Showing 20 articles starting at article 581
< Previous 20 articles Next 20 articles >
Categories: Chemistry: Thermodynamics, Ecology: General
Published Reactive fabrics respond to changes in temperature


New textiles change shape when they heat up, giving designers a wide range of new options. In addition to offering adjustable aesthetics, responsive smart fabrics could also help monitor people’s health, improve thermal insulation, and provide new tools for managing room acoustics and interior design.
Published Detecting the impact of drought on plants with user-friendly and inexpensive techniques


Climate change is aggravating the impact of droughts -- one of the factors that only affect plant physiology -- on all plant ecosystems worldwide. Although new tools have been developed to detect and assess drought stress in plants -- transcriptomic or metabolomic technologies, etc. -- they are still difficult to apply in natural ecosystems, especially in remote areas and developing countries.
Published Solid-state thermal transistor demonstrated


An effective, stable solid-state electrochemical transistor has been developed, heralding a new era in thermal management technology.
Published Proposed quantum device may succinctly realize emergent particles such as the Fibonacci anyon


Tenacity has taken a roadblock and turned it into a possible route to the development of quantum computing.
Published Add-on device makes home furnaces cleaner, safer and longer-lasting


Natural gas furnaces not only heat your home, they also produce a lot of pollution. Even modern high-efficiency condensing furnaces produce significant amounts of corrosive acidic condensation and unhealthy levels of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and methane. These emissions are typically vented into the atmosphere and end up polluting our soil, water and air. Scientists have developed an affordable add-on technology that removes more than 99.9% of acidic gases and other emissions to produce an ultraclean natural gas furnace. This acidic gas reduction, or AGR, technology can also be added to other natural gas-driven equipment such as water heaters, commercial boilers and industrial furnaces.
Published Amazon mammals threatened by climate change


Most land-based mammals in the Brazilian Amazon are threatened by climate change and the savannization of the region.
Published Moisture the key to soils' ability to sequester carbon, research shows


Soil is the Earth's second-biggest carbon storage locker after the ocean, and a research collaboration has shown that it's moisture, not temperature or mineral content, that's the key to how well the soil carbon warehouse works.
Published Coral reefs in the Eastern Pacific could survive into the 2060s


Scientists found that some reefs in the tropical Pacific Ocean could maintain high coral cover into the second half of this century by shuffling the symbiotic algae they host. The findings offer a ray of hope in an often-dire picture of the future of coral reefs worldwide.
Published Urban gardens are good for ecosystems and humans


Traditionally, it has been assumed that cultivating food leads to a loss of biodiversity and negative impacts on an ecosystem. A new study defies this assumption, showing that community gardens and urban farms positively affect biodiversity, local ecosystems and the well-being of humans that work in them.
Published Chiral phonons create spin current without needing magnetic materials


Researchers chiral phonons to convert wasted heat into spin information -- without needing magnetic materials. The finding could lead to new classes of less expensive, energy-efficient spintronic devices for use in applications ranging from computational memory to power grids.
Published How giants became dwarfs


In certain Lake Tanganyika cichlids breeding in empty snail shells, there are two extreme sizes of males: giants and dwarfs. Researchers have analyzed the genomes of these fish and found out how the peculiar sizes of males and females evolved in conjunction with the genetic sex determination mechanism.
Published Endangered Bahamas bird may be lost from island following hurricane


The endangered Bahama Warbler may be surviving on just one island following Hurricane Dorian's devastation in 2019, according to researchers. A new study shows the bird's distribution and ecology on Grand Bahama before the hurricane struck. But the team says that the warbler may now only survive on neighboring Abaco island, after hurricane Dorian destroyed the bird's forest habitat on Grand Bahama. The research comes from the same team that found what is thought to have been the last living Bahama Nuthatch, previously thought to have been extinct.
Published Marine reserves unlikely to restore marine ecosystems


Protected marine areas are one of the essential tools for the conservation of natural resources affected by human impact -- mainly fishing --, but, are they enough to recover the functioning of these systems? A study now highlights the limitations of marine reserves in restoring food webs to their pristine state prior to the impact of intensive fishing.
Published 'Game-changing' findings for sustainable hydrogen production


Hydrogen fuel could be a more viable alternative to traditional fossil fuels, according to University of Surrey researchers who have found that a type of metal-free catalysts could contribute to the development of cost-effective and sustainable hydrogen production technologies.
Published Long-term restoration of a biodiversity hotspot hinges on getting seeds to the right place at the right time


New research shows that degraded savanna ecosystems can reap lasting benefits from a single seeding of native understory plants. Once a diverse understory of savanna plants became established, its long-term persistence was relatively unaffected by environmental factors -- with one exception. Higher temperatures during the height of the growing season were associated with poorer long-term survival among some species, indicating one threat posed by a warming climate.
Published Loss of reptiles poses threat for small islands where humans may have caused extinctions


A new examination of ancient and current species of reptiles conducted by paleobiologists reveals the serious impact of the disappearance of even a few species of reptiles in some island areas. The study has startling conclusions about how, on smaller islands in the Caribbean where human impact was greatest, extinctions have led to the loss of up to two-thirds of the supports for the ecosystem that native reptile species once provided there.
Published A quasiparticle that can transfer heat under electrical control


Scientists have found the secret behind a property of solid materials known as ferroelectrics, showing that quasiparticles moving in wave-like patterns among vibrating atoms carry enough heat to turn the material into a thermal switch when an electrical field is applied externally.
Published Passive radiative cooling can now be controlled electrically


Energy-efficient ways of cooling buildings and vehicles will be required in a changing climate. Researchers have now shown that electrical tuning of passive radiative cooling can be used to control temperatures of a material at ambient temperatures and air pressure.
Published Deer browsing is just one of many factors shaping North American forests


In a new study, a research team discovered evidence that browsing by white-tailed deer had relatively little long-term impact on two tree species in a northern forest.
Published Researchers can 'see' crystals perform their dance moves


Researchers already knew the atoms in perovskites react favorably to light. Now they've seen precisely how the atoms move when the 2D materials are excited with light. Their study details the first direct measurement of structural dynamics under light-induced excitation in 2D perovskites.