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Categories: Ecology: Animals, Energy: Technology

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Researchers have developed a data-driven AI algorithm for controlling the heating and cooling of an office building. The system does not require ambient sensors or specific knowledge of the building's rooms. During heating operations, the system was able to achieve energy savings of up to 30%, which can represent significant reductions to cost and environmental impact.

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Despite decades of decline, a genetic analysis of ruffed grouse reveals that Pennsylvania's state bird harbors more genetic diversity and connectivity than expected. The findings suggest that the iconic game bird could be maintained in persistent numbers if appropriate protections are implemented.

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A recent study has found that bird communities inside and outside protected areas are beginning to resemble each other as a result of climate change. In both areas, southern species increase in abundance, while northern species decrease.

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An international research group examined which plants honeybees favor when collecting nectar and pollen. The choices honeybees make have an impact on their health and also on humans, as honeybees pollinate important crop plants.

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Insect cyborgs may sound like something straight out of the movies, but hybrid insect computer robots, as they are scientifically called, could pioneer a new future for robotics. It involves using electrical stimuli to control an insect’s movement. Now, an international research group has conducted a study on the relationship between electrical stimulation in stick insects' leg muscles and the resulting torque (the twisting force that causes the leg to move). 

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Individual voice could help birds be recognized in a flock, no matter what they say.

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Engineers and scientists look at how thoughtful design can reduce a sustainably-designed neighborhood’s energy vulnerability during power disruptions, as well as which design characteristics are needed if and when local populations need to move to shelters. Researchers  analyzed the design and energy characteristics of particular kinds of buildings and neighborhoods to assess their vulnerabilities and their access to alternative and renewable energy sources. The authors use several scenarios involving different lengths of power disruption to see which kind of response is most beneficial to the populations affected.

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Scientists have characterized the genome of a metal-loving bacteria with an affinity for rare earth elements. The research paves the way towards replacing the harsh chemical processing of these elements with a benign practice called biosorption.

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Researchers have developed an improved way to test potential vaccines against bird flu.

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An international team of researchers has released a landmark study on contemporary evolutionary change in natural populations. Their study uses one of the largest genomic datasets ever produced for animals in their natural environment, comprising nearly 4,000 Darwin's finches. The study has revealed the genetic basis of adaptation in this iconic group.

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The rapid formation of 500 different species of fish in a single lake, each with specialized ecological roles, resulted from a small but genetically diverse hybrid population.

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Recent discoveries in the field of epigenetics, the study of inheritance of traits that occur without changing the DNA sequence, have shown that chronological age in mammals correlates with epigenetic changes that accumulate during the lifetime of an individual. In humans, this observation has led to the development of epigenetic clocks, which are now extensively used as biomarkers of aging. While these clocks work accurately from birth until death, they are set back to zero in each new generation. Now, an international team shows that epigenetic clocks not only exist in plants, but that these clocks keep ticking accurately over many generations.

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A new study has documented the abilities of individual wild Asian elephants to access food by solving puzzles that unlocked storage boxes. It is the first research study to show that individual wild elephants have different willingness and abilities to problem solve in order to get food.

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The friction on a graphene surface can be dynamically tuned using external electric fields, according to researchers.

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Facial recognition software used to study the social behavior of individual Greylag Geese in Europe will soon be used to monitor one of the rarest geese in the world, the Cape Barren Goose in South Australia. The technology was used to assess how each bird responds to images of themselves, other flock mates or partners and researchers say it could be used by other scientists or in citizen science apps around the world to monitor and record endangered wildlife or even to promote the welfare of animals in captivity.

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Humanity continuously emits greenhouse gases and thereby worsens global warming. Increasing research efforts go into developing strategies to convert these gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), into valuable products. CO2 accumulates dramatically over the years and is chemically very stable, thus challenging to transform. Yet, for billions of years, some microbes have actively captured CO2 using highly efficient enzymes. Scientists have now isolated one of these enzymes. When the enzyme was electronically branched on an electrode, they observed the conversion of CO2 to formate with perfect efficiency. This phenomenon will inspire new CO2-fixation systems because of its remarkable directionality and rates.

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Rechargeable battery performance could be improved by a new understanding of how they work at the molecular level. Researchers upend what's known about how rechargeable batteries function.

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For decades, fish-eating killer whales in the Pacific Northwest have been observed harassing and even killing porpoises without consuming them —- a perplexing behavior that has long intrigued scientists.

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An international research team has taken a decisive step toward a new generation of atomic clocks. The researchers have created a much more precise pulse generator based on the element scandium, which enables an accuracy of one second in 300 billion years -- that is about a thousand times more precise than the current standard atomic clock based on caesium.

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For the first time, researchers have extracted ancient DNA from Caribbean parrot fossils and archaeological specimens, showing that species thought to be endemic to particular islands were historically more widespread and diverse.