August 14, 2023 – A Monash University-led study has proposed a solution for the urgent need to capture real-time data on the impact of climate change-related events on human health, healthcare workforces, and healthcare systems at the point of care. As the global community faces growing climate challenges, the study calls for action, collaboration, and […]
Sci/Tech
UC Irvine biologists find what colors a butterfly’s world
Irvine, Calif., Aug. 14, 2023 —As butterflies flit among flowers, they don’t all view blossoms the same way. In a phenomenon called sexually dimorphic vision, females of some butterfly species perceive ultraviolet color while the males see light and dark. University of California, Irvine biologists have discovered that in at least one species, the variation results […]
July 2023: Global air and ocean temperatures reach new record highs
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts on behalf of the European Commission with funding from the EU, routinely publishes monthly climate bulletins reporting on the changes observed in global surface air temperature, sea ice cover and hydrological variables. This month, highlights about sea surface temperature are […]
NASA’s Trio of Mini Rovers Will Team up to Explore the Moon
NASA is sending a trio of miniature rovers to the Moon to see how well they can cooperate with one another without direct input from mission controllers back on Earth. A teamwork-minded experiment to demonstrate new technology, the CADRE (Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration) project marks another step the agency is taking toward developing robots that, by […]
Weather anomalies are keeping insects active longer
As Earth’s climate continues to warm, extreme and anomalous weather events are becoming more common. But predicting and analyzing the effects of what is, by definition, an anomaly can be tricky. Scientists say museum specimens can help. In the first study of its kind, published in Nature Communications Biology, researchers at the University of Florida used natural history specimens […]
New research reveals historic Great Migration of Black southerners to present-day implicit racial bias in the U.S.
July 27, 2023 – Roughly six million Black people moved away from the American South during the Great Migration between 1910 and 1970, hoping to escape racial violence and discrimination while pursuing economic and educational opportunities. Now, research has uncovered a link between this historic event with present-day inequalities and implicit biases. In a new Social Psychological […]
Copernicus and WMO: July 2023 is set to be the hottest month on record
According to ERA5 data from the EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the first three weeks of July have been the warmest three-week period on record and the month is on track to be the hottest July and the hottest month on record. These temperatures have been related to heatwaves in large parts of North […]
Aspartame hazard and risk assessment results released
Assessments of the health impacts of the non-sugar sweetener aspartame are released today by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). Citing “limited evidence” for carcinogenicity in humans, IARC classified aspartame as possibly carcinogenic to humans (IARC Group […]
New Study is First to Find Exposure to Neurotoxic Rodenticide Bromethalin in Birds of Prey
In 2020, Tufts Wildlife Clinic Director Maureen Murray, V03, published a study that showed 100% of red-tailed hawks tested at the clinic were positive for exposure to anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs). Such exposure occurs when these chemicals are used to kill mice or rats, which eat the poison, and the birds eat the poisoned prey. Now, Murray is expanding that research with […]
The Science Behind Skipping Stones
WASHINGTON, July 11, 2023 – Inspired by the need to safeguard marine animals and promote sustainable solutions within marine environments, an interdisciplinary team of researchers from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia and Sofia University in Bulgaria are delving into the hydrodynamics of buoyant objects at the air-water interface. By studying […]
Research reveals sources of CO2 from Aleutian-Alaska Arc volcanoes
Scientists have wondered what happens to the organic and inorganic carbon that Earth’s Pacific Plate carries with it as it slides into the planet’s interior along the volcano-studded Ring of Fire. A new study suggests a notable amount of such subducted carbon returns to the atmosphere rather than traveling deep into Earth’s mantle. The finding […]
Poverty negatively impacts structural wiring in children’s brains, study indicates
June 27, 2023 – A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that growing up in poverty may influence the wiring of a child’s brain. The study, published June 27 in JAMA Network Open, indicates a link between both neighborhood and household poverty and the brain’s white matter tracts, which allow […]
Radar can help fight wildfires, identify flash-flood risks
June 26, 2023 – Smoke from forest fires in Canada cast a pall over St. Louis this month as well as other parts of the Midwest and the East Coast, darkening local skies and creating unhealthy outdoor air conditions. Many of the blazes were sparked by lightning strikes in remote forest areas. Human-caused climate change […]
Do hummingbirds drink alcohol? More often than you think
You may not realize it, but that backyard hummingbird feeder filled with sugar water is a natural experiment in fermentation — yeast settle in and turn some of the sugar into alcohol. The same is true of nectar-filled flowers, which are an ideal gathering place for yeast — a type of fungus — and for […]
Penguin Propulsion: The Physics Behind the World’s Fastest Swimming Birds
WASHINGTON, June 20, 2023 – Penguins aren’t just cute: they’re also speedy. Gentoo penguins are the fastest swimming birds in the world, and that ability comes from their unique and sophisticated wings. In Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing, researchers from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and King Mongkut‘s […]
Cassini Data Reveals Building Block for Life in Enceladus’ Ocean
Phosphorus, a key chemical element for many biological processes, has been found in icy grains emitted by the small moon and is likely abundant in its subsurface ocean. Using data collected by NASA’s Cassini mission, an international team of scientists has discovered phosphorus – an essential chemical element for life – locked inside salt-rich ice grains […]
NASA’s Curiosity Captures Martian Morning, Afternoon in New ‘Postcard’
After completing a major software update in April, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover took a last look at “Marker Band Valley” before leaving it behind, capturing a “postcard” of the scene. The postcard is an artistic interpretation of the landscape, with color added over two black-and-white panoramas captured by Curiosity’s navigation cameras. The views were taken on April […]
For pet dogs, ‘running with the pack’ may be key to healthier living
What exactly makes for a fit Fido? And how does a dog’s environment factor into their dog years? The largest survey and data compilation of its kind, which includes more than 21,000 owners, has revealed the social determinants that may be tied to healthier aging for pet dogs. Among them, the dog’s social support network […]
Kīlauea volcano is erupting
Kīlauea volcano is erupting. At approximately 4:44 a.m. HST on June 7, 2023, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory detected glow in Kīlauea summit webcam images indicating that an eruption has commenced within Halemaʻumaʻu crater in Kīlauea’s summit caldera, within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is elevating Kīlauea’s volcano alert level from WATCH to WARNING and its aviation […]
Fungi stores a third of carbon from fossil fuel emissions and could be essential to reaching net zero
The vast underground network of fungi beneath our feet stores over 13 gigatons of carbon around the world, roughly equivalent to 36 per cent of yearly global fossil fuel emissions, according to new research. It is widely believed that mycorrhizal fungi could store carbon, as the fungi forms symbiotic relationships with almost all land plants […]