Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

Mercury rising: Study sheds new light on ancient volcanoes' environmental impact      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Massive volcanic events in Earth's history that released large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere frequently correlate with periods of severe environmental change and mass extinctions. A new method to estimate how much and how rapidly carbon was released by the volcanoes could improve our understanding of the climate response, according to an international team.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Climate change disrupts seasonal flow of rivers      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Climate change is disrupting the seasonal flow of rivers in the far northern latitudes of America, Russia and Europe and is posing a threat to water security and ecosystems, according to new research.

Energy: Technology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Improving energy security with policies focused on demand-side solutions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Energy systems essential to supporting our everyday activities face increasing threats from wars, pandemics, climate change, and other unexpected events. An international team of researchers found that demand-oriented solutions have a significantly greater potential to reduce our vulnerability to energy crises compared to supply measures.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Cyber-physical heating system may protect apple blossoms in orchards      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Spring frosts can have devastating effects on apple production, and a warming climate may be causing trees to blossom early, making them more susceptible to the damaging effects of extreme cold events. Growers' attempts to prevent the flowers from freezing by attempting to heat the canopies of their orchards largely have been inefficient.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Astronomers measure heaviest black hole pair ever found      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using archival data from the Gemini North telescope, a team of astronomers has measured the heaviest pair of supermassive black holes ever found. The merging of two supermassive black holes is a phenomenon that has long been predicted, though never observed. This massive pair gives clues as to why such an event seems so unlikely in the Universe.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Nature Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Paleontology: Climate
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Microbial viruses act as secret drivers of climate change      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have discovered that viruses that infect microbes contribute to climate change by playing a key role in cycling methane, a potent greenhouse gas, through the environment.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Environmental: General
Published

Study unlocks nanoscale secrets for designing next-generation solar cells      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of researchers has revealed ways to optimize efficiency and better control degradation, by engineering the nanoscale structure of perovskite devices.

Computer Science: General Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Researchers use AI, Google street view to predict household energy costs on large scale      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An interdisciplinary team of experts has found a way to use artificial intelligence to analyze a household's passive design characteristics and predict its energy expenses with more than 74 percent accuracy. By combining their findings with demographic data including poverty levels, the researchers have created a comprehensive model for predicting energy burden across 1,402 census tracts and nearly 300,000 households in Chicago.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Engineering: Robotics Research Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General
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Building bionic jellyfish for ocean exploration      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers show how biohybrid robots based on jellyfish could be used to gather climate science data from deep in the Earth's oceans.

Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

How climate change risks increase at a national scale as the level of global warming increases      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have quantified how climate change risks to human and natural systems increase at a national scale as the level of global warming increases. A collection of eight studies -- all focusing on Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana and India -- shows that the risks of drought, flooding, declines in crop yields, and loss of biodiversity and natural capital greatly increase for each additional degree of global warming. The overarching picture for the accrual of climate risk across these countries as global warming increases from 1.5 C to 4 C above pre-industrial levels is presented.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Ecology: General Ecology: Research Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General
Published

Measuring electrical conductivity in microorganisms, approaching understanding of microbial ecosystems      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed an innovative methodology for measuring the electrical conductivity of microbial communities. This methodology holds promise for the development of batteries and electrochemical sensors using microorganisms and may serve as a pivotal tool in elucidating the role of electricity within microbial ecosystems.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Astronomers reveal a new link between water and planet formation      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have found water vapor in the disc around a young star exactly where planets may be forming. Water is a key ingredient for life on Earth, and is also thought to play a significant role in planet formation. Yet, until now, we had never been able to map how water is distributed in a stable, cool disc -- the type of disc that offers the most favorable conditions for planets to form around stars.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Turning waste into gold      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have recovered gold from electronic waste. Their highly sustainable new method is based on a protein fibril sponge, which the scientists derive from whey, a food industry byproduct.

Biology: Botany Ecology: General Ecology: Research Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
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Lake ecosystems: Nitrogen has been underestimated      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An ecological imbalance in a lake can usually be attributed to increased nutrient inputs. The result: increased phytoplankton growth, oxygen deficiency, toxic cyanobacterial blooms and fish kills. Until now, controls in lake management have focused primarily on phosphorus inputs to counteract this effect. Now, this dogma is shaken by a study showing that nitrogen is also a critical driver for phytoplankton growth in lakes worldwide.

Chemistry: General Energy: Alternative Fuels Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Researchers improve the stability of perovskite solar cells      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Perovskite solar cells are considered the strongest contender to replace silicon solar cells. While they achieve high power conversion energy, they also suffer from lead leakage and perovskite degradation due to moisture. Now scientists leverage the technique of interfacial passivation, where lead ions are bound by crown ether B18C6, obtaining 21.7% power conversion energy. The crown ether also resists degradation due to moisture for 300 hours at room temperature and 85% humidity.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Astronomers discover heavy elements after bright gamma-ray burst from neutron star merger      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of astronomers obtained observational evidence for the creation of rare heavy elements in the aftermath of a cataclysmic explosion triggered by the merger of two neutron stars.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Surprising methane discovery in Yukon glaciers: 'Much more widespread than we thought'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Global melting is prying the lid off methane stocks, the extent of which we do not know. A researcher has now discovered high concentrations of the powerful greenhouse gas in meltwater from three Canadian mountain glaciers, where it was not thought to exist -- adding new unknowns to the understanding of methane emissions from Earth's glaciated regions.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
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Emergency atmospheric geoengineering wouldn't save the oceans      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Climate change is heating the oceans, altering currents and circulation patterns responsible for regulating climate on a global scale. If temperatures dropped, some of that damage could theoretically be undone. But employing 'emergency' atmospheric geoengineering later this century in the face of continuous high carbon emissions would not be able to reverse changes to ocean currents, a new study finds. This would critically curtail the intervention's potential effectiveness on human-relevant timescales.

Ecology: Nature Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

African great apes predicted to see frequent extreme climate events in the next 30 years      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

African apes are already being exposed to climate change impacts, and will experience extreme events such as wildfires, heatwaves and flooding more frequently in the next 30 years, according to a new study.