Science In flow

A research team of international space scientists has found new evidence of a low-altitude meteoritic touchdown event reaching the Antarctic ice sheet 430,000 years ago. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/39wrS9G

Diamonds that formed deep in the Earth's mantle contain evidence of chemical reactions that occurred on the seafloor. Probing these gems can help geoscientists understand how material is exchanged between the planet's surface and its depths. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2PreAo3

A new study has found the first evidence of sophisticated breathing organs in 450-million-year-old sea creatures. Contrary to previous thought, trilobites were leg breathers, with structures resembling gills hanging off their thighs. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3djDy0u

For the first time, organic molecules could be detected in such old liquids as possible nutrients for primordial microbes. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2PeE1t1

Scientists believe they have pinpointed our most distant animal relative in the tree of life and, in doing so, have resolved an ongoing debate. Their work finds strong evidence that sponges - not more complex comb jellies - were our most distant relatives. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2PfFmzO

Pfizer has announced positive results from its initial covid-19 vaccine trial in children and trials of other vaccines are under way, but whether any are approved for use this year may depend on how the virus behaves from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/2OaQKwf

Humans living 100,000 years ago in what is now the Kalahari desert spent time collecting crystals, challenging the idea that human behaviours like symbolism emerged along coasts from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3dla0zI

Canada and some parts of Germany have suspended their roll-out of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to those in younger age groups, while new findings show a possible cause for a small number of cases of a rare blood clot syndrome after the shot. Here's what you need to know from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/39tsL2w

A solar engineering experiment to launch a balloon from Sweden and inject aerosols into the stratosphere has been suspended and delayed until 2022 to give more time for engagement with the Swedish public from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3dndIZt

The information comes from the diets and health outcomes of 134,297 people from 21 countries spanning five continents, who were tracked by researchers for data on meat consumption and cardiovascular illnesses. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3sIwSj8

Brazil is buckling under record coronavirus cases and poor governance, while Chile begins a strict lockdown that only allows people to go out for essentials twice a week from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3u8esZg

Researchers have shown for the first time that animal DNA shed within the environment can be collected from the air. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3dkHgXQ

Scientific understanding of the brain regions responsible for speech and communication is limited. Consequently, knowledge of how to improve challenges such as speech impediments or language acquisition is limited as well. Using an ultra-lightweight, wireless implant, a team is researching songbirds - one of the few species that share humans' ability to learn new vocalizations - to improve scientific understanding of human speech. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3cDAeOM

Bangladesh's floating gardens, built to grow food during flood seasons, could offer a sustainable solution for parts of the world prone to flooding because of climate change, a new study has found. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3fvrz2O

More research is needed on the environmental impact of sunscreen on the world's coral reefs. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3dkDgq5

New research may offer some insight, examining biases towards climate information and offering tools to overcome these and communicate climate change more effectively. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3rC06yD

Surgeons can see images of secondary tumour sites in the human body using a handheld gamma ray detector that acts like a camera from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/2PedIDh

Hints of a hefty source of gravity beyond Pluto sparked the search for a possible “Planet Nine”. Now, some astronomers think it could instead be a black hole from the big bang, offering a rare glimpse into the early universe from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3rEcT3N

The UK government is reportedly considering vaccine passports to bring people back into offices and factories, but they aren't without controversy – here’s what we know so far from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/2PHs92m

Many countries pledged to halve deforestation by 2020, but global tree loss is trending up, which could lead to fights at the COP 26 climate summit over funding rainforest protection in places that have lax regulations from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3wc9Cft

Human disturbance in urban environments makes some squirrels fail, but others perform better in novel problem-solving. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3ub4d6G

New research looked at a newly discovered, endangered songbird located only in South America -- the Iberá Seedeater -- and found that this bird followed a very rare evolutionary path to come into existence at a much faster pace than the grand majority of species. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3wgYMVl

Anthropogenic climate change is one of the foremost scientific and societal challenges. In part, our response to this global challenge requires an enhanced understanding of how the Earth's surface responds to episodes of climatic heating and cooling. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3sHKnzq

Plotting a robot against lizards in a climbing test has shown the most efficient speed for stability and the best angle for a lizard's legs to keep from falling off vertical surfaces from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3di5uBX

A Stone Age pit found in north-east England was probably used to obtain salt from seawater – thousands of years before Britons were thought to have the technology from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3m5ZDUc

Vampire bat taste receptors react to "bitter salts" like magnesium sulphate – perhaps because drinking water containing the salts might react badly with the blood the bats eat from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3u7JSyT

A new report highlights the decline of greater sage-grouse across the American West while providing a roadmap to aid the conservation of the species. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2QSzOeV

Scientists think that climate change may have greater impact the largest trees in tropical forests, and the death of these giants has a major impact on the forest, but because these monumental trees are few and far between, almost nothing is known about what causes them to die. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3cBNymx

Research finds that a specific strain of herpesvirus triggers cervical cancer affecting nearly 1 in 4 necropsied California sea lions. The findings show that sea lions are a critical model for understanding how cancer develops with important parallels to human cancer research. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2OdD97q

Scientists have been using DESY's X-ray source PETRA III to analyse the structural changes that take place in an egg when you cook it. The work reveals how the proteins in the white of a chicken egg unfold and cross-link with each other. The method can be of interest to the food industry as well as to the broad field of protein research. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3cx2r9L

The latest coronavirus news updated every day including coronavirus cases, the latest news, features and interviews from New Scientist and essential information about the covid-19 pandemic from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/2PctFdb

While investigating gas hydrate deposits in the western Black Sea, a team of scientists made surprising discoveries. Contrary to previous findings and theories, the scientists found free methane gas in layers where it should actually not appear. The authors conclude that the gas hydrate system in the deep-sea fan of the Danube continues to adapt due to climate changes since the last glacial maximum. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/31y9etC

Researchers have discovered a protein that could be key to blocking the most common bacterial cause of human food poisoning in the United States. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/39o2eUv

The interstellar comet Borisov probably formed in the presence of giant planets, but it has never been disrupted by coming near another star, making it the most pristine object ever spotted from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3dnqRSa

The UK government is reportedly considering vaccine passports to bring people back into offices and factories, but they aren't without controversy – here’s what we know so far from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/2PHs92m

Some dried lava flows on the moon have far more water bound up in the rocks than their surroundings, indicating that the moon’s interior, once thought to be dry, may actually be full of water from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/39seMdu

New modeling identifies country-specific human and human-influenced environmental factors associated with disease outbreaks. A country's land area, human population density, and area of forest are associated with zoonotic diseases, like COVID-19. Human development index, average annual temperature, and health expenditure predict other kinds of disease. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3waJBgz

Scientists have identified the protein that was the missing evolutionary link between two ancient algae species - red algae and cryptophytes. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3m2rswP

A global map of agricultural land across 168 countries has revealed that 64 percent of land used for agriculture and food crops is at risk of pesticide pollution. Almost a third of these areas are considered to be at high-risk. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2Pnn7rU

Beetle outbreaks impacted around 40 percent of the areas studied in Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico. But the effects of these outbreak varied due to differences in forest structures and species composition across the region. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2QSbRV2

Working with fruit flies, scientists say they have identified a new molecular pathway that helps steer moving cells in specific directions. The set of interconnected proteins and enzymes in the pathway act as steering and rudder components that drive cells toward an 'intended' rather than random destination, they say. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2PnrkMh

The latest gene editing technology, prime editing, expands the 'genetic toolbox' for more precisely creating disease models and correcting genetic problems, scientists say. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/39rv5aw

We are not venomous, and neither are mice - but within our genomes lurks that potential, suggest scientists The researchers found that the genetic foundation required for oral venom to evolve is present in both reptiles and mammals. The study also provides the first concrete evidence of an underlying molecular link between venom glands in snakes and salivary glands in mammals. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2PiHGWC

Synthetic cells designed in 2016 have been modified through the addition of seven genes so they can grow and divide just like natural bacterial cells from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/2P9iwK9

Two software developers who worked on the creation of the most popular non-fungible tokens, which are used to sell artwork online, say changes are needed to rein in their vast energy use and carbon emissions from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3szvzTy

Prolonged and potentially destabilizing water shortages will become commonplace in Jordan by 2100, new research finds, unless the nation implements comprehensive reform, from fixing leaky pipes to desalinating seawater. Jordan's water crisis is emblematic of challenges looming around the world as a result of climate change and rapid population growth. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3cAvIQM

A doctoral student has identified a long-overlooked pattern in how plants evolved their equivalent of lungs -- tiny pores on the surfaces of leaves called stomata. Using specialized imaging techniques and a plant species not often found in laboratories, researchers say this discovery reveals a key difference in the evolution of plants that live on land versus those that can grow in water. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3ubJxvj

Physical activity is important in preventing heart and blood vessel disease in young people so long as they don't undertake very strenuous activity on days when air pollution levels are high, according to a nationwide study of nearly 1.5 million people published in the European Heart Journal. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3fpeEPH

Using meteorological sensors perched on towers above the forest canopy, researchers are able to track water flow to and from wetland forests on the North Carolina coast. They have gathered data on forest carbon and water cycling spanning 14 years. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3foDgbj

Scientists optimize a process to turn rubber from discarded tires into soluble graphene for composite materials, including cement in more environmentally friendly concrete. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3dcPcKy

Climate change is altering the world we share with all living things. But it's surprisingly difficult to single out climate change as an extinction threat for any one particular species protected under the Endangered Species Act. A new analysis of population data shows that climate change represents a specific extinction threat for an endangered coastal lupine plant. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3m0TubU

During drought, plants use a signalling molecule known from animals to limit their water loss. The molecule provides them with a kind of memory of how dry the day was. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2PgIong

Climate labels informing us of a meat product's carbon footprint cause many people to opt for climate-friendlier alternatives. This applies to people who are curious about a product's carbon footprint, as well as to those who actively avoid wanting to know more. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/39qDbAa

The latest coronavirus news updated every day including coronavirus cases, the latest news, features and interviews from New Scientist and essential information about the covid-19 pandemic from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3w6Im1Q

Scientists reported new research results today suggesting that artificial objects in orbit around the Earth are brightening night skies on our planet significantly more than previously understood. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/31ugqXD

Research into the flower preferences of pollinating moths may have delivered a vital clue to the simple factors needed for the emergence of new species. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2O8aWii

Why do some people with cold sores around their lips experience painful lesions, while others have no symptoms at all, yet still spread the virus? A new study finds that these differences could be due to variations in the way certain strains of herpes simplex (HSV-1) -- the virus that causes cold sores, as well as genital herpes -- activate gene expression in neurons. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3suR0F8

Ever thought about buying or building a bat box to help bats? Think carefully about the design and where you put it, researchers say. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2QGqiva

In the Arctic, climate change and pollution are the biggest threats to top predators like narwals. Studying the animals' tusks reveals that diet and exposure to pollution have shifted over the past half century in response to sea-ice decline. Human emissions have also led to a sharp rise in the presence of mercury in recent years, according to an international team of researchers. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3de77AB

New genetic analysis and years of painstaking research has revealed that one of the world's most endangered marine mammals is actually two species rather than one, as scientists had long assumed. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/39lVCpp

EU imports of products including palm oil, soybeans, and beef contribute significantly to deforestation in other parts of the world. In a new study, researchers evaluated over a thousand policy proposals for how the EU could reduce this impact, to assess which would have the largest potential to reduce deforestation - while also being politically feasible. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3fpenw0

Synthetic cells designed in 2016 have been modified through the addition of seven genes so they can grow and divide just like natural bacterial cells from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/2P9iwK9

Mid-sized black holes are harder to spot than their smaller or supermassive cousins, but powerful bursts of radiation from a faraway galaxy have finally revealed one from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3szpsyw

Scientists have decoded the genomes of the deep-sea clam (Archivesica marissinica) and the chemoautotrophic bacteria (Candidatus Vesicomyosocius marissinica) that live in its gill epithelium cells. Through analysis of their genomic structures and profiling of their gene expression patterns, the research team revealed that symbiosis between the two partners enables the clams to thrive in extreme deep-sea environments. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3daUiXK

Scientists have highlighted the key role of a protein called paxillin, which enables cells to perceive their environment and anchor at the right place with the help of cellular 'crampons'. Indeed, without functional paxillin, the cell is unable to attach properly and slips continuously. These results shed new light on how cells adhere or migrate, mechanisms essential to the good functioning of our organs, but also involved in the development of metastatic tumors. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3szgwJw

In the summer of 2020, hundreds of Larch Budmoths were observed on Vize Island, in the Russian High Arctic, likely transported over 1,200 km by air currents from Siberia. This is the first and only terrestrial invertebrate to ever be discovered on the island. This finding could mean that Vize island is less isolated from insect migrants than was commonly thought. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3sKJiah

A new study finds that coffee pulp, a waste product of coffee production, can be used to speed up tropical forest recovery on post agricultural land. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3u2ghXv

It's easy to see why Riz Ahmed has been nominated for an Oscar for the film Sound of Metal, in which he gives a harrowing, subtle performance as a drug addict-turned musician who loses his hearing from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3u415cB

Mastodons were herbivores but an ancient rattlesnake fossil was found in the jaw of one of these giant creatures – it was probably taking shelter in the animal’s carcass from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3m073IF

The pandemic has driven home the connections between access to green space and our physical and mental health - we should use this to reinvent our cities from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3whcms7

A wildlife refuge on the US-Mexico border is home to nearly 500 species of bees, the densest aggregation of bee species anywhere in the world from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3u1CLYF

Many species of pollinating insects are in decline in the UK. Here's how home gardeners can help turn things around with the right plants, says Clare Wilson from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/2PeUJIr

Scientists have revealed molecular mechanisms involved in eliminating unwanted cells in the body. A nuclear protein fragment released into the cytoplasm activates a plasma membrane protein to display a lipid on the cell surface, signalling other cells to get rid of it. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3wfxpLA

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is underestimating methane emissions from oil and gas production in its annual Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, according to new research. The research team found 90 percent higher emissions from oil production and 50 percent higher emissions for natural gas production than EPA estimated in its latest inventory. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2P5UD6a

Generally thought of as fierce horse-warriors, the Scythians were a multitude of Iron Age cultures who ruled the Eurasian steppe, playing a major role in Eurasian history. A new study analyzes genome-wide data for 111 ancient individuals spanning the Central Asian Steppe from the first millennia BCE and CE. The results reveal new insights into the genetic events associated with the origins, development and decline of the steppe's legendary Scythians. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/31vFflP

A new study finds the wettability of porous electrode surfaces is key to making efficient water-splitting or carbon-capturing systems. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3fkFp7O

Every year, an estimated four percent of the world's vegetated land surface burns, leaving more than 250 megatons of carbonized plants behind. A study has now recorded elevated concentrations of environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFR) in these charcoals - in some cases even up to five years after the fire. These EPFR may generate reactive substances, which in turn harm plants and living organisms. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3fk9jZZ

Researchers developed a general methodology for the reproducible fabrication of high efficiency perovskite solar cells. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3w2WMA3

From microwave ovens to Wi-Fi connections, the radio waves that permeate the environment are not just signals of energy consumed but are also sources of energy themselves. An international team of researchers has developed a way to harvest energy from radio waves to power wearable devices. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/31pL9F6

Since 1990, California has used its authority under the federal Clean Air Act to enact more aggressive rules on emissions from diesel vehicles and engines compared to the rest of the U.S. Extending these standards to the rest of the U.S. could dramatically improve the nation's air quality and health, particularly in lower income communities of color, finds a new analysis. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3su0zEf

If the European Union grew genetically engineered crops, it could cut carbon dioxide emissions by around 33 million tonnes a year – equivalent to 8 per cent of all the EU's agricultural greenhouse gas emissions in 2017 from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3w3gvzu

Mercury started shrinking rapidly just after its formation, which may be explained by magma travelling from the planet's core to the surface through heat pipes from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3rqkbaW

Photographer Adam Dean's striking shot of bats emerging from a Thai cave highlights research into the key question of whether covid-19 originates in bats from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3cm9XEg

With NASA's James Webb Space Telescope finally in sight, a new documentary charts its history and talks to leading scientists with a passion for the exoplanets and other worlds it may find from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/39hz2OW

Even small increases in nitrogen dioxide levels in the air may be linked to increases in cardiovascular and respiratory deaths, according to new research. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3lRIqOc

Plastics are one of the world's largest polluters, taking hundreds of years to degrade in nature. A research team has created a high-quality bioplastic from wood byproducts that they hope can solve one of the world's most pressing environmental issues. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3d5QB5I

Expectant women are more likely to give birth early if they have high blood levels of a chemical used in flame retardants compared with those who have limited exposure, a new study finds. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3lTNOQN

The ocean's mammals are at a crucial crossroads - with some at risk of extinction and others showing signs of recovery, researchers say. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3w0NUuH

A new analysis of strontium isotopes in marine sediments has enabled scientists to reconstruct fluctuations in ocean chemistry related to changing climate conditions over the past 35 million years. The results provide new insights into the inner workings of the global carbon cycle and, in particular, the processes by which carbon is removed from the environment through the deposition of carbonates. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3sn8Gm0

Pregnant women who consumed the caffeine equivalent of as little as half a cup of coffee a day on average had slightly smaller babies than pregnant women who did not consume caffeinated beverages, according to a new study. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3rp6gSw

The claim that old-growth forests play a significant role in climate mitigation, based upon the argument that even the oldest forests keep sucking CO2 out of the atmosphere, is being refuted. Researchers document that this argument is based upon incorrectly analyzed data and that the climate mitigation effect of old and unmanaged forests has been greatly overestimated. Nevertheless, they reassert the importance of old-growth forest for biodiversity. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/31lUoq6

Scientists have taken the connection between wisdom, loneliness and biology one step further, reporting that wisdom and loneliness appear to influence -- and/or be influenced by -- microbial diversity of the gut. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2Pu2Dxs

Researchers have discovered that a novel surface they developed to harvest water from the air encourages tiny water droplets to move spontaneously into larger droplets. When researchers placed microdroplets of water on their liquid-lubricant surface, the microdroplets propelled themselves to climb, without external force, into larger droplets along an oily, ramp-shaped meniscus that forms from the lubricant around the larger droplets. The 'coarsening droplet phenomenon' formed droplets large enough for harvesting. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3lZ4BSH

The development of agriculture is often thought of as a human innovation in response to climate change or population pressure. A new manuscript challenges that concept, suggesting that plants that had already evolved adaptive traits for life among large-bodied grazing and browsing animals were more likely to prosper on a highly disturbed anthropogenic landscape. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/31qmfFj

Researchers from the SponGES project collected year-round video footage and hydrodynamic data from the mysterious world of a deep-sea sponge ground in the Arctic. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3rhOZe8

A novel analysis of encounters between albatross and commercial fishing vessels across the North Pacific Ocean is giving researchers important new understanding about seabird-vessel interactions that could help reduce harmful encounters. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3tXyCVY

An international team of scientists presents an analysis of sediments from a cave in northeast Greenland, that cover a time period between about 588,000 to 549,000 years ago. This interval was warmer and wetter than today, the cave deposits provide an outlook in a possible future warmer world due to climate change. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/39xOEy3

Female adult sockeye from the Fraser River are dying at significantly higher rates than their male counterparts on the journey back to their spawning grounds, finds new research. For every male salmon that doesn't make it to their natal stream, at least two, sometimes three female salmon die. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/31nywdC

Researchers from TMDU fabricated a bright fluorescent bone replacement material, based on a precursor to bone tissue that's common in medical practice. The material will be useful in bone repair and dental implants, and facilitate bone regrowth while providing new diagnostic and prognostic functionalities. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3lRjM02

Copepods are a vital part of Earth's aquatic ecosystems. A team of researchers recently published findings that shed light on how these miniature marvels move and cluster in the ocean. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/39fI3b3

Floating solar farms could help to protect lakes and reservoirs from some of the harms of climate change, a new study suggests. However, given the complex nature of water bodies and differing designs of solar technologies, there could also be detrimental ecosystem impacts of deploying floating solar arrays. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3tMXAqS

Findings from a new study on lung development should empower the search for better treatments for lung diseases. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3sn98AU

Quantum chromodynamics, or QCD, is the theory of the strong interaction between quarks and gluons. Lattice QCD uses supercomputers to explore 'tantalizing hints' of new physics in discrepancies between experimental and theoretical results. Carleton DeTar and Steven Gottlieb, two of the leading contemporary scholars of QCD research, are using the Frontera supercomputer at the Texas Advanced Computing Center to explore the 'anomalous magnetic moment of the muon' and measurements of the decay of B mesons. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2NZg2gM

The rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and concurrent climate change has led to yield reductions of grass-rich grassland vegetation in the past century. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2QFgCRN

Octopuses cycle between quiet and active phases of sleep, similar to reptiles and birds, and may experience dreams during the active parts from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3vUpfIp

The US National Academy of Sciences says we need a research programme testing out controversial geoengineering techniques that aim to cool Earth by injecting particles into the air or thinning clouds from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3soMoQL

One species of whitefly, an aphid-like insect, carries a chunk of plant DNA in its genome that protects it from some of the poisons that plants produce from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/39hRsPE

Eating local honey is often recommended as a treatment for hay fever. Does it have any effect? James Wong investigates from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3lQYOyn

Filters made from tree branches can purify drinking water sources, a new study finds. Prototypes of these xylem filters, tested in India, show promise as a low-cost, natural filtration option. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3clTlwE

Most of the wild canines in Australia are dingoes, and interbreeding between dogs and dingoes is rare – laying to rest concerns that dingoes are virtually extinct in the wild from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3tUHknS

Poachers have brought Africa’s two elephant species to the brink of extinction, with the continent’s two species today classified as endangered by the IUCN Red List from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/3tLu054

Pumpkin growers dread the tiny tan scabs that form on their fruit, each lesion a telltale sign of bacterial spot disease. The specks don't just mar the fruit's flesh, they provide entry points for rot-inducing fungus and other pathogens that can destroy pumpkins and other cucurbits from the inside out. Either way, farmers pay the price, with marketable yields reduced by as much as 90%. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3ciQuV0

Archaeologists examined the remains of houses in ancient Maya cities and compared them with other Mesoamerican societies; they found that the societies with the most wealth inequality were also the ones that had governments that concentrated power with a smaller number of people. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3fcJPxy

Reasons for more than a decade of black cherry regeneration decline in the Allegheny Hardwood Regions are not well-understood; a team of scientists looked at five leading hypotheses; they found that the most likely factors are pathogens and reduced nitrogen availability, and that black cherry may actually be a story of change on a much bigger scale. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/31ftP5B

A new study projecting the amount of heat stress residents of the region will experience in the future finds with 2 degrees Celsius of warming, the population's exposure to heat stress will nearly triple. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/31kPUjr

An international team has produced the first high-resolution 3D image of the sarcomere, the basic contractile unit of skeletal and heart muscle cells, by using electron cryo-tomography. Electron cryo-tomography capability of imaging structures directly in frozen muscle cells could translate into future medical treatments for muscle diseases and a better understanding of the aging process. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3fdbYEB

Humans are remarkably adaptable, and our ancestors have survived challenges like the changing climate in the past. Now, research is providing insight into how people who lived over 5,000 years ago managed to adapt. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/31gfgyG

The unprecedented rainfall from Hurricane Harvey in 2017 brought more than flood damage to southeast Texas. For people living in environmental justice communities such as the Manchester neighborhood near the Houston Ship Channel, heavy rainfall and flooding may have increased risks of exposure to harmful chemicals from nearby industry. from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/31fkKtx

Beyond the headline breakthroughs, artificial intelligence is a global industrial complex. Having explored its political and social implications, Kate Crawford at Microsoft Research is now focusing on the infrastructure underpinning AI from New Scientist - Home https://ift.tt/39ddNhh