137 articles from MONDAY 17.2.2020
Edaphic factors are important to explain and predict impact of climate change on species distribution
The climate change crisis has resulted in an emphasis on the role of broad-scale climate in controlling species distributions. A key metric for predicting the impacts of climate change on species and ecosystems is the local velocity of climate change: how fast a species must move across the landscape to track its preferred climate in space. However, other ecologically important environmental...
A GOP senator keeps pushing a thoroughly debunked theory that the Wuhan coronavirus is a leaked Chinese biological weapon gone wrong
The conspiracy theory focuses on the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory, a government lab near the meat market at the center of the...
Coronavirus: 99 more cases confirmed on cruise ship - live news
Diamond Princess evacuations begin as Japan warns outbreak ‘entering new phase’. Follow latest updatesShare your experiences 2.38pm GMT A Russian court has ordered a woman who escaped from quarantine after testing negative for the disease to return to hospital for at least two more days, the Associated Press reports. Alla llyina was admitted to hospital in St Petersburg on 6 February with a...
Ancient plant foods discovered in Arnhem Land
Australia's first plant foods—eaten by early populations 65,000 years ago—have been discovered in Arnhem Land.
'Ice volcanoes' are erupting on a Lake Michigan beach. Here's what they look like.
A recent cold front has brought some interesting phenomena to Lake Michigan: first ice balls, now ice...
Image: Hubble embraces spiral with open arms
The spiral galaxy NGC 2008 sits center stage, its ghostly spiral arms spreading out toward us, in this image captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
Trial finds benefits to people and wildlife from beavers living wild in English countryside
A major five-year study into the impacts of beavers on the English countryside has concluded that the water-living mammals can bring measurable benefits to people and wildlife.
Three quarters of Aussies impacted by summer bushfires
More than three quarters of Australian adults report that they were affected by the nation's recent unprecedented bushfires, according to a new poll from The Australian National University (ANU).
Environment high on list of worries for half of Aussie voter
The environment has rocketed up to either number one or two on the list of worries for about half of Australian voters, according to a new poll from The Australian National University (ANU).
De novo genes far more common and important than scientists thought
Scientists from Trinity and the University of Pittsburgh have discovered that de novo genes—genes that have evolved from scratch—are both more common and more important than previously believed.
Plastic pollution poses new threat to a turtle paradise
These are turbulent times for turtles.
Increasing the service life of polymer electrolyte fuel cells with a nanodispersed ionomer
Protons (subatomic particles) can be transferred from the anode to the cathode through the ionomer membrane in polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC). Scientists can extend proton pathways by impregnating the ionomer (type of polymer) into the electrodes to achieve improved proton transfer efficiency. Since the impregnated ionomer can mechanically bind catalysts within the electrode, they are known...
Plane, train, or automobile? The climate impact of transport is complicated
The 2020s will have to involve some very big decisions about transport – the UK's most polluting sector. The UK government's response so far has been erratic, choosing to intervene to prevent the collapse of Flybe (Europe's biggest regional airline) and give the green light for the high-speed rail project, HS2.
New all-sky search reveals potential neutrino sources
For over a century, scientists have been observing very high-energy charged particles called cosmic rays arriving from outside Earth's atmosphere. The origins of these particles are very difficult to pinpoint because the particles themselves do not travel on a straight path to Earth. Even gamma rays, a type of high-energy photon that offers a little more insight, are absorbed when traversing long...
Value co-creation: From 'consume and dispose' to 'consume and pass on'
Major industrialized nations currently live in a "consume and dispose" world. This is great for firms' bottom lines and abstract measures such as GDP, but the social and environmental costs of this way of life have been high—for example, the high price of "fast fashion". We're all encouraged to use less and recycle more, but how can we as a society shift to a "consume and pass on" model?
Having a clock in your shower could help to reduce water consumption
Findings from a small preliminary study with residents of the Cranfield University campus have shown that shower times are significantly shorter when showers are fitted with time displays.
Systems analysis for a new Arctic
The Arctic region has long been seen as one of the Earth's most remote frontiers. However, the Arctic is changing quickly, which is important in global governance, geopolitics and the global economy. Temperatures have warmed faster than the rest of the planet; sea ice dramatically declines in summers; exploitation of oil and gas, new (sea) trade routes, tourism and other economic activities are...
Origin of life: A Darwinian machine for non-living objects
Life is usefully defined on the basis of process: Any set of entities that participates in the process of evolution by natural selection is alive. But how does evolution by natural selection—and thus life—get started? The answer is far from obvious. Lack of insight haunts origins of life research and plagues understanding of the major evolutionary transitions, including the transition from...
Flood buyouts disproportionately benefit whitest at-risk neighborhoods in cities
The federal flood buyout program disproportionally benefits at-risk homes in the whitest communities of America's largest cities, according to a study from sociologists at Rice University.
Scientists unlock low-cost material to shape light for industry
Researchers in Australia have found a way to manipulate laser light at a fraction of the cost of current technology.
Bioengineers developing organisms without biological parents
Bioengineers are on the brink of developing artificial organisms that will open up new applications in medicine and industry. Beat Christen discusses their risks and benefits.
Holstein steers given hormone implants grow as well as beef steers
Holstein steers that get hormone implants grow faster than those that do not receive the implants, and they get as big as beef cattle breeds, according to Penn State researchers, who say that's good news for dairy farmers struggling to keep their operations financially viable.
Between bondage and freedom: Life in Civil War refugee camps
Research by assistant professor of history Abigail Cooper into the refugee camps set up for African Americans during the Civil War has revealed stories of courage and bravery and a new understanding of how blacks built a new future for themselves born from the ashes of slavery.
Microplastics: A macro problem
Flying somewhere over the planet, there's a plane equipped with research-grade, double-sided tape on the outside of its hull. Each time the pilot lands the plane, he removes the tape, seals it in a package, and replaces it with a new one before he takes off again. He then mails the package to Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, care of Dimitri Deheyn, Associate Researcher.
Painting of deity found inside 3,000-year-old coffin
Three men, one at each end and one at the middle, slowly and gingerly lifted the wooden lid as if handling a giant eggshell. Quietly offering each other direction and status reports, they glided a few steps and placed the lid atop a Styrofoam support structure for safekeeping.