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Categories: Anthropology: Early Humans, Environmental: General

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An innovative plastic, stronger and stretchier than the current standard type and which can be healed with heat, remembers its shape and partially biodegradable, has been developed. They created it by adding the molecule polyrotaxane to an epoxy resin vitrimer, a type of plastic. Named VPR, the material can hold its form and has strong internal chemical bonds at low temperatures.

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First of its kind AI-model can help policy-makers efficiently identify and prioritize houses for retrofitting and other decarbonizing measures.

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The heat given off by car engines warms up underground car parks in such a way that the heat passes through the ground into the groundwater. In Berlin alone, enough energy is transferred to the groundwater to supply 14,660 households with heat. According to the researchers, this warming could have long-term effects on groundwater quality. In their study, they also propose a solution. Using geothermal energy and heat pumps, the heat could be extracted from the ground and utilized.

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Biodegradable waste from plant and animal sources released into freshwater ecosystems is a significant environmental concern. Nonetheless, current methods for assessing water quality seem more or less impractical due to their complexity and high costs. In a promising development, a team of researchers has successfully constructed a self-sustaining and buoyant biosensor using inexpensive carbon-based materials for monitoring water quality at the inlets of freshwater lakes and rivers.

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During the last ice age, the last glacial maximum about 20,000 years ago, the climate in the North Atlantic underwent much greater multi-centennial variability than it does in the present warm period. This is supported by evidence found in ice and seafloor cores. Researchers have now shown, based on a climate model, that internal mechanisms such as temperature and salinity distribution in the ocean are driving this multi-centennial variability.

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A new study provides the first characterization of the coral microbiome under hypoxia, insufficient oxygen in the water.

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Researchers report that 53% of European freestanding homes could have supplied all their own energy needs in 2020 using only local rooftop solar radiation, and this technical feasibility could increase to 75% in 2050. The study shows that there is no economic advantage for individual households to be fully self-sufficient under current or future conditions, though in some cases the costs are on par with remaining on-grid. The researchers estimate that self-sufficiency will be economically feasible for 5% (two million) of Europe's 41 million freestanding single-family homes in 2050, if households are willing to pay up to 50% more than the cost of remaining fully grid dependent.

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Destructive winds that flow out of thunderstorms in the central United States are becoming far more widespread with warming temperatures, according to new research. A new study shows that the central U.S. experienced a fivefold increase in the geographic area affected by damaging thunderstorm straight line winds in the past 40 years. 

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A new study takes an important step toward reconstructing a global history of water over the past 2,000 years. Using geologic and biologic evidence preserved in natural archives -- including 759 different paleoclimate records from globally distributed corals, trees, ice, cave formations and sediments -- the researchers showed that the global water cycle has changed during periods of higher and lower temperatures in the recent past.

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A powerful new way to fill major gaps in public bee data -- including from Africa, Asia and other under-reported zones -- has been addressed with a centralized tool for consolidating bee pollinator occurrences around the globe.

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The remnants of an ancient planet that collided with Earth to form the Moon lie deep within the earth, according to a new model.

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Local hunters in the Icefjord near Ilulissat have long known about a special ringed seal -- the Kangia seal -- which is significantly larger and has a markedly different fur color and pattern than typical Arctic ringed seals. Now scientific studies have shown that the Kangia ringed seal has been isolated from other ringed seals for a long period of time -- more than 100,000 years.

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A new study reveals increasing warming rates in the world's oceans in recent decades and the locations with the greatest heat uptake.

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Does electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobile phones affect semen quality? While various environmental and lifestyle factors have been proposed to explain the decline in semen quality observed over the last fifty years, the role of mobile phones has yet to be demonstrated. A team has now published a major cross-sectional study on the subject. It shows that frequent use of mobile phones is associated with a lower sperm concentration and total sperm count.

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Liquefied stabilized soil (LSS) is made with construction waste and used for filling and backfilling long, confined spaces where traditional compaction is difficult. Using LSS helps speed up construction processes while reducing costs, wastage, and environmental impact. Now, researchers have developed a superior, high-flowability LSS from construction sludge with better mechanical properties and fluidity than conventional LSS, which could make the construction industry more sustainable.

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Mountains of used plastic bottles get thrown away every day, but microbes could potentially tackle this problem. Now, researchers report that they've developed a plastic-eating E. coli that can efficiently turn polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste into adipic acid, which is used to make nylon materials, drugs and fragrances.

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Researchers estimated that before humans started pumping mercury into the atmosphere, it contained on average about 580 megagrams of mercury. However, in 2015, independent research that looked at all available atmospheric measurements estimated the atmospheric mercury reservoir was about 4,000 Mg -- nearly 7 times larger than the natural condition estimated in this study.  

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Naturally occurring methane hydrate deposits are potential sources of energy. However, their observation in natural environments remains challenging. Researchers have now developed a one-dimensional mathematical flow model to indirectly observe the formation and accumulation of methane hydrates under different lithological and fluid conditions in the Nankai Trough of Japan. Numerical simulations using this model revealed important insights that could help in the extraction of methane hydrates and the prevention of geohazards in the future.

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New research shows that potential adaptive responses by sea turtles, such as shifting the timing of when they nest, may not be enough to counteract the projected impacts from climate change on hatchling production.

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A team of animal scientists is set to deliver a potential game changer for subsistence farmers in Tanzania: cows that produce up to 20 times the milk of indigenous breeds.