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Categories: Environmental: Ecosystems, Offbeat: Space
Published Scientists use machine learning to predict diversity of tree species in forests
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers used machine learning to generate highly detailed maps of over 100 million individual trees from 24 sites across the U.S. These maps provide information about individual tree species and conditions, which can greatly aid conservation efforts and other ecological projects.
Published How astronomers are using pulsars to observe evidence of dark matter
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Tantalizing evidence of potential dark matter objects has been detected with the help of the Universe's 'timekeepers'. These pulsars -- neutron stars which rotate and emit lighthouse-like beams of radio waves that rapidly sweep through space -- were used to identify mysterious hidden masses. Pulsars earned their nickname because they send out electromagnetic radiation at very regular intervals, ranging from milliseconds to seconds, making them extremely accurate timekeepers.
Published Sun-like stars found orbiting hidden companions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Astronomers have uncovered what appear to be 21 neutron stars in orbit around stars like our Sun. The discovery is surprising because it is not clear how a star that exploded winds up next to a star like our Sun.
Published Food aroma study may help explain why meals taste bad in space
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study on common food aromas may help explain why astronauts report that meals taste bland in space and struggle to eat their normal nutritional intake. This research has broader implications for improving the diets of isolated people, including nursing home residents, by personalizing aromas to enhance the flavor of their food.
Published Oil and natural gas development in Permian is a key source of ozone pollution in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, study finds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research shows that ozone concentrations at Carlsbad Caverns National Park frequently exceed Environmental Protection Agency health standards, likely due to oil and natural gas development in the Permian Basin and surrounding region.
Published Local dragonflies expose mercury pollution patterns
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study has unveiled surprising findings about mercury pollution: where it comes from and how it moves through the environment vary significantly depending on the ecosystem. In drier regions, most mercury is deposited through rain and snow. In wetter, forested areas, gaseous mercury from the air sticks to leaves, which then fall and carry the toxin into the ground.
Published Researchers find that frogs can quickly increase their tolerance to pesticides
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Although there is a large body of research on pests evolving tolerances for the pesticides meant to destroy them, there have been considerably fewer studies on how non-target animals in these ecosystems may do the same.
Published New analysis of Cassini data yields insights into Titan's seas
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study of radar experiment data from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn has yielded fresh insights related to the makeup and activity of the liquid hydrocarbon seas near the north pole of Titan, the largest of Saturn's 146 known moons.
Published Bizarre 'garden sprinkler-like' jet is spotted shooting out of neutron star
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A strange 'garden sprinkler-like' jet coming from a neutron star has been pictured for the first time. The S-shaped structure is created as the jet changes direction due to the wobbling of the disc of hot gas around the star -- a process called precession, which has been observed with black holes but, until now, never with neutron stars.
Published NASA's Webb investigates eternal sunrises, sunsets on distant world
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have finally confirmed what models have previously predicted: An exoplanet has differences between its eternal morning and eternal evening atmosphere. WASP-39 b, a giant planet with a diameter 1.3 times greater than Jupiter, but similar mass to Saturn that orbits a star about 700 light-years away from Earth, is tidally locked to its parent star. This means it has a constant dayside and a constant nightside -- one side of the planet is always exposed to its star, while the other is always shrouded in darkness.
Published Scorching storms on distant worlds revealed
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international study reveals the extreme atmospheric conditions on the celestial objects, which are swathed in swirling clouds of hot sand amid temperatures of 950C. Using NASA's powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), researchers set out to capture the weather on a pair of brown dwarfs -- cosmic bodies that are bigger than planets but smaller than stars.
Published Loss of oxygen in lakes and oceans a major threat to ecosystems, society, and planet
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Oxygen is a fundamental requirement of life, and the loss of oxygen in water, referred to as aquatic deoxygenation, is a threat to life at all levels. In fact, researchers describe how ongoing deoxygenation presents a major threat to the stability of the planet as a whole.
Published Cosmic wrestling match
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Our universe is around 13.8 billion years old. Over the vastness of this time, the tiniest of initial asymmetries have grown into the large-scale structures we can see through our telescopes in the night sky: galaxies like our own Milky Way, clusters of galaxies, and even larger aggregations of matter or filaments of gas and dust. How quickly this growth takes place depends, at least in today's universe, on a sort of wrestling match between natural forces: Can dark matter, which holds everything together through its gravity and attracts additional matter, hold its own against dark energy, which pushes the universe ever further apart?
Published Wildfire smoke has a silver lining: It can help protect vulnerable tree seedlings
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Forest scientists studying tree regeneration have found that wildfire smoke comes with an unexpected benefit: It has a cooling capacity that can make life easier for vulnerable seedlings.
Published Study examines urban forests across the United States
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Tree-planting campaigns have been underway in the United States, especially in cities, as part of climate mitigation efforts given the many environmental benefits of urban forests. But a new study finds that some areas within urban forests in the U.S., may be more capable than trees growing around city home lawns in adapting to a warmer climate.
Published Vivid portrait of interacting galaxies marks Webb's second anniversary
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Two for two! A duo of interacting galaxies commemorates the second science anniversary of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which takes constant observations, including images and highly detailed data known as spectra. Its operations have led to a 'parade' of discoveries by astronomers around the world.
Published Unprecedented warming threatens Earth's lakes and their ecosystems
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Lakes, with their rich biodiversity and important ecological services, face a concerning trend: rapidly increasing temperatures. A recent study by limnologists and climate modelers reveals that if current anthropogenic warming continues until the end of this century, lakes worldwide will likely experience pervasive and unprecedented surface and subsurface warming, far outside the range of what they have encountered before.
Published How the 'heart and lungs' of a galaxy extend its life
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Galaxies avoid an early death because they have a 'heart and lungs' which effectively regulate their 'breathing' and prevent them growing out of control, a new study suggests. If they didn't, the universe would have aged much faster than it has and all we would see today is huge 'zombie' galaxies teeming with dead and dying stars. That's according to a new study that investigates one of the great mysteries of the Universe -- why galaxies are not as large as astronomers would expect.
Published Forest carbon storage has declined across much of the Western U.S., likely due to drought and fire
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Forests have been embraced as a natural climate solution, due to their ability to soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow, locking it up in their trunks, branches, leaves, and roots. But a new study confirms widespread doubts about the potential for most forests in the Western US to help curb climate change. The paper analyzed trends in carbon storage across the American West from 2005 to 2019.
Published A stealth fungus has decimated North American bats but scientists may be a step closer to treating white-nose syndrome
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An invasive fungus that colonizes the skin of hibernating bats with deadly consequences is a stealthy invader that uses multiple strategies to slip into the small mammals' skin cells and quietly manipulate them to aid its own survival. The fungus, which causes the disease white-nose syndrome, has devastated several North American species over the last 18 years.