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Categories: Engineering: Nanotechnology, Environmental: General

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A recent genetic discovery has revealed that the pale grey plumage of the tawny owl is linked to crucial functions that aid the bird's survival in cold environments. As global temperatures rise, dark brown plumage is likely to become more common in tawny owls living in colder areas.

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Researchers have developed an innovative method to simultaneously track rapid dynamic processes of multiple molecules at the molecular scale.

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Corals searching for food in the cold and dark waters of the deep sea are building higher and higher mountains to get closer to the source of their food. But in doing so, they may find themselves trapped when the climate changes.

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While pesticides protect crops from hungry animals, pesky insects, or even microbial infections, they also impact other vital organisms, including bees and earthworms. And today, research reveals that worms are affected by the relatively small amounts of chemicals that can leach out of pesticide-treated seeds. Exposure to nonlethal amounts of these insecticides and fungicides resulted in poor weight gain and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage in the worms.

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Global warming may be interacting with regional rainfall and deforestation to accelerate forest loss in the Amazon, pushing it towards partial or total collapse. New research has identified the potential thresholds of these stressors, showing where their combined effects could produce a 'tipping point' -- in which the forest is so fragile that just a small disturbance could cause an abrupt shift in the state of the ecosystem.

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Researchers have developed a new nanoparticle that can 'hitch a ride' on immune cells, or monocytes. Because of its tiny size, the particle can tag along directly into lymph nodes and help metastasis show up on MRIs where it would otherwise be too hard to detect. The process offers game-changing benefits for the early detection of cancer metastasis in the lymph nodes. While previously, metastasis could only be assessed by an increase in lymph node size; the new particles could lead to MRI contrast agents that can highlight metastatic cells in lymph nodes that may otherwise appear normal.

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Researchers have succeeded in biomanufacturing from chemically synthesized sugar for the first time in the world. With refinement of this technology, one can envision a future society in which the sugar required for biomanufacturing can be obtained 'anytime, anywhere, and at high rate'. In the future, biomanufacturing using chemically synthesized sugar is expected to be a game changer in the biotechnology field -- including the production of biochemicals, biofuels, and food, where sugar is an essential raw material -- ultimately leading to the creation of a new bio-industry.

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Widespread 20th-century reforestation in the eastern United States helped counter rising temperatures due to climate change, according to new research. The authors highlight the potential of forests as regional climate adaptation tools, which are needed along with a decrease in carbon emissions.

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Millions of U.S. households would benefit from heat pumps, but the cost of installing the technology needs to come down to make their use a more attractive proposition.

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Researchers are further improving CRISPR's versatility to engineer new grasses and yeasts for biochemical production.

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Marine heatwaves will become a regular occurrence in the Arctic in the near future and are a product of higher anthropogenic greenhouse-gas emissions -- as shown in a new study.

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An estimated 11,000 sq miles or 28,707 sq kilometers of Greenland's ice sheet and glaciers have melted over the last three decades, according to a major analysis of historic satellite records.

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A new study by researchers has revealed a sustainable method of efficiently converting waste heat into electricity using Irish wood products, while minimizing costs and environmental impact.

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The properties of supramolecular polymers are dictated by the self-assembled state of the molecules. However, not much is known about the impact of morphologies on the properties of nano- and mesoscopic-scale polymeric assemblies. Recently, a research team demonstrated how terminus-free toroids and random coils derived from the same luminescent molecule show different photophysical properties. The team also presented a novel method for purifying the toroidal structure.

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Chiral skyrmions are a special type of spin textures in magnetic materials with asymmetric exchange interactions. They can be treated as quasi-particles and carry integer topological charges. Scientists have recently studied the random walk-behaviors of chiral skyrmions by simulating their dynamics within a ferromagnetic layer surrounded by chiral flower-like obstacles. The simulations reveal that the system behaves like a topological sorting device, indicating its use in information processing and computing devices.

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For the first time, researchers have investigated how ropes and fishing lines are handled by the Norwegian commercial fishing industry. The fishing fleet loses almost 400 tons of rope in Norwegian waters every year.

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More time stranded on land means greater risk of starvation for polar bears, a new study indicates. During three summer weeks, 20 polar bears closely observed by scientists tried different strategies to maintain energy reserves, including resting, scavenging and foraging. Yet nearly all of them lost weight rapidly: on average around 1 kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, per day. Some have speculated that polar bears might adapt to the longer ice-free seasons due to climate warming by acting like their grizzly bear relatives and either rest or eat terrestrial food. The polar bears in this study tried versions of both strategies -- with little success.

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You can mend a broken heart this valentine s day now that researchers invented a new hydrogel that can be used to heal damaged heart tissue and improve cancer treatments.

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Researchers find deforestation accounts for about 10 percent of global human-made mercury emissions. While it cannot be the only solution, they suggest reforestation could increase global mercury uptake by about 5 percent.

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A chemical element so visually striking that it was named for a goddess shows a 'Goldilocks' level of reactivity -- neither too much nor too little -- that makes it a strong candidate as a carbon scrubbing tool.