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Categories: Geoscience: Earth Science, Space: Cosmology
Published Ocean biodiversity work needs improvement
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international collaboration says the world's largest marine protected areas aren't collectively delivering the biodiversity benefits they could be because of slow implementation of management strategies and a failure to restrict the most impactful human activities.
Published Improved wildfire smoke model identifies areas for public health intervention
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The Canadian wildfires of June 2023 exposed a large portion of the Northeastern United States to unprecedented levels of smoke. A new model that combines wildfire smoke forecasts and data from ground-based sensors may help public health officials plan targeted interventions in areas most at risk for the negative health effects of unexpected smoke events and air pollution, according to scientists.
Published Astrophysicists discover a novel method for hunting the first stars
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A recent study has discovered a novel method for detecting the first-generations stars, known as Population III (Pop III) stars, which have never been directly detected. These potential discoveries about Pop III stars hold the promise of unlocking the secrets of the universe's origin and providing a deeper understanding of the remarkable journey from the primordial cosmos to the world we inhabit today.
Published Heavy snowfall and rain may contribute to some earthquakes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Episodes of heavy snowfall and rain likely contributed to a swarm of earthquakes over the past several years in northern Japan, researchers find. Their study shows climate conditions could initiate some earthquakes.
Published Climate resilience strategies in urban, rural areas
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Local decision-makers looking for ways to reduce the impact of heat waves on their communities have a valuable new capability at their disposal: a new study on vegetation resilience. Scientists completed a study of how well vegetation survived extreme heat events in both urban and rural communities across the country in recent years. The analysis informs pathways for climate mitigation, including ways to reduce the effect of urban heat islands.
Published Rock steady: Study reveals new mechanism to explain how continents stabilized
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Ancient, expansive tracts of continental crust called cratons have helped keep Earth's continents stable for billions of years, even as landmasses shift, mountains rise and oceans form. A new mechanism may explain how the cratons formed some 3 billion years ago, an enduring question in the study of Earth's history.
Published Researchers show that slow-moving earthquakes are controlled by rock permeability
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A research group explores how the makeup of rocks, specifically their permeability -- or how easily fluids can flow through them -- affects the frequency and intensity of slow slip events. Slow slips' role in the earthquake cycle may help lead to a better model to predict when earthquakes happen.
Published From fossils to fuel: Mozambique's Maniamba Basin's energy potential
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In the ever-expanding search for energy resources, a new study has emerged from Mozambique's Maniamba Basin. Mozambique's Maniamba Basin could be a big source of natural gas.
Published Geologists, biologists unearth the atomic fingerprints of cancer
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Earth scientists have long turned to minute differences in hydrogen atoms to explore the ancient history of our planet. A new study suggests that these same tiny atoms might also lead to new ways to track the growth of cancer.
Published Venus has almost no water: A new study may reveal why
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Billions of years ago, Venus may have harbored as much water as Earth. Today, almost all of it has disappeared. A new study may help to explain why.
Published Astronomers observe elusive stellar light surrounding ancient quasars
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Astronomers observed the elusive starlight surrounding some of the earliest quasars in the universe. The findings may shed light on how the earliest supermassive black holes became so massive despite having a relatively short amount of cosmic time in which to grow.
Published Hubble views a galaxy with a voracious black hole
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Bright, starry spiral arms surround an active galactic center in a new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of the galaxy NGC 4951. Located in the Virgo constellation, NGC 4951 is located roughly 50 million light-years away from Earth. It's classified as a Seyfert galaxy, which means that it's an extremely energetic type of galaxy with an active galactic nucleus (AGN).
Published Quantifying U.S. health impacts from gas stoves
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study of air pollution in U.S. homes reveals how much gas and propane stoves increase people's exposure to nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant linked to childhood asthma. Even in bedrooms far from kitchens, concentrations frequently exceed health limits while stoves are on and for hours after burners and ovens are turned off.
Published Did a magnetic field collapse trigger the emergence of animals?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers uncovered compelling evidence that Earth's magnetic field was in a highly unusual state when the macroscopic animals of the Ediacaran Period -- 635 to 541 million years ago -- diversified and thrived. Their study raises the question of whether these fluctuations in Earth's ancient magnetic field led to shifts in oxygen levels that may have been crucial to the proliferation of life forms millions of years ago.
Published New Nevada experiments will improve monitoring of nuclear explosions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source On an October morning in 2023, a chemical explosion detonated in a tunnel under the Nevada desert was the launch of the next set of experiments by the National Nuclear Security Administration, with the goal to improve detection of low-yield nuclear explosions around the world.
Published For microscopic organisms, ocean currents act as 'expressway' to deeper depths
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Some of the ocean's tiniest organisms get swept into underwater currents that act as a conduit that shuttles them from the sunny surface to deeper, darker depths where they play a huge role in affecting the ocean's chemistry and ecosystem, according to new research.
Published Oil palm plantations are driving massive downstream impact to watershed
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The global demand for palm oil -- the most widely consumed vegetable oil on the planet, in everything from instant noodles to lipstick -- is driving worldwide tropical deforestation. While many studies have shown the loss of biodiversity when rainforests are converted to oil palm plantations, researchers have now shown the far-reaching and wide-ranging disturbances to the watersheds in which such plantations occur.
Published Human activity is causing toxic thallium to enter the Baltic sea, according to new study
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Human activities account for 20% to more than 60% of toxic thallium entering the Baltic Sea over the past eight decades, according to new research. Currently, the amount of thallium, which is considered the most toxic metal for mammals, remains low in Baltic seawater. Much of the thallium in the Baltic, which is the largest human-induced hypoxic area on Earth, has been accumulated in the sediment thanks to sulfide minerals.
Published Do earthquake hazard maps predict higher shaking than actually occurred?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A research team studied earthquake hazard maps from five countries and found that all the maps seemed to overpredict the historically observed earthquake shaking intensities. In analyzing the possible causes, the researchers discovered the issue was with the conversion equations used in comparing the maps predicting future quakes with actual shaking data, rather than systemic problems with the hazard modeling itself.
Published New computer algorithm supercharges climate models and could lead to better predictions of future climate change
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study describes a new computer algorithm which can be applied to Earth System Models to drastically reduce the time needed to prepare these in order to make accurate predictions of future climate change. During tests on models used in IPCC simulations, the algorithm was on average 10 times faster at spinning up the model than currently-used approaches, reducing the time taken to achieve equilibrium from many months to under a week.