Showing 20 articles starting at article 581

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Ecology: Endangered Species, Energy: Alternative Fuels

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Birds native to the tropical Andes are threatened by increasing agricultural development in the region. A new study combines a meta-analysis of papers on birds across the Andes with five years of fieldwork in Peru, revealing that open farmlands result in up to a 60% decline in the number of species in an area. The study documents how specific species are affected and provides tailored guidance for conservationists trying to protect them.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers demonstrate that a vast multitude of birds and mammals can be detected by simply swabbing the DNA left behind by animals from leaves. They showcased the power of this approach in an ecosystem that hosts a ton of wildlife and where detecting animals has historically proven extremely challenging -- the tropical rainforest.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

The world needs greener ways to make chemicals. In a new study, researchers demonstrate one potential path toward this goal by adapting hydrogen fuel cell technologies.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

In an experiment on how turbulent boundary layers respond to acceleration in the flow around them, aerospace engineers at the observed an unexpected internal boundary layer.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Radiocarbon dating on bones in the La Brea Tar Pits lead archaeologists to warn that history may be repeating itself.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Conventional wisdom among ecologists holds that the more species there are inhabiting an ecosystem, the less vulnerable any one species will be to a threat like a parasite. A new study of tadpoles illustrates how overlapping biological and environmental factors can complicate how we value protecting diverse animal communities. The researchers found that environmental pollutants like road salt influence whether increased biodiversity helps or hinders disease outbreaks in wildlife, which can complicate how we value protecting diverse animal communities.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new analysis reveals that soft technology, the processes to design and deploy a solar energy system, contributed far less to the total cost declines of solar installations than previously estimated. Their quantitative model shows that driving down solar energy costs in the future will likely require either improving soft technology or reducing system dependencies on soft technology features.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Bats gather to feast as nocturnal insects fly through mountain passes in the Pyrenees each autumn, new research shows.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New findings have found that water use efficiency has stalled since 2001 which implies not as much CO2 was being taken in by plants and more water was consumed and that could have implications on carbon cycling, agricultural production and water resources.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Expensive noble metals often play a vital role in illuminating screens or converting solar energy into fuels. Now, chemists have succeeded in replacing these rare elements with a significantly cheaper metal. In terms of their properties, the new materials are very similar to those used in the past.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Maize roots secrete certain chemicals that affect the quality of soil. In some fields, this effect increases yields of wheat planted subsequent to maize in the same soil by more than 4%. While the findings from several field experiments show that these effects are highly variable, in the long term they may yet help to make the cultivation of grains more sustainable, without the need for additional fertilizers or pesticides.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Plants orient their organs in response to the gravity vector, with roots growing towards gravity and shoots growing in the opposite direction. The movement of statoliths responding to the inclination relative to the gravity vector is employed for gravity sensing in both plants and animals. However, in plants, the statolith takes the form of a high-density organelle, known as an amyloplast, which settles toward gravity within the gravity sensing cell. Despite the significance of this gravity sensing mechanism, the exact process behind it has eluded scientists for over a century.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Rapid alkalinization factors (RALFs) are required for pollen tube germination and elongation, an essential process in plant fertilization. But their role in monocot plants remains unexplored. Scientists have now identified OsRALF17 and OsRALF19 in rice and determined their functions in pollen tube germination and growth. This study provides novel insights into the role of RALFs in rice fertilization, paving the way for enhanced grain yield.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Gold (Au)-based electrocatalysts used for hydrogen production via water electrolysis exhibit high chemical stability but low hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity. Alloying them with nickel (Ni) can improve their HER activity. A recent study investigated the HER activity and surface properties of AuNi alloy prepared on single crystal Au surfaces, revealing the atomic structural changes and surface sites responsible for enhanced HER activity of AuNi/Au catalyst during electrolysis.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A 390-million-year-old moss called Takakia lives in some of Earth's most remote places, including the icy cliffs of the Tibetan Plateau. In a decade-long project, a team of scientists climbed some of the tallest peaks in the world to find Takakia, sequence its DNA for the first time, and study how climate change is impacting the moss. Their results show that Takakia is one of the fastest evolving species ever studied -- but it likely isn't evolving fast enough to survive climate change.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Poaching of two Critically Endangered Kordofan giraffes per year could result in extinction in just 15 years within Cameroon's Bénoué National Park without intervention.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A research team recently developed a stable artificial photocatalytic system that is more efficient than natural photosynthesis. The new system mimics a natural chloroplast to convert carbon dioxide in water into methane, a valuable fuel, very efficiently using light. This is a promising discovery, which could contribute to the goal of carbon neutrality.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Northern muriquis, which live in the Atlantic forest of Brazil, are one of the most endangered species of monkey in the world. To better understand what goes on in the mating lives of muriquis, researchers turned to the monkeys' poop to help gain insight into how the primates choose their mates.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A newly published study describes the response to sea level rise by the silver rice rat, an endangered species only found in the Florida Keys.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers looked at the effects of declawing on larger cat species and found that declawing disproportionately impacts their muscular capabilities as compared to their smaller brethren.