Showing 20 articles starting at article 1
Categories: Geoscience: Earth Science, Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published Two epicenters led to Japan's violent Noto earthquake on New Year's Day
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The 7.5- magnitude earthquake beneath Japan's Noto Peninsula on Jan. 1, 2024, occurred when a 'dual-initiation mechanism' applied enough energy from two different locations to break through a fault barrier -- an area that locks two sides of a fault in place and absorbs the energy of fault movement, slowing it down or stopping it altogether.
Published A leaky sink: Carbon emissions from forest soil will likely grow with rising temperatures
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The soils of northern forests are key reservoirs that help keep the carbon dioxide that trees inhale and use for photosynthesis from making it back into the atmosphere.
Published Scientists propose guidelines for solar geoengineering research
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source To guide future research into solar geoengineering, an international group of scientists is making specific recommendations for evaluating proposals in order to identify the most feasible and legitimate scenarios for stratospheric aerosol intervention.
Published Innovative field experiments shed light on biological clocks in nature
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study has used a series of innovative field experiments to show how plants combine circadian clock signals with environmental cues under naturally fluctuating conditions.
Published New images reveal global air quality trends
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The global concentrations of one of the main air pollutants known to affect human health have been graphically illustrated for the first time by a team of scientists.
Published Scientists call for an update in environmental decision making that takes human rights into account
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers argue that to protect human wellbeing global decisions with the potential to impact the environment must be guided by our understanding of the inseparable connection between humans and nature. The article's authors are aiming to support fair and inclusive decision-making for a healthy ocean for people and planet.
Published Colorful traits in primates ease tensions between groups
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Primate ornamentation plays a crucial role in communication not only within social groups but also between them, according to a new study. The research reveals that the males of species with overlapping home ranges often display vibrant colors or elaborate features, traits that may help reduce intergroup aggression by enabling quick assessments of potential rivals.
Published Life after (feigned) death
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study has revealed what animals do after they have feigned death in order to avoid being killed by a predator and what the context of this behavior is.
Published Creature the size of a dust grain found hiding in California's Mono Lake
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Mono Lake is a beautiful but harsh environment, its salty and arsenic-laced water home to brine shrimp, alkali flies and little else. Scientists recently discovered an unsuspected resident, however, a microscopic creature -- a choanoflagelatte -- that forms colonies that harbor their own unique bacterial microbiomes. The creature, part of the sister group to all animals, could shed light on the evolution of animals' intimate interactions with bacteria and the rise of multicellular life.
Published Tarantulas have surprising partnerships with other species and their hairiness may be a defense mechanism
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study reveals that tarantulas are often on friendly terms with amphibians, reptiles, and even army ants, which are known to feed on spiders. The researchers suggest that the dense hair covering tarantulas may have in fact evolved as a defense mechanism against these predatory ants.
Published A deep dive for environmental data on coastal oceans
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study addresses the lack of data on how much human-generated carbon dioxide is present in coastal oceans -- the saltwater ecosystems that link the land and sea. Capturing this data is crucial to calculating how much emissions must be cut in the future.
Published Highest prediction of sea-level rise unlikely
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study challenges as highly unlikely an alarming prediction of sea-level rise that -- while designated as low likelihood --earned a spot in the latest UN climate report for its projection that the collapse of polar ice sheets could make the world's oceans up to 50 feet higher by 2300. But researchers found that the model is based on inaccurate physics of how ice sheets retreat and break apart, though they stress that the accelerating loss of ice from Greenland and Antarctica is still dire.
Published New study reveals devastating power and colossal extent of a giant underwater avalanche off the Moroccan coast
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research has revealed how an underwater avalanche grew more than 100 times in size causing a massive trail of destruction as it traveled 2000km across the Atlantic Ocean seafloor off the North West coast of Africa. Researchers provide an unprecedented insight into the scale, force and impact of one of nature's mysterious phenomena, underwater avalanches.
Published To kill mammoths in the Ice Age, people used planted pikes, not throwing spears, researchers say
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Archeologists say new findings might help resolve the debate about Clovis points and reshape how we think about what life was like roughly 13,000 years ago. After an extensive review of writings and artwork -- and an experiment with replica Clovis point spears -- a team of archaeologists says humans may have braced the butt of their weapons against the ground in a way that would impale a charging animal. The force would have driven the spear deeper into the predator's body, unleashing a more damaging blow than even the strongest prehistoric hunters would have been capable of by throwing or jabbing megafauna.
Published Using AI to link heat waves to global warming
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers used machine learning to determine how much global warming has influenced extreme weather events in the U.S. and elsewhere in recent years. Their approach could change how scientists study and predict the impact of climate change on extreme weather.
Published Pilot study uses recycled glass to grow plants for salsa ingredients
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Tortilla chips and fresh salsa are tasty, but they could be even more appealing if you grow the ingredients yourself. Now, researchers report that some salsa ingredients -- cilantro, bell pepper and jalapeno -- can be more sustainably cultivated with recycled glass. Their pilot study found that partially substituting soil in a planter with recycled glass fragments speeds up plant development and reduces unwanted fungal growth.
Published Beetle that pushes dung with the help of 100 billion stars unlocks the key to better navigation systems in drones and satellites
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An insect species that evolved 130 million years ago is the inspiration for a new research study to improve navigation systems in drones, robots, and orbiting satellites.
Published The power of face time: Insights from zebra finch courtship
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study on songbirds sheds light on the power of social interaction to facilitate learning, insights that potentially apply to human development. Researchers discovered that zebra finches deprived of early social experiences could still form strong bonds with a partner later in life. Once placed into cohabitation with a male, females that had never heard a mating song before could quickly develop a preference for his melody.
Published Humpbacks are among animals who manufacture and wield tools
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers suggest a new designation of the humpback whales they study: tool wielders. Researchers have known that humpback whales create "bubble-nets" to hunt, but they have learned that the animals don't just create the bubble-nets; they manipulate this unique tool in a variety of ways to maximize their food intake in Alaskan feeding grounds.
Published 'Masters of shape-shifting': How darkling beetles conquered the world
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Large-scale genomic analysis of darkling beetles, a hyper-diverse insect group of more than 30,000 species worldwide, rolls back the curtain on a 150-million-year evolutionary tale of one of Earth's most ecologically important yet inconspicuous creatures, according to new research.