Environment

May 07, 2019 09:22 AM EDT

Impossible Research Produces 400-year El Niño Record, Revealing Startling Changes

Melbourne: Australian scientists have developed an innovative method using cores drilled from coral to produce a world first 400-year long seasonal record of El Niño events, a record that many in the field had described as impossible to extract.

May 06, 2019 09:53 AM EDT

Review on the Synthesis and Anti-oxidation of Copper Nanowires for Transparent Conductive Electrodes

In a paper to be published in the forthcoming issue in NANO, a team of researchers has reviewed the methods of synthesizing copper nanowires (Cu NWs) and techniques to improve its oxidation resistance.

May 04, 2019 10:02 AM EDT

First Demonstration of Antimatter Wave Interferometry

Matter waves constitute a crucial feature of quantum mechanics, where particles have wave properties in addition to particle characteristics. This wave-particle duality was postulated already in 1924 by the French physicist Louis de Broglie.

May 03, 2019 08:51 AM EDT

Forest Fires Accelerating Snowmelt Across Western US, Study Finds

Forest fires are causing snow to melt earlier in the season, a trend occurring across the western U.S. that may affect water supplies and trigger even more fires, according to a new study by a team of researchers at Portland State University (PSU) , the Desert Research Institute (DRI), and the University of Nevada, Reno.

May 03, 2019 08:20 AM EDT

An Evolutionary Rescue in Polluted Waters

The combination of a big population, good genes, and luck help explain how a species of fish in Texas' Houston Ship Channel was able to adapt to what normally would be lethal levels of toxins for most other species, according to a study to be published May 3 in the journal Science.

May 02, 2019 09:41 AM EDT

Scientists see Fingerprint of Warming Climate on Droughts Going Back to 1900

In an unusual new study, scientists say they have detected the fingerprint of human-driven global warming on patterns of drought and moisture across the world as far back as 1900. Rising temperatures are well documented back at least that far, but this is the first time researchers have identified resulting long-term global effects on the water supplies that feed crops and cities.

May 01, 2019 06:50 PM EDT

Rapid Permafrost Thaw Unrecognized Threat to Landscape, Global Warming Researcher Warns

A "sleeping giant" hidden in permafrost soils in Canada and other northern regions worldwide will have important consequences for global warming, says a new report led by University of Guelph scientist Merritt Turetsky.

Apr 30, 2019 09:51 AM EDT

Rapid Melting of the World's Largest Ice Shelf Linked to Solar Heat in the Ocean

An international team of scientists has found part of the world's largest ice shelf is melting 10 times faster than the overall ice shelf average, due to solar heating of the surrounding ocean surface.

Planetary Changes from 65 to 50 Mya Responsible for Changes to Ocean Oxygen Levels (IMAGE)

Apr 29, 2019 10:03 AM EDT

Photo by Cori Kogan, Washington State University Health Sciences Spokane

When the landmass that is now the Indian subcontinent slammed into Asia about 50 million years ago, the collision changed the configuration of the continents, the landscape, global climate and more. Now a team of Princeton University scientists has identified one more effect: the oxygen in the world's oceans increased, altering the conditions for life.

Apr 29, 2019 09:33 AM EDT

How to Purify Water with Graphene

Scientists from the National University of Science and Technology "MISIS" together with their colleagues from Derzhavin Tambov State University and Saratov Chernyshevsky State University have figured out that graphene is capable of purifying water, making it drinkable, without further chlorination. "Capturing" bacterial cells, it forms flakes that can be easily extracted from the water. Graphene separated by ultrasound can be reused.

Apr 29, 2019 08:53 AM EDT

Biodegradable Bags can Hold a Full Load of Shopping after 3 Years in the Environment

Biodegradable and compostable plastic bags are still capable of carrying full loads of shopping after being exposed in the natural environment for three years, a new study shows.

Apr 27, 2019 11:06 AM EDT

3D Optical Biopsies within Reach thanks to Advance in Light Field Technology

Researchers have shown that existing optical fiber technology could be used to produce microscopic 3D images of tissue inside the body, paving the way towards 3D optical biopsies.

Subsurface Imaging Technology Helps Find Lost Graves (IMAGE)

Apr 27, 2019 10:58 AM EDT

Lost Graves Identified by New Archaeology Methods

Flinders University archaeologists are using cutting edge subsurface imaging technology to help assist community groups to map unmarked graves and manage their cultural heritage.

Apr 27, 2019 09:49 AM EDT

Improving the Lifetime of Bioelectrodes for Solar Energy Conversion

The use of proteins involved in the photosynthetic process enables the development of affordable and efficient devices for energy conversion. However, although proteins such as photosystem are robust in nature, the use of isolated protein complexes incorporated in semi-artificial electrodes are associated with considerably short long-term stability.

Apr 27, 2019 09:00 AM EDT

Diamonds Reveal How Continents are Stabilized, Key to Earth's Habitability

Washington, DC-- The longevity of Earth's continents in the face of destructive tectonic activity is an essential geologic backdrop for the emergence of life on our planet. This stability depends on the underlying mantle attached to the landmasses.