals -- living among sargassum. Sargassum, a brown macroalgae in the seaweed family, floats on the surface of the open ocean and provides habitat for a colorful array of marine life such as small fish, brine shrimp and other microorganisms. Previous studies have overlooked diazotrophs associated with sargassum, which could mean a historical underestimation of nitrogen fixation in the Atlantic nitrogen budget. The study found that nitrogen fixation in sargassum communities was significant.
Published Invasion of the Arctic Ocean by Atlantic plankton species reveals a seasonally ice-free ocean during the last interglacial



A subpolar species associated with Atlantic water expanded far into the Arctic Ocean during the Last Interglacial, analysis of microfossil content of sediment cores reveals. This implies that summers in the Arctic were ice free during this period.
Published Winter storms over Labrador Sea influence Gulf Stream system



The Gulf Stream system plays an important role in climate. The weakening of this system that has been observed over the last two decades is therefore a cause for concern and much debate. The question is whether the measurable changes are already due to human-induced climate change -- model simulations predict such an influence with high probability for the future. A new study concludes that the currently observed weakening can be interpreted, at least in part, as a natural fluctuation following some extremely cold winters in the Labrador Sea in the 1990s.
Published Social media algorithms exploit how humans learn from their peers


In prehistoric societies, humans tended to learn from members of our ingroup or from more prestigious individuals, as this information was more likely to be reliable and result in group success. However, with the advent of diverse and complex modern communities -- and especially in social media -- these biases become less effective. For example, a person we are connected to online might not necessarily be trustworthy, and people can easily feign prestige on social media. Now, a group of social scientists describe how the functions of social media algorithms are misaligned with human social instincts meant to foster cooperation, which can lead to large-scale polarization and misinformation.