Patented organic solar cell breakthrough could increase their efficiency to cost-effective levels. Buildings and rooftops could be wrapped in lightweight, flexible sheets of solar cells. Could also provide reliable power to isolated regions.
Imagine exploring a wooded site along an Alaska stream or lake for evidence of animals. Maybe you’ll see moose prints in the soil or a bit of wolf fur in a berry bush. But some species don’t leave footprints. They still leave a clue. It’s their DNA.
Between 1947 and 1956, John Curtis and his colleagues and students conducted their prairie relic study, surveying more than 200 undisturbed prairie remnants in Wisconsin. Today [Feb. 19, 2016] UW-Madison graduate student Amy Alstad and a team of researchers have published a third survey based on Curtis’ legacy work. They found that human influence has accelerated the rate of species change in these prairies.
Laboratory rats who breathed Beijing's highly polluted air gained weight and experienced cardio-respiratory and metabolic dysfunctions after three to eight weeks of exposure.
In the February 18, 2016 issue of Science, researchers from UCSB and including a DOE JGI team report that anaerobic gut fungi perform as well as the best fungi engineered by industry in their ability to convert plant material into sugars that are easily transformed into fuel and other products.
A new study by a team of Thai and international scientists finds that a depleted tiger population in Thailand is rebounding thanks to enhanced protection measures.
A UCLA study has found that the state agency responsible for protecting Californians from the dangers of pesticides is failing to assess the health risks likely posed by pesticide mixtures, which are believed to be more harmful than individual pesticides.
Individuals subjected to chronic low-dose exposure to organochlorine pesticides show and increased risk to obtain a future diagnosis of cognitive impairment. This is shown in a study now published in Environmental International.
UB geologist Jason Briner can discuss the implications of a new climate science paper by Stokes et al in Nature. Briner was not part of the research project.
A spate of major earthquakes on small faults could overturn traditional views about how earthquakes start, according to a study from researchers at the Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior in Ensenada, Mexico, and the University of California, Davis.
A study at Oregon State University has concluded that significant outbreaks of viruses may be associated with coral bleaching events, especially as a result of multiple environmental stresses.
Coral reef islands and atolls in the Pacific are predominantly surrounded by vast areas of ocean that have very low nutrient levels and low ecological production. However, the ecosystems near these islands and atolls are often extremely productive and support an enhanced nearshore food-web, leading to an abundance of species and increased local fisheries.
The first of an American Cleaning Institute-sponsored webinar series on “Advancing the Science on Chemical-Induced Asthma” kicks off February 25 to help provide researchers with greater insights on an often mischaracterized topic.
Two new Cornell University studies show how diverse marine organisms are susceptible to diseases made worse by warming oceans. The first study warns that warm sea temperatures in 2015 may increase the levels of epizootic shell disease in American lobster in the northern Gulf of Maine in 2016. The second provides the first evidence linking warmer ocean temperatures with a West Coast epidemic of sea star wasting disease that has infected more than 20 species and devastated populations since 2013.
Scientists at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) have used UAH’s Rocket-city Ozone (O3) Quality Evaluation in the Troposphere (RO3QET) Lidar to measure ozone produced by lightning in the United States.
Predicting the expected loss of ice sheet mass is difficult due to the complexity of modeling ice sheet behavior. To better understand this loss, a team of Sandia National Laboratories researchers has been improving the reliability and efficiency of computational models that describe ice sheet behavior and dynamics.
Understanding the complex geological processes that form supervolcanoes could ultimately help geologists determine what triggers their eruptions. A new study using an advanced computer model casts doubt on previously held theories about the Yellowstone supervolcano’s origins, adding to the mystery of Yellowstone’s formation.
Excavations show the role early humans played in forming the tree islands that dot the river of grass.
If you’re enjoying a lovely day on the beach, there’s something you should do if the ground shakes, the water retreats or the ocean make a strange noise. “Run,” said Elena Suleimani, because those are signs that a tsunami is coming. “It’s a matter of minutes. Don’t return for at least twelve hours.”
Intentionally or unintentionally, many gardeners have left plants in their gardens over the winter. The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) February 15 Soils Matter blog post explains this is actually a good thing… and something everyone should consider on a yearly basis.
Science can provide facts, but it is the business of the creative arts to envision the future, and how all of humanity will be impacted by man-made changes to our planet.
Leaving some of your plants and vegetables up over the winter is a good thing!
New Florida State University research appearing today in Scientific Reports, a Nature journal, challenges a 2007 study published in Scienceclaiming that shark declines led to rising populations of cownose rays, which were responsible for the collapse of oyster and shellfish industries along the Atlantic coast.
New research shows that more than 5.5 million people die prematurely every year due to household and outdoor air pollution. More than half of deaths occur in two of the world's fastest growing economies, China and India.
Following their release of a state-commissioned study on the potential public health impacts of fracking in Western Maryland, University of Maryland researchers are helping to inform the conversation about the potential risks associated with unconventional natural gas development and production.
It has been nearly half a century since scientists have collected extensive climate or atmospheric data from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). But late last year, scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, working with a group led by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, embarked on a new project that will lead to a better understanding of how much of the sun’s light and the atmosphere’s heat radiation reach the Antarctic surface—variables that affect temperature patterns and ice melt throughout the region.
WFU law professors provide insight on the Supreme Court’s decision on Clean Power Plan.
A research wildlife biologist for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the executive director of Boise State University’s Intermountain Bird Observatory have teamed up with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to create a series of motion-sensitive camera traps to monitor golden eagle migration and distribution in southwest Idaho.
The Earth Scan Lab has developed the most complete and cloud-free time sequence collected during a major flood event of the Mississippi River.
A Pennsylvania professor has created a formula to rank the nation's oil and gas companies based on their environmental impact.
The extremely complex geological history of New Guinea has allowed many of its animals and plants the chance to grow different enough to make a name for themselves. In the case of two newly described and unusually large gecko species - only a noble name would do. The two new species whose names respectively mean 'knight' and 'king' were discovered by a team led by Dr. Paul Oliver, The Australian National University and University of Melbourne, are described in the open-access journal ZooKeys.
At the rate humans are emitting carbon into the atmosphere, the Earth may suffer irreparable damage that could last tens of thousands of years, according to a new analysis published this week.
Scientists hope to find “an ideal combination” of plant, endophyte, environment, and genetic interactions
To celebrate Valentine’s Day, students at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry were asked what they love about the Earth.
An advanced system for treating manure on a commercial dairy farm did not remove estrogens and antibiotics. This new research underscores how far waste treatment systems have fallen behind the times, failing to remove chemicals used routinely in modern society.
The ocean’s power to rein in carbon and protect the environment is vast but not well-understood. But now, an international team of scientists has begun to illuminate how the ocean plucks carbon from the atmosphere, where it contributes to global warming, and shuttles it to the bottom of the sea.
Young penguins suffer at feeding time due to an inflexible division of parental duties.
Study on Kuhl's pipistrelle shows why bats have moved across Europe since the 1980s.
Chicago’s history of industrialization and urbanization left its mark on the soil. Soil acts as a sponge, and can host contaminants for years. In Chicago, the waste from industrial manufacturing causes undesirable toxic organic chemicals, heavy metals, and other chemicals to linger in the soil. This can pose problems for the health of the humans and plants that inhabit the land years later. A non-profit youth development center hopes to repurpose lots into useful spaces for the community. However, the poor quality soils in the lots create challenges.
A 10-year collaborative project led by biologists from Kansas State University and Washington State University has discovered how the Atlantic molly is able to live in toxic hydrogen sulfide water.
Researchers at the University of Birmingham have identified a handful of key elements that define ‘smart cities’– cities like Singapore and Copenhagen, which are both at the top of their game in using technology to enable their citizens to enjoy a better quality of life, but in different ways.
Flood risk can be higher with levees than without them.
Playing off the emotions of music, scientists will help deepen understanding about climate change at Northwestern University. The program features a group of musician-scientists who will perform in a string quartet followed by a panel discussion on how music can help explain climate change.
“Citrus greening has affected more than 75 percent of Florida citrus crops and threatens production all across the United States,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “The research and extension projects funded today bring us one step closer to providing growers real tools to fight this disease, from early detection to creating long-term solutions for the industry, producers and workers.”
Researchers find that regenerated tropical forests exhibit a high level of resilience and play a much larger role in sequestering carbon than previously thought.
Ocean acidification (the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth's oceans, caused by the uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere), is affecting the formation of the skeleton of coralline algae which play an important part in marine biodiversity, new research from the University of Bristol, UK has found.
Efforts to restore land back to its natural state by reintroducing wild animals has become increasingly popular in recent years. A study co-authored by Dan Simberloff, a researcher at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, said scientific evidence supporting the potential benefits of this form of restoration is limited at best.
Climate change projections that look ahead one or two centuries show a rapid rise in temperature and sea level, but say little about the longer picture. Today (Feb. 8, 2016), a study published in Nature Climate Change looks at the next 10,000 years, and finds that the catastrophic impact of another three centuries of carbon pollution will persist millennia after the carbon dioxide releases cease.
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