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Categories: Environmental: General, Space: The Solar System
Published New world record for CIGS solar cells
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new record for electrical energy generation from CIGS solar cells has been reached. Scientists have achieved a 23.64 percent efficiency.
Published Study of 1.2+M births reveals associations between excess heat exposure and preterm births
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In the face of increasing temperatures globally, a new study of 1.2 million births over two decades has shown a strong association between the risk of pre-term birth and exposure to extreme hot temperatures in the third trimester of pregnancy. The data suggested that this association with extreme temperature might be reduced by the level of greenery in a pregnant person's residential surrounds. The findings suggest health services should consider preparing for an increase in preterm births as our climate warms.
Published People in urban areas with more green space have better mental health
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study suggests that city dwellers who have more exposure to urban green spaces require fewer mental health services.
Published Metal scar found on cannibal star
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source When a star like our Sun reaches the end of its life, it can ingest the surrounding planets and asteroids that were born with it. Now, researchers have found a unique signature of this process for the first time -- a scar imprinted on the surface of a white dwarf star.
Published Cloud clustering causes more extreme rain
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Understanding cloud patterns in our changing climate is essential to making accurate predictions about their impact on society and nature. Scientists published a new study that uses a high-resolution global climate model to understand how the clustering of clouds and storms impacts rainfall extremes in the tropics. They show that with rising temperatures, the severity of extreme precipitation events increases.
Published Global warming increases the diversity of active soil bacteria
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Warmer soils harbor a greater diversity of active microbes, according to a new study. The study represents a significant shift in our understanding of how microbial activity in the soil influences the global carbon cycle and possible feedback mechanisms on the climate. Until now, scientists have assumed that higher soil temperatures accelerate the growth of microbes, thus increasing the release of carbon into the atmosphere. However, this increased release of carbon is actually caused by the activation of previously dormant bacteria.
Published Common plant could help reduce food insecurity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An often-overlooked water plant that can double its biomass in two days, capture nitrogen from the air -- making it a valuable green fertilizer -- and be fed to poultry and livestock could serve as life-saving food for humans in the event of a catastrophe or disaster, a new study suggests.
Published Barriers against Antarctic ice melt disappearing at the double
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Undersea anchors of ice that help prevent Antarctica's land ice from slipping into the ocean are shrinking at more than twice the rate compared with 50 years ago, research shows. More than a third of these frozen moorings, known as pinning points, have decreased in size since the turn of the century, experts say. Further deterioration of pinning points, which hold in place the floating ice sheets that fortify Antarctica's land ice, would accelerate the continent's contribution to rising sea levels, scientists warn.
Published UBC Okanagan researchers look to the past to improve construction sustainability
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers are revisiting old building practices -- the use of by-products and cast-offs -- as a way to improve building materials and sustainability of the trade. A technique known as rammed earth construction uses materials that are alternatives to cement and are often more readily available in the environment. One such alternative is wood fly ash, a by-product of pulp mills and coal-fired power plants.
Published Wetlands, parks and even botanical gardens among the best ways to cool cities during heatwaves
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Botanical gardens are not just beautiful -- they can cool the city air by 5 C during heatwaves, according to the most comprehensive review of its kind. Parks and wetlands have a similar effect.
Published Streams connected to groundwater show improved detoxification and microbial diversity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Streams with ample connections to shallow groundwater flow-paths have greater microbial diversity and are more effective at preventing toxic forms of metals -- often products of upstream mining -- from entering and being transported downstream.
Published Side effects of wide scale forestation could reduce carbon removal benefits by up to a third
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The side effects of large-scale forestation initiatives could reduce the CO2 removal benefits by up to a third, a pioneering study has found.
Published Cooler, wetter parts of Pacific Northwest likely to see more fires, new simulations predict
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Forests in the coolest, wettest parts of the western Pacific Northwest are likely to see the biggest increases in burn probability, fire size and number of blazes as the climate continues to get warmer and drier.
Published Webb finds evidence for neutron star at heart of young supernova remnant
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has found the best evidence yet for emission from a neutron star at the site of a recently observed supernova. The supernova, known as SN 1987A, was a core-collapse supernova, meaning the compacted remains at its core formed either a neutron star or a black hole. Evidence for such a compact object has long been sought, and while indirect evidence for the presence of a neutron star has previously been found, this is the first time that the effects of high-energy emission from the probable young neutron star have been detected.
Published Carbon emissions from the destruction of mangrove forests predicted to increase by 50,000% by the end of the century
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The annual rate of carbon emissions due to the degradation of carbon stocks in mangrove forests is predicted to rise by nearly 50,000% by the end of the century, according to a new study. Mangroves in regions such as southern India, southeastern China, Singapore and eastern Australia are particularly affected.
Published Air pollution hides increases in rainfall
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In a new study, researchers broke down how human-induced greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions influence rainfall in the United States. Greenhouse gas emissions increase rainfall, while aerosols have a long-term drying effect as well as short-term impacts that vary with the seasons. As aerosols decrease, their long-term drying effect will likely diminish, causing rainfall averages and extremes to rapidly increase.
Published Brightest and fastest-growing: Astronomers identify record-breaking quasar
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Astronomers have characterized a bright quasar, finding it to be not only the brightest of its kind, but also the most luminous object ever observed. Quasars are the bright cores of distant galaxies and they are powered by supermassive black holes. The black hole in this record-breaking quasar is growing in mass by the equivalent of one Sun per day, making it the fastest-growing black hole to date.
Published Three years later, search for life on Mars continues
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists suspect Mars once had long-lived rivers, lakes and streams. Today, water on Mars is found in ice at the poles and trapped below the Martian surface. Researchers now reveal that Mars also may have had hydrothermal systems based on the hydrated magnesium sulfate the rover identified in the volcanic rocks.
Published New realistic computer model will help robots collect Moon dust
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new computer model mimics Moon dust so well that it could lead to smoother and safer Lunar robot teleoperations.
Published Climate change could push bowhead whales to cross paths with shipping traffic
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The population of bowhead whales that migrates between the Bering and Beaufort Seas each year is a conservation success story, with today's population nearing -- if not exceeding -- pre-commercial whaling numbers. But climate change is shifting the whales' feeding grounds and migration patterns, potentially pushing them to spend more time in the paths of oncoming ships, according to a new study.