Geoscience: Severe Weather Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General
Published

Hailstone library to improve extreme weather forecasting      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers are measuring and scanning samples for a global 'hailstone library'. Storm simulations using 3-D modelling of real hailstones -- in all sorts of weird shapes from oblong to flat discs or with spikes coming out -- show it behaves differently than spherical hail shapes. Data from the hail library could lead to more accurate storm forecasts.

Chemistry: General Energy: Technology Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Geoscience: Severe Weather Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General
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New research shows unprecedented atmospheric changes during May's geomagnetic superstorm      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

On May 11, a gorgeous aurora surprised stargazers across the southern United States. That same weekend, a tractor guided by GPS missed its mark. What do the visibility of the northern lights have in common with compromised farming equipment in the Midwest? A uniquely powerful geomagnetic storm, according to new research.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Zoology Environmental: Ecosystems Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
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Blind cavefish have extraordinary taste buds      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A biologist studies blind cavefish, a species of fish that dwell in cave ponds in Mexico. He looked at the timeline for when the cavefish develop additional taste buds on the head and chin, finding the taste bud expansion starts at five months and continues into adulthood.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems
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Nearly 25% of European landscape could be rewilded, researchers say      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Europe's abandoned farmlands could find new life through rewilding, a movement to restore ravaged landscapes to their wilderness before human intervention. A quarter of the European continent, 117 million hectares, is primed with rewilding opportunities, researchers report.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Geochemistry
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Revealing the mysteries within microbial genomes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new technique will make it much easier for researchers to discover the traits or activities encoded by genes of unknown function in microbes, a key step toward understanding the roles and impact of individual species within the planet's diverse microbiomes.

Ecology: Nature Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Climate change raised the odds of unprecedented wildfires in 2023-24      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Unprecedented wildfires in Canada and parts of Amazonia last year were at least three times more likely due to climate change and contributed to high levels of CO2 emissions from burning globally, according to the a new systematic review. The State of Wildfires report takes stock of extreme wildfires of the 2023-2024 fire season (March 2023-February 2024), explains their causes, and assesses whether events could have been predicted. It also evaluates how the risk of similar events will change in future under different climate change scenarios.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Scientists achieve more than 98% efficiency removing nanoplastics from water      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Linked to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in people, nanoplastics continue to build up, largely unnoticed, in the world's bodies of water. The challenge remains to develop a cost-effective solution to get rid of nanoplastics while leaving clean water behind. That's where Mizzou comes in. Recently, researchers created a new liquid-based solution that eliminates more than 98% of these microscopic plastic particles from water.

Biology: Botany Biology: General Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Trees Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Study reveals urban trees suffer more from heat waves and drought than their rural counterparts      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A recent study details how trees in New York City and Boston are more negatively impacted by heat waves and drought than trees of the same species in nearby rural forests. The finding highlights the challenges urban trees face in the context of climate change and underscores the importance of tailored urban forestry management as a tool for protecting tree species and reducing urban heat islands.

Ecology: General Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Oceanography
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Protecting surf breaks mitigates climate change, helps coastal communities      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Safeguarding places to hang ten and shoot the curl is an opportunity to simultaneously mitigate climate change, fuel tourism and help surrounding ecosystems, research has shown.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: General Biology: Zoology Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Reduce, reuse, 're-fly-cle'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Black soldier flies are now commercially used to consume organic waste -- but genetic modifications proposed by bioscientists could see the insects digesting a wider variety of refuse, while also creating raw ingredients for industry.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Ecology: Nature Ecology: Trees Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
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Mature forests vital in frontline fight against climate change      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Mature forests have a key role to play in the fight against climate change -- extracting carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and locking it into new wood.

Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Geography
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Long-distance relationship revealed in the seemingly random behavior of bowhead whales      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Applying chaos theory to the movement of iconic arctic whales uncovered a 24-hour diving cycle and a long-range (~100 km) synchronization.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

Millions of years for plants to recover from global warming      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Catastrophic volcanic eruptions that warmed the planet millions of years ago shed new light on how plants evolve and regulate climate. Researchers reveal the long-term effects of disturbed natural ecosystems on climate in geological history and its implications for today.

Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General
Published

Researchers find unexpectedly large methane source in overlooked landscape      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers reported that upland landscapes were releasing some of the highest methane emissions yet documented among northern terrestrial ecosystems. The research was sparked when a potent greenhouse gas began ballooning under lawns in Fairbanks.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Environmental: Ecosystems
Published

Mix of factors prompts owl monkeys to leave their parents      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

There comes a point in the lives of young owl monkeys when they leave their parents and strike out on their own to find a mate. In a new study of a wild population of Azara's owl monkeys in northern Argentina, researchers reveal that a combination of social and ecological factors influences when these tree-dwelling monkeys peel away from their parents and siblings. According to their findings -- which were based on 25 years of genetic and demographic data for several generations of owl monkeys, covering more than 330 individuals -- none of the individuals, regardless of their sex, reproduced in the same group where they were born. In all cases, the researchers found, the animals either departed from their natal group or died before reproducing.