Showing 20 articles starting at article 341

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Geoscience: Environmental Issues, Offbeat: Computers and Math

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Inland seas around the world are drying up due to increasing human water use and accelerating climate change, and their desiccation is releasing harmful dust that pollutes the surrounding areas during acute dust storms. Using the Great Salt Lake in Utah as a case study, researchers show that dust exposure was highest among Pacific Islanders and Hispanic people and lower in white people compared to all other racial/ethnic groups, and higher for individuals without a high school diploma. Restoring the lake would benefit everyone in the vicinity by reducing dust exposure, and it would also decrease the disparities in exposure between different racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The impacts of climate change are being felt all over the world, but how will it impact how your hometown feels? An interactive web application allows users to search 40,581 places and 5,323 metro areas around the globe to match the expected future climate in each city with the current climate of another location, providing a relatable picture of what is likely in store.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have developed a new, more energy-efficient way for AI algorithms to process data. His model may become the basis for a new generation of AI that learns like we do. Notably, these findings may also lend support to neuroscience theories surrounding memory's role in learning.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The carbon stored globally by plants is shorter-lived and more vulnerable to climate change than previously thought, according to a new study.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Roughly one in four U.S. households have soil exceeding the new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's lead screening levels of 200 parts per million (ppm), halved from the previous level of 400 ppm, a new study found. For households with exposure from multiple sources, the EPA lowered the guidance to 100 ppm; nearly 40% of households exceed that level, the study also found.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of scientists has recently found that non-native species are expanding their ranges many orders of magnitude faster than native ones, in large part due to inadvertent human help. Even seemingly sedentary non-native plants are moving at three times the speed of their native counterparts in a race where, because of the rapid pace of climate change and its effect on habitat, speed matters. To survive, plants and animals need to be shifting their ranges by 3.25 kilometers per year just to keep up with the increasing temperatures and associated climactic shifts -- a speed that native species cannot manage without human help.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers discovered that mycoviruses, or oomycete viruses, can increase the sensitivity of plant pathogenic oomycete to fungicides like metalaxyl. Their findings suggest greater potential for mycoviruses in biocontrol and contributing to sustainable agriculture.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Some areas of the Amazon rainforest are more resilient to drought than others, new research shows. But if not managed carefully, we could 'threaten the integrity of the whole system,' researchers say.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new technique can model an entire 3D scene, including areas hidden from view, from just one camera image. The method relies on image shadows, which provide information about the geometry and location of hidden objects.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research indicates that strong community bonds could hinder rather than help environmental initiatives.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study shows soot from large wildfires in California traps sunlight, making days warmer and drier than they ought to be.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The potential of quantum computers is currently thwarted by a trade-off problem. Quantum systems that can carry out complex operations are less tolerant to errors and noise, while systems that are more protected against noise are harder and slower to compute with. Now a research team has created a unique system that combats the dilemma, thus paving the way for longer computation time and more robust quantum computers.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The rise of advanced artificial intelligence (edge AI) could well mark the beginning of a new era for sustainable agriculture. A recent study proposes a roadmap for integrating this technology into farming practices. The aim? To improve the efficiency, quality and safety of agricultural production, while addressing a range of environmental, social and economic challenges.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new way to teach artificial intelligence (AI) to understand human line drawings -- even from non-artists -- has been developed.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

As the world's largest unfrozen freshwater resource, groundwater is crucial for life on Earth. Researchers have investigated how global warming is affecting groundwater temperatures and what that means for humanity and the environment. Their study indicates that by 2100, more than 75 million people are likely to be living in regions where the groundwater temperature exceeds the highest threshold set for drinking water by any country.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Abrupt shifts within complex systems such as the Earth's climate system are extremely hard to predict. Researchers have now succeeded in developing a new method to anticipate such tipping points in advance. They successfully tested the reliability of their method using one of the most severe abrupt climate changes of the past: the shift of the once-green Sahara into a desert.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Current techniques for measuring nano/microplastic (N/MP) concentrations in soil require the soil organic matter content to be separated and have limited resolution for analyzing N/MPs sized <1 m. Therefore, researchers have developed a novel yet simple method to measure N/MP concentration in different soil types using spectroscopy at two wavelengths. This method does not require the soil to be separated in order to detect the N/MPs and can accurately quantify N/MPs regardless of their size.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Detecting marine debris from space is now a reality, according to a new study. Until now, the amount of litter -- mostly plastic -- on the sea surface was rarely high enough to generate a detectable signal from space. However, using supercomputers and advanced search algorithms, the research team has demonstrated that satellites are an effective tool for estimating the amount of litter in the sea.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers hope their DIY machine will help designers around the world experiment with making their own, sustainable fashion and other textiles from a range of natural ingredients -- maybe even the chitin in crab shells or agar-agar from algae.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Times of crises often call for strong and rapid action, but in polarized societies, strong top-down policies can backfire. Scientists present a conceptual model of how these dynamics could play out in efforts to decarbonize our energy supply.