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Categories: Engineering: Robotics Research, Environmental: General
Published Nationwide flood models poorly capture risks to households and properties, study finds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Government agencies, insurance companies and disaster planners rely on national flood risk models from the private sector that aren't reliable at smaller levels such as neighborhoods and individual properties, according to researchers.
Published It's got praying mantis eyes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The praying mantis is one of the few insects with compound eyes and the ability to perceive 3D space. Engineers are replicating their visual systems to make machines see better.
Published Foam fluidics showcase lab's creative approach to circuit design
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Engineers have shown that something as simple as the flow of air through open-cell foam can be used to perform digital computation, analog sensing and combined digital-analog control in soft textile-based wearable systems.
Published Waters along Bar Harbor, Acadia home to billions of microplastics
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers reveal there are an estimated 400 billion microplastic fibers on the surface of Frenchman Bay, which borders Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park in Maine, and several connected rivers and estuaries where freshwater from rivers meet salty seawater. The watershed contains an average of 1.8 fibers per liter of water. The team also investigated how microplastics traveled throughout the watershed by sampling water from nine sites on Mount Desert Island, particularly within Bar Harbor.
Published How Saharan dust regulates hurricane rainfall
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source 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
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source 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
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source 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 The ocean is becoming too loud for oysters, research finds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Baby oysters rely on natural acoustic cues to settle in specific environments, but new research reveals that noise from human activity is interfering with this critical process.
Published Mixed approach to reforestation better than planting or regeneration alone
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Reforestation in low- and middle-income countries can remove up to 10 times more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at lower cost than previously estimated, making it a potentially more effective option to fight climate change. Most current reforestation programs focus on tree planting alone, but the study estimates that nearly half of all suitable reforestation locations would be more effective at sequestering carbon if forests were allowed to grow back naturally.
Published Warehousing industry increases health-harming pollutants, research shows
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study shows an average 20-percent spike of nitrogen dioxide polluting the air for communities located near huge warehouses. And people of color are harder hit.
Published Traffic-related ultrafine particles hinder mitochondrial functions in olfactory mucosa
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Ultrafine particles, UFPs, the smallest contributors to air pollution, hinder the function of mitochondria in human olfactory mucosa cells, a new study shows. The study showed that traffic-related UFPs impair mitochondrial functions in primary human olfactory mucosa cells by hampering oxidative phosphorylation and redox balance.
Published Trees reveal climate surprise -- bark removes methane from the atmosphere
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Tree bark surfaces play an important role in removing methane gas from the atmosphere.
Published Drawing water from dry air
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A prototype device harvests drinking water from the atmosphere, even in arid places.
Published Manufacturing perovskite solar panels with a long-term vision
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers working at the forefront of an emerging photovoltaic (PV) technology are thinking ahead about how to scale, deploy, and design future solar panels to be easily recyclable. Solar panels made of perovskites may eventually play an important role amid global decarbonization efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As the technology emerges from the testing stages, it is a perfect time to think critically about how best to design the solar panels to minimize their impact on the environment decades from now.
Published Researchers develop more environmentally friendly and cost-effective method for soil remediation
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Chemists have developed a rapid electrothermal mineralization (REM) process, which in seconds can remediate the accumulation of synthetic chemicals that can contaminate soil and the environment.
Published Researchers warn of unprecedented arsenic release from wildfires
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The wildfire season of 2023 was the most destructive ever recorded in Canada and a new study suggests the impact was unprecedented. It found that four of the year's wildfires in mine-impacted areas around Yellowknife, Northwest Territories potentially contributed up to half of the arsenic that wildfires emit globally each year.
Published Best bioenergy crops for sustainable aviation fuels by U.S. region, policy goals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers analyzed the financial and environmental costs and benefits of four biofuels crops used to produce sustainable aviation fuels in the U.S. They found that each feedstock -- corn stover, energy sorghum, miscanthus or switchgrass -- performed best in a specific region of the rainfed United States. Their study will help growers and policymakers select the feedstocks most suited to meeting goals like reducing production costs, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and building soil carbon stocks.
Published A window of opportunity for climate change and biodiversity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source World leaders must take advantage of a pivotal window of opportunity for forging a much-needed joined-up approach to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss, say scientists. Without this, work on tackling either crisis could inadvertently harm progress on the other.
Published Heat-sensitive trees move uphill seeking climate change respite
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Trees in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest are migrating in search of more favourable temperatures with species in mountain forests moving uphill to escape rising heat caused by climate change.
Published Strategic emission caps key to ammonia industry decarbonization, researchers find
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research has revealed critical insights into how strategic emission cap choices can lead to cost-effective, near-100% ammonia industry decarbonization while avoiding issues such as land use constraints and grid congestion.