Showing 20 articles starting at article 701

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Ecology: Extinction, Mathematics: Modeling

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

As deserts expanded their range over the past 5-7 million years, many plants invaded the new biome and rapidly diversified, producing amazing adaptations to drought and heat. Can plants continue to adapt to increasing aridity caused by climate change? A new study that addressed the origins of desert adaptation concluded that one group of desert plants, rock daisies, came preadapted to aridity, likely helping them survive desert conditions. Not all plants may be so lucky.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study has uncovered a new thalattosuchian -- an ancient 'sister' of modern-day crocodiles' ancestors.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

New research provides rare evidence that natural hybridization can reduce the risk of extinction of species threatened by climate change. Researchers have identified genes that enable Rainbowfish to adapt to climate variations across the Australia using environmental models to work out how much evolution will likely be required for populations to keep pace with future climate change.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study has for the first time predicted which invasive species could pose a future threat to the UK's ecologically unique Overseas Territories.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A handful of hyper-productive fisheries provide sustenance to a billion people and employ tens of millions. These fisheries occur on the eastern edges of the world's oceans -- off the West Coast of the U.S., the Canary Islands, Peru, Chile, and Benguela. There, a process called upwelling brings cold water and nutrients to the surface, which in turn supports large numbers of larger sea creatures that humans depend on for sustenance. A new project is seeking to understand how changes to the climate and oceans will impact fisheries in the U.S. and around the world.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

In the 'butterfly effect,' an insect can flap its wings and create a microscopic change in initial conditions that leads to a hurricane halfway around the world. This chaos is seen everywhere, from weather to labor markets to brain dynamics. And now researchers explored how to turn the twisting, fractal structures behind the science into jewelry with 3D printing. The jewelry shapes are based on the Chua circuit, a simple electronic system that was the first physical, mathematical, and experimental proof of chaos.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Rapid economic growth has pushed rare species of big carnivores to the brink of extinction, but ecologists have suggested our appetite to once again live alongside big cats is increasing.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Federal environmental laws are failing to mitigate against Australia's extinction crisis, according to new research.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers report that elephants play a key role in creating forests which store more atmospheric carbon and maintaining the biodiversity of forests in Africa. If the already critically endangered elephants become extinct, rainforest of central and west Africa, the second largest rainforest on earth, would lose between six and nine percent of their ability to capture atmospheric carbon, amplifying planetary warming.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Protected natural areas of the UK are struggling to halt declines in insects and spiders that have occurred over the past 30 years, according to a new study.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A researcher has created a computer reconstruction of a virus, including its complete native genome. Although other researchers have created similar reconstructions, this is believed to be the first to replicate the exact chemical and 3D structure of a 'live' virus.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Intact forests are important climate regulators and harbors of biodiversity, but they are rapidly disappearing. Agriculture is commonly considered to be the major culprit behind forest loss, but the authors of a new article show that agriculture isn't solely to blame. For forest loss associated with the 2014 world economy, over 60% was related to final consumption of non-agricultural products, such as minerals, metals and wood-related goods, and the authors argue that we must consider international trade markets when designing conservation strategies.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

In order to meet climate protection goals, renewable energies are booming -- often wind power. More than 30,000 turbines have already been installed on the German mainland so far, and the industry is currently scrambling to locate increasingly rare suitable sites. Thus, forests are coming into focus as potential sites. A scientific team has now demonstrated that wind turbines in forests impair endangered bat species: Common noctules (Nyctalus noctula), a species with a high risk of colliding with rotor blades, are attracted to forest wind turbines if these are located near their roosts. Far from roosts, common noctules avoid the turbines, essentially resulting in a loss of foraging space and thus habitat for this species.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Flooding in Australia's Murray-Darling Basin is creating ideal breeding conditions for many native species that have evolved to take advantage of temporary flood conditions. Scientists have now developed virtual models of the Murray River to reveal a crucial link between natural flooding and the extinction risk of endangered southern bell frogs (Litoria raniformis; also known as growling grass frogs). Southern bell frogs are one of Australia's 100 Priority Threatened Species. This endangered frog breeds during spring and summer when water levels increase in their wetlands. However, the natural flooding patterns in Australia's largest river system have been negatively impacted by expansive river regulation that in some years, sees up to 60% of river water extracted for human use.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Artificial intelligence (AI) may help improve care for patients who show up at the hospital with acute chest pain, according to a new study.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Using artificial intelligence, engineers have simplified and reinforced models that accurately calculate the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) -- the soot, dust and exhaust emitted by trucks and cars that get into human lungs -- contained in urban air pollution.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A study is providing a glimpse into dinosaur and bird diversity in Patagonia during the Late Cretaceous, just before the non-avian dinosaurs went extinct. The fossils represent the first record of theropods -- a dinosaur group that includes both modern birds and their closest non-avian dinosaur relatives -- from the Chilean portion of Patagonia. The researchers' finds include giant megaraptors with large sickle-like claws and birds similar to todays ducks and geese.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team that has used two-photon imaging technology to show the creation and elimination of synapses between neurons in the brains of live mice.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Combing computational physics with experimental data, researchers have developed computer models for determining a drug candidate's ability to target and bind to proteins within cells.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Only a fraction of the 7,000 to 8,000 languages spoken around the world benefit from modern language technologies like voice-to-text transcription, automatic captioning, instantaneous translation and voice recognition. Researchers want to expand the number of languages with automatic speech recognition tools available to them from around 200 to potentially 2,000.