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Categories: Biology: Evolutionary, Geoscience: Earth Science
Published Great Salt Lake a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions



Newly announced research examining greenhouse gas emissions from the drying lake bed of Great Salt Lake, Utah, calculates that 4.1 million tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases were released in 2020. This research suggests that drying lake beds are an overlooked but potentially significant source of greenhouse gases, which may further increase due to climate change.
Published Seven steps to achieving the right to clean indoor air post-pandemic



Seven lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic about ventilation's crucial role in preventing the spread of airborne pathogens has been set out in a new article.
Published How Saharan dust regulates hurricane rainfall



New research underscores the close relationship between dust plumes transported from the Sahara Desert in Africa, and rainfall from tropical cyclones along the U.S. Gulf Coast and Florida.
Published Southern Ocean absorbing more carbon dioxide than previously thought, study finds



New research has found that the Southern Ocean absorbs more carbon dioxide (CO2) than previously thought. Using direct measurements of CO2 exchange, or fluxes, between the air and sea, the scientists found the ocean around Antarctica absorbs 25% more CO2 than previous indirect estimates based on shipboard data have suggested.
Published Study of urban moss raises concerns about lead levels in older Portland neighborhoods



Lead levels in moss are as much as 600 times higher in older Portland, Oregon, neighborhoods where lead-sheathed telecommunications cables were once used compared to lead levels in nearby rural areas, a new study of urban moss has found.
Published New study supports stable mantle chemistry dating back to Earth's early geologic history and over its prodigious evolution



A new analysis of rocks thought to be at least 2.5 billion years old helps clarify the chemical history of Earth's mantle -- the geologic layer beneath the planet's crust. The findings hone scientists' understanding of Earth's earliest geologic processes, and they provide new evidence in a decades-long scientific debate about the geologic history of Earth. Specifically, the results provide evidence that the oxidation state of the vast majority of Earth's mantle has remained stable through geologic time and has not undergone major transitions, contrary to what has been suggested previously by other researchers.
Published Trees reveal climate surprise -- bark removes methane from the atmosphere



Tree bark surfaces play an important role in removing methane gas from the atmosphere.
Published Taco-shaped arthropod fossils gives new insights into the history of the first mandibulates



Palaeontologists are helping resolve the evolution and ecology of Odaraia, a taco-shaped marine animal that lived during the Cambrian period. Fossils reveal Odaraia had mandibles. Palaeontologists are finally able to place it as belonging to the mandibulates, ending its long enigmatic classification among the arthropods since it was first discovered in the Burgess Shale over 100 years ago and revealing more about early evolution and diversification.
Published Butterflies accumulate enough static electricity to attract pollen without contact



Butterflies and moths collect so much static electricity whilst in flight, that pollen grains from flowers can be pulled by static electricity across air gaps of several millimeters or centimeters.
Published Drawing water from dry air



A prototype device harvests drinking water from the atmosphere, even in arid places.
Published Hot traces in rock



Fluids circulating underground change rocks over the course of time. These processes must be taken into account if they are to be used as a climate archive. Researchers have used 380-million-year-old limestones from Hagen-Hohenlimburg to show in detail which climate information is still preserved in the rock.
Published Tropical plant species are as threatened by climate change as widely feared, study confirms



Biologists who set out to better understand the effects of climate change on plant species in tropical mountain regions found that even small variations in temperature and moisture can have massive impacts, threatening not only plants that live there, but also the ecosystems they support. A study based on labor-intensive fieldwork and analysis in tropical mountain regions shows that a warmer and drier climate will lead to massive losses of plant species.
Published Researchers enhance tool to better predict where and when wildfires will occur



A newly enhanced database is expected to help wildfire managers and scientists better predict where and when wildfires may occur by incorporating hundreds of additional factors that impact the ignition and spread of fire.
Published Converting captured carbon to fuel: Study assesses what's practical and what's not



A new analysis sheds light on major shortfalls of a recently proposed approach to capture CO2 from air and directly convert it to fuel using electricity. The authors also provide a new, more sustainable, alternative.
Published Agriculture: Less productive yet more stable pastures



Climate change will have a considerable influence on the biodiversity and productivity of meadows and pastures. However, according to the results of the large-scale climate and land use experiment the extent of these changes depends on the land use. Grassland optimized for high yield responds much more sensitively to periods of drought than less intensively used meadows and pastures.
Published Deep-ocean floor produces its own oxygen



An international team of researchers has discovered that metallic minerals on the deep-ocean floor produce oxygen -- 13,000 feet below the surface. Discovery challenges long-held assumptions that only photosynthetic organisms generate Earth's oxygen. Minerals at the abyssal seafloor appear to act like geobatteries to produce oxygen in a process that does not require sunlight.
Published New snake discovery rewrites history, points to North America's role in snake evolution



A new species of fossil snake unearthed in Wyoming is rewriting our understanding of snake evolution. The discovery, based on four remarkably well-preserved specimens found curled together in a burrow, reveals a new species named Hibernophis breithaupti. This snake lived in North America 34 million years ago and sheds light on the origin and diversification of boas and pythons.
Published New dawn for space storm alerts could help shield Earth's tech



Space storms could soon be forecasted with greater accuracy than ever before thanks to a big leap forward in our understanding of exactly when a violent solar eruption may hit Earth. Scientists say it is now possible to predict the precise speed a coronal mass ejection (CME) is travelling at and when it will smash into our planet -- even before it has fully erupted from the Sun.
Published Hundreds of new genome sequences fill gaps in the fruit fly tree of life



A multitude of new genomic sequence data fills major gaps in the fruit fly tree of life, researchers report.
Published Small animals acquire genes from bacteria that can produce antibiotics



A group of small, freshwater animals (bdelloid rotifers) protect themselves from infections using antibiotic recipes 'stolen' from bacteria, according to new research. This raises the potential that rotifers are producing novel antimicrobials that may be less toxic to animals, including humans, than those we develop from bacteria and fungi.