Showing 20 articles starting at article 381

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Environmental: Wildfires, Space: Cosmology

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Wildfires may seem unpredictable, leaving random ruin in their wake. Engineers have now developed a model that can predict how wildfire will impact a community down to which buildings will burn. They say predicting damage to the built environment is essential to developing fire mitigation strategies and steps for recovery.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Bizarre quantum properties of black holes -- including their mind-bending ability to have different masses simultaneously -- have been confirmed by physicists.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

When two neutron stars merge, the resultant explosion forms heavy elements -- many of which make up our Universe. A new study has identified the specific rare-earth elements produced in a neutron star merger.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

VLA observations revealed that cosmic rays can play an important role in driving winds that rob galaxies of the gas needed to form new stars. This mechanism may be an important factor in galactic evolution, particularly at earlier times in the history of the universe.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Prescribed fire -- a tool increasingly used by forest managers and landowners to combat invasive species, improve wildlife habitat and restore ecosystem health -- also could play a role in reducing the abundance of ticks and the transmission of disease pathogens they carry, according to a team of scientists.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers found thousands of seedlings growing after recent fires in Montana, especially at sites with cooler, damper conditions -- often found in the shade of the dead trees and upper canopy, as well as on the north side of mountains with higher elevations and more undergrowth. Researchers found fewer seedlings at sites with less shade and drier, hotter conditions.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

The mystery of the origin of hydrocarbons found in extraterrestrial environment may finally be resolved, thanks to a technique based on a 13C-13C abundance analysis. By measuring the abundance of clumped 13C-13C isotope in the hydrocarbons, it can be inferred if a hydrocarbon was produced via biological processes. This could open doors to distinguishing such hydrocarbons from abiotic ones, aiding our search for extra-terrestrial life.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study shows for the first time that wildfires burning in West Coast states can strengthen storms in downwind states. Heat and tiny airborne particles produced by western wildfires distantly intensify severe storms, in some cases bringing baseball-sized hail, heavier rain and flash flooding to states like Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and the Dakotas.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using the James Webb Space Telescope to look back in time at the early universe, astronomers discovered a surprise: a cluster of galaxies merging together around a rare red quasar within a massive black hole. The findings offer an unprecedented opportunity to observe how billions of years ago galaxies coalesced into the modern universe.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Los Angeles is known for its movie stars and beaches. It's also known for being one of only two megacities in the world that supports a population of big cats. Despite being surrounded by a vast network of busy freeways and over ten million people, mountain lions have somehow managed to eke out a living in the wooded LA-area hills. Now, researchers have found that wildfires, and specifically the 2018 Woolsey fire, are putting the LA mountain lions' future in more doubt.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured a lush, highly detailed landscape -- the iconic Pillars of Creation -- where new stars are forming within dense clouds of gas and dust. The three-dimensional pillars look like majestic rock formations, but are far more permeable. These columns are made up of cool interstellar gas and dust that appear -- at times -- semi-transparent in near-infrared light.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The strong winds and torrential rains that accompany a cyclone do tremendous damage to ecosystems, and this damage can make them more prone to future wildfires. As intense cyclones are projected to become more frequent worldwide, a team of researchers examines the links between cyclones and forest fires, how they fuel one another, and why we may see fires burning in unlikely places in the future.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

The number of trout in a southern Oregon stream system showed no decline one year after a fire burned almost the entire watershed, including riparian zone trees that had helped maintain optimal stream temperatures for the cold-water fish.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Rates of traumatic injury among workers in the Oregon agricultural and construction sectors are significantly higher during periods of high heat compared with periods of more moderate weather, a recent study found.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

The use of virtual fencing to manage cattle grazing on sagebrush rangelands has the potential to create fuel breaks needed to help fight wildfires, a recent study found.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

When you're cooking or cleaning inside your home, what chemicals are you breathing, and are they potentially harmful? Chemists have given us a solid start on the answer. A large, collaborative research experiment recently attempted to map the airborne chemistry of a typical home. Researchers performed typical home activities like cooking and cleaning and used sophisticated instrumentation to document the chemistry that resulted.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have developed a way to forecast which of the Great Basin's more than 60 million acres have the highest probability of a large rangeland fire. The forecasts come from a model developed by the researchers that combines measures of accumulated annual and perennial grass vegetation that is potential fire fuel with recent weather and climate data. When integrated, this information can be translated into maps showing the likelihood of a large wildfire -- greater than 1,000 acres--across the Great Basin. These forecasts also can be scaled down to predict fire risk for counties or even single pastures.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

As the frequency of wildfires has increased, so have pollutants in the waters from burned watersheds, say researchers in a review paper that highlights the need for more research in the area.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A machine learning model can evaluate the effectiveness of different management strategies.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

The 2019/20 wildfires in Australia transported more smoke into the atmosphere than observed ever before anywhere in the world. In the so-called Black Summer, three times as many particles reached high air layers as in the previous record wildfires in Canada during summer 2017. Research now reveals the climate impact of these huge fires: Smoke particles with a total mass of around one million tonnes spread across the southern hemisphere and affected the climate for about one and a half years by warming the upper atmosphere and cooling the lower atmosphere close to Earth's surface.