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72 articles from PhysOrg

DNA in fringe-lipped bat poop reveals unexpected eating habits

Poop is full of secrets. For scientists, digging into feces provides insights into animal diets and is particularly useful for understanding nocturnal or rare species. When animals eat, prey DNA travels all the way through animal digestive tracts and comes out again. Poop contains very precise information about the prey species consumed. At the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), a...

Collaboration sparks new model for ceramic conductivity

As insulators, metal oxides—also known as ceramics—may not seem like obvious candidates for electrical conductivity. While electrons zip back and forth in regular metals, their movement in ceramic materials is sluggish and difficult to detect.

Turning streetwear into solar power plants

Researchers at Empa and ETH Zurich succeeded in developing a material that works like a luminescent solar concentrator and can even be applied to textiles. This opens up numerous possibilities for producing energy directly where it is needed, i.e. in the use of everyday electronics.

Aerial images detect and track food security threats for millions of African farmers

New research shows how a combination of imagery from mobile phones, drones and satellites can be used to clamp down on banana threats. The images of varying resolutions are fed into a platform "trained" through machine learning to identify banana crops and analyze threats with 97% overall accuracy. The findings were published in the ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing.

Researchers develop an efficient, low-energy method for upcycling polyethylene plastic waste into valuable molecules

When we started using plastics about 70 years ago, not much thought—if any—was given to the implications of their lifespan and the fact that they can take centuries to decompose. Consequently, as plastics have diversified and become easier to manufacture, the planet is now straddling some 8.3 billion tons of the stuff—almost every bit of plastic ever produced—without enough technology or...

The next generation of biodiversity conservation targets must aim higher than ever

Nearly three decades have passed since world leaders agreed to reverse biodiversity loss. It hasn't gone according to plan. This year, the current decade of biodiversity conservation targets are set to expire well short of the goal line. The world needs to change strategies if we are to have any hope for biodiversity. A global group of scientists has provided advice for a more successful...

When fracking moves into the neighborhood, mental health risks rise

Hydraulic fracturing has boomed in the U.S. over the past decade, but unless you live near it, you may not realize just how close fracking wells can be to homes and schools. In Colorado, the wellbore—the hole drilled to extract oil or gas—can be 500 feet from someone's house under current state rules. In some states, like Texas, drilling can be even closer.

Space for climate

The scientific evidence of global climate change is irrefutable. The consequences of a warming climate are far-reaching—affecting fresh water resources, global food production, sea level and triggering an increase in extreme-weather events.

Telecom transmitter masts can be used to predict rain

Rain showers are difficult to predict, as they usually develop into a downpour within half an hour, resulting in flooding. Much depends on being able to spot time, location and precipitation ahead of time on the radar. The well-known precipitation radar now gets unexpected help. Researchers from WUR, KNMI (Dutch national meteorological institute) and Deltares use the signal strength of commercial...

The presence of pets in dune ecosystems is incompatible with the conservation of coastal birds

An investigation by the Department of Microbiology and Ecology of the University of Valencia published in the Ibis magazine warns about the impact of human activities –mainly dog walking– on one of the threatened bird species that reproduce in these ecosystems, the Kentish plover. The study calls for the adoption of measures that separate both uses and allow the coexistence between the...