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Categories: Ecology: Nature, Engineering: Robotics Research
Published Genetics as conservation tool for endangered chimpanzees


The western chimpanzees of Guinea are threatened by mining activities. Using a novel genetic approach, researchers have collected information on population size and community structure of the endangered species. These data provide an important baseline to assess the impact of mining.
Published Resilient bug-sized robots keep flying even after wing damage


Researchers have developed resilient artificial muscles that can enable insect-scale aerial robots to effectively recover flight performance after suffering severe damage.
Published Researchers control the degree of twist in nanostructured particles


Micron-sized 'bow ties,' self-assembled from nanoparticles, form a variety of different curling shapes that can be precisely controlled, a research team has shown.
Published Recovering tropical forests offset just one quarter of carbon emissions from new tropical deforestation and forest degradation


A pioneering global study has found deforestation and forests lost or damaged due to human and environmental change, such as fire and logging, are fast outstripping current rates of forest regrowth.
Published Mix-and-match kit could enable astronauts to build a menagerie of lunar exploration bots


The Walking Oligomeric Robotic Mobility System, or WORMS, is a reconfigurable, modular, multiagent robotics architecture for extreme lunar terrain mobility. The system could be used to assemble autonomous worm-like parts into larger biomimetic robots that could explore lava tubes, steep slopes, and the moon's permanently shadowed regions.
Published Robots can help improve mental wellbeing at work -- as long as they look right


Robots can be useful as mental wellbeing coaches in the workplace -- but perception of their effectiveness depends in large part on what the robot looks like.
Published Researchers develop soft robot that shifts from land to sea with ease


Most animals can quickly transition from walking to jumping to crawling to swimming if needed without reconfiguring or making major adjustments. Most robots cannot. But researchers have now created soft robots that can seamlessly shift from walking to swimming, for example, or crawling to rolling using a bistable actuator made of 3D-printed soft rubber containing shape-memory alloy springs that react to electrical currents by contracting, which causes the actuator to bend. The team used this bistable motion to change the actuator or robot's shape. Once the robot changes shape, it is stable until another electrical charge morphs it back to its previous configuration.
Published Thousands of native plants are unphotographed, and citizen scientists can help fill the gaps


New research finds almost 4000 Australian plant species have not been photographed before in the wild, which may lead to their extinction.
Published Swan populations grow 30 times faster in nature reserves


Populations of whooper swans grow 30 times faster inside nature reserves, new research shows.
Published Researchers find decaying biomass in Arctic rivers fuels more carbon export than previously thought


A new study found that plants and small organisms in Arctic rivers could be responsible for more than half the particulate organic matter flowing to the Arctic Ocean. That's a significantly greater proportion than previously estimated, and it has implications for how much carbon gets sequestered in the ocean and how much moves into the atmosphere.
Published Study shows how biodiversity of coral reefs around the world changes with depth


Dramatic differences between shallow and mesophotic reefs stress the importance of studying--and conserving--these vital ecosystems along their entire depth gradient.
Published Minke whales are as small as a lunge-feeding baleen whale can be


A new study of Antarctic minke whales reveals a minimum size limit for whales employing the highly efficient 'lunge-feeding' strategy that enabled the blue whale to become the largest animal on Earth.
Published Changing landscapes alter disease-scapes


A new study has?highlighted?how and when?changes to the environment result in?animal-borne disease?thresholds?being breeched, allowing for?a?better understanding and?increased?capacity to?predict?the?risk of?transmissions.
Published Assessing the potential risks of ocean-based climate intervention technologies on deep-sea ecosystems


An international team of experts convened remotely as part of the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative's Climate Working Group to consider the deep-sea impacts of ocean-based climate intervention (OBCI). A research team has analyzed the proposed approaches to assess their potential impacts on deep-sea ecosystems and biodiversity. Their findings raise substantial concern on the potential impacts of these technologies on deep-sea ecosystems and call for the need for an integrated research effort to carefully assess the cost and benefits of each intervention.
Published Sea temperatures control the distributions of European marine fish


An analysis extending from southern Portugal to northern Norway highlights the importance of temperature in determining where fish species are found.
Published Island-inhabiting giants, dwarfs more vulnerable to extinction


Island-dwelling mammal species often expand or contract in size, becoming giant or dwarf versions of their mainland counterparts. A new Science study from a global team shows that those giants and dwarfs have faced extreme risk of extinction -- an existential threat exacerbated by the arrival of humans.
Published Ultra-soft and highly stretchable hydrogel-based sensor for monitoring overactive bladder


Researchers have developed an ultra-soft and highly stretchable tissue-adhesive hydrogel-based multifunctional implantable sensor for monitoring of overactive bladder.
Published eDNA holds the key to safeguarding pollinators amid global declines


Researchers have uncovered new evidence of western pygmy possums interacting with native flowers, providing an eDNA study to simultaneously detect mammal, insect and bird DNA on flowers.
Published Major North American oil source yields clues to one of earth's deadliest mass extinctions


Geologists studying the Bakken Shale Formation discovered a critical kill mechanism behind a series of extinctions some 350 million years ago.
Published To help dry forests, fire needs to be just the right intensity, and happen more than once


Research into the ability of a wildfire to improve the health of a forest uncovered a Goldilocks effect -- unless a blaze falls in a narrow severity range, neither too hot nor too cold, it isn't very good at helping forest landscapes return to their historical, more fire-tolerant conditions.