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Categories: Chemistry: Biochemistry, Geoscience: Environmental Issues

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Scientists have discovered some of the molecular mechanisms controlling how plants -- including important crops like soybean and rice -- will respond to rising global temperatures, finding higher temperatures make root systems grow faster, but sustaining this increased growth speed depends on high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in the soil. The discoveries point to the necessity of nitrogen and phosphorus-rich soil to promote crop growth and create nutritious crops, in addition to aiding a mission to create more resilient crops in the face of climate change.

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A glacier's flow depends on how microscopic defects move through the ice, according to new research that also yielded a new model for predicting how glaciers will flow, ultimately contributing to sea-level rise.

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A new scientific model is giving researchers an unprecedented, global look at the activities of clams, worms, and other invertebrate animals that burrow at the bottom of the ocean.

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The movement of carbon between the atmosphere, oceans and continents -- or carbon cycle -- regulates Earth's climate, with the ocean playing a major role in carbon sequestration. A new study finds that the shape and depth of the ocean floor explain up to 50% of the changes in depth at which carbon has been sequestered there over the past 80 million years. While these changes have been previously attributed to other causes, the new finding could inform ongoing efforts to combat climate change through marine carbon sequestration.

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A new computational machine learning method developed by computational biologists can help researchers discover spatial patterns of gene expression in diseased tissue.

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Researchers develop a vastly more productive way to convert carbon dioxide into useful materials and compounds.

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Direct oxidation of methane to methanol is dominated by transition- or noble-metal-based catalysts, thus making the reaction quite expensive. To make the process efficient and cost-effective, researchers developed a transition-metal-free aluminosilicate ferrierite zeolite catalyst that can produce methanol by using methane and nitrous oxide as starting materials. The new catalyst ensures excellent methanol production efficiency, one of the highest recorded rates in the literature thus far.

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Researchers have developed an innovative positioning system that enhances the versatility and accuracy of drone-viewpoint mixed reality (MR) applications by aligning real and virtual world coordinates without predefined routes. By integrating visual positioning systems and natural feature-based tracking, this technology is expected to be applied to urban landscape simulation, maintenance, and inspection work.

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Urgent action now is needed to tackle the major and growing global issue of invasive alien species, says a team of 88 experts from 47 countries. The paper follows the (IPBES) thematic assessment report on invasive alien species and their control. The experts say co-developing management actions with multiple stakeholders including government and private sector stakeholders, and Indigenous Peoples and local communities will be critical to achieving success in addressing biological invasions.

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A team of scientists has combined paleoclimatic data from the last 2,000 years with powerful computer modeling and in-the-field research on lake sediments and tree rings to show that an understudied phenomenon, known as atmospheric blocking, has long influenced temperature swings in the Arctic. As temperatures warm due to climate change, atmospheric blocking will help drive ever-wilder weather events. The study focused on the Norwegian Arctic archipelago, Svalbard, at the edge of the Arctic Ocean.

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Permafrost soils store large quantities of organic carbon and are often portrayed as a critical tipping element in the Earth system, which, once global warming has reached a certain level, suddenly and globally collapses. Yet this image of a ticking timebomb, one that remains relatively quiet until, at a certain level of warming, it goes off, is a controversial one among the research community. Based on the scientific data currently available, the image is deceptive, as an international team has shown in a recently released study. According to their findings, there is no single global tipping point; rather, there are numerous local and regional ones, which 'tip' at different times, producing cumulative effects and causing the permafrost to thaw in step with climate change.

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An international research team has sparked interest in the scientific community with results in quantum physics. In their current study, the researchers reinterpret the Higgs mechanism, which gives elementary particles mass and triggers phase transitions, using the concept of 'magnetic quivers.'

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Researchers have explored how the River Nile evolved over the past 11,500 years and how changes in its geography could have helped shape the fortunes of ancient Egyptian civilization. Research reveals a major shift in the Nile around four thousand years ago, after which the floodplain in the Nile Valley around Luxor greatly expanded.

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A fungus living in the sea can break down the plastic polyethylene, provided it has first been exposed to UV radiation from sunlight. Researchers expect that many more plastic degrading fungi are living in deeper parts of the ocean.

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Greenhouse cultivation is booming globally, especially in the Global South -- and across one country in particular. This is revealed in a new study that deploys detailed satellite imagery and AI to map greenhouses across the planet. According to the researchers, the development is a source of both promise and concern.

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A team has scaled up the powerful brain-mapping tool BARseq. The technology is now capable of mapping millions of neurons throughout the brain. Identifying how neural connections are wired up over time is key to understanding the brain's perceptual abilities. It may also lead to better treatments for a variety of neurological conditions.

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Physicists describe the successful creation of a molecular Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). Made up of dipolar sodium-cesium molecules that were cooled with the help of microwave shielding to just 5 nanoKelvin and lasted for up to two seconds, the new molecular BEC will help scientists explore a number of different quantum phenomena, including new types of superfluidity, and enable the creation of quantum simulators to ecreate the enigmatic properties of complex materials, like solid crystals.

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A new proposal has emerged in response to the November 2021 floods that swept Sumas Prairie in the Fraser Valley, British Columbia, causing mass evacuations and millions in damages. Instead of rebuilding the dykes to manage water flows and prevent future floods, scientists, along with members of the Sumas First Nation and other research partners, suggest an alternative: let Sumas Lake, which was drained in the early 1920s and converted into the farmland known as Sumas Prairie, return to its natural state. This can be done by buying out properties on the lakebed -- a solution that is projected to cost around $1 billion, less than half of the estimated $2.4 billion cost of repairing the dykes and installing a new pump station.

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Under certain conditions, some algae are able to produce hydrogen -- a much sought-after green energy source. Its production takes place in the unique catalytic center of the unicellular algae and is only possible if certain cofactors of the relevant proteins are present. Researchers have identified how such a cofactor, the so-called hydrogen cluster, is assembled. Specifically, they describe the previously unexplained role of the enzyme HydF, which is involved in the final steps of assembly.

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Converting home heating systems from natural gas furnaces to electric heat pumps is seen as a way to address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.