Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Engineers 'strike gold' with innovation that recovers heavy metals from biosolids      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Engineers have developed a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to remove heavy metals, including copper and zinc, from biosolids. The team's work advances other methods for heavy-metal removal by recycling the acidic liquid waste that is produced during the recovery phase, instead of throwing it away.

Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

PFAS found in blood of dogs, horses living near Fayetteville, NC      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers detected elevated PFAS levels in the blood of pet dogs and horses from Gray's Creek, N.C. -- including dogs that only drank bottled water.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Environmental risks and opportunities of orphaned oil and gas wells      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers are leading an international team whose goal is to create a framework to help governments in the U.S. and around the world assess and prioritize remediation strategies for orphaned oil and gas wells. These inactive wells represent environmental risks since they have the potential to contaminate water supplies, degrade ecosystems, and emit methane and other air pollutants that are harmful to human health. But plugging the wells also offers various potential environmental opportunities such as underground storage of carbon dioxide and hydrogen, or the development of geothermal energy systems.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
Published

New study reveals irrigation's mixed effects around the world      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Trajectory of irrigation water use in many regions is unsustainable, but practice is vital in managing climate change and future agricultural development, researchers conclude.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: General
Published

Navigating underground with cosmic-ray muons      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Superfast, subatomic-sized particles called muons have been used to wirelessly navigate underground in a reportedly world first. By using muon-detecting ground stations synchronized with an underground muon-detecting receiver, researchers were able to calculate the receiver's position in the basement of a six-story building. As GPS cannot penetrate rock or water, this new technology could be used in future search and rescue efforts, to monitor undersea volcanoes, and guide autonomous vehicles underground and underwater.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geology Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General
Published

We've pumped so much groundwater that we've nudged Earth's spin      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

By pumping water out of the ground and moving it elsewhere, humans have shifted such a large mass of water that the Earth tilted nearly 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) east between 1993 and 2010 alone, according to a new study.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

This salty gel could harvest water from desert air      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Engineers synthesized a superabsorbent material that can soak up a record amount of moisture from the air, even in desert-like conditions.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geology Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Earth was created much faster than we thought: This makes the chance of finding other habitable planets in the Universe more likely      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Over the past decades, researchers thought Earth was created over a period of more than 100 million years. However, a new study from suggests that the creation of Earth was much more rapid, and that water and other essential ingredients for life were delivered to Earth very early on.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

The life below our feet: Team discovers microbes thriving in groundwater and producing oxygen in the dark      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A survey of groundwater samples drawn from aquifers beneath more than 80,000 square miles of Canadian prairie reveals ancient groundwaters harbor not only diverse and active microbial communities, but also unexpectedly large numbers of microbial cells. Strikingly, some of these microbes seem to produce 'dark oxygen' (in the absence of sunlight) in such abundance that the oxygen may nourish not only those microbes, but may leak into the environment and support other oxygen-reliant microbes that can't produce it themselves.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
Published

A machine learning approach to freshwater analysis      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of researchers has applied a machine learning model to explore where and to what extent human activities are contributing to the hydrogeochemical changes, such as increases in salinity and alkalinity in U.S. rivers. The group used data from 226 river monitoring sites across the U.S. and built two machine learning models to predict monthly salinity and alkalinity levels at each site.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Marine environment at risk due to ship emissions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers used four different types of port environments to investigate the levels of contaminants emitted from five different sources. They found that the combined emissions of metals and environmentally hazardous substances is putting the marine environment at risk. Ninety per cent of the harmful emissions came from ships fitted with scrubbers, whose purpose is to clean their exhaust gases.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Chronic exposure to lead, cadmium and arsenic increases risk of cardiovascular disease      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Around the world, most people are regularly exposed to low or moderate levels of lead, cadmium and arsenic in the environment, increasing risk of coronary artery disease, stroke and peripheral artery disease, according to a new statement.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Water Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Eddies: Circular currents and their influence on the world's hottest ocean      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Water from the Pacific Ocean flows into the Indian Ocean via the Indonesia Archipelago thanks to a vast network of currents that act as a conveyor belt, transporting warmth and nutrients. Currents can sometimes form circular motions and these are known as eddies. An international group of researchers has modeled the impacts of eddies on the currents that carry water from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean.

Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Why certain fish are left off the hook      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study found that while a piece of legislation designed to foster the sustainability of marine fisheries is sometimes blamed for being too stringent -- leading to what some politicians call 'underfishing' -- the law is not constraining most fisheries, and there are various other reasons that lead to certain fish species being less fished.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Marine Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Water Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

When water temperatures change, the molecular motors of cephalopods do too      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Working with live squid hatchlings, scientists find the animals can tune their proteome on the fly in response to changes in ocean temperature via the unique process of RNA recoding. The findings inspire new questions about basic protein function.