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.
Supercomputers dig into first star fossils
No one has yet found the first stars.
Ancient Maya built sophisticated water filters
Ancient Maya in the once-bustling city of Tikal built sophisticated water filters using natural materials they imported from miles away, according to the University of Cincinnati.
Carbon capture and storage can rapidly reduce emissions in sectors that have few other options
Today, the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI) and Stanford University released "An Action Plan for Carbon Capture and Storage in California: Opportunities, Challenges, and Solutions," a report providing policymakers with options for near-term actions to deploy carbon capture and storage (CCS) to meet the state's climate goals.
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.
A unique pre-Columbian manuscript and the mystery behind its colors
The Codex Cospi is one of the few Aztec 'books' in the world and it is kept at Bologna University Library. A new research project will investigate with unprecedented detail the painting techniques and tools with which it was made.
Tilting oil tanker threatens 'environmental catastrophe'
Venezuela's opposition warned of a potential "environmental catastrophe" Thursday as a damaged oil tanker threatened to spill 1.3 million barrels of crude into waters separating Venezuela from Trinidad and Tobago.
Colorado wildfires drag on later than normal, break records
Orange skies, winds gusting up to 70 mph, smoke tornadoes and hazardous air. While it could be an apocalyptic scene out of a movie, it's become the reality of Colorado's wildfire season.
Bird flu fears: Dutch farms ordered to keep poultry indoors
The Dutch government said Thursday it is ordering poultry farms to keep their birds indoors after six wild swans were found recently dead and tests on two of the birds came back positive for a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu.
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...
How'd we get so picky about friendship late in life? Ask the chimps
No new friends and no drama.
Do the twist: Making two-dimensional quantum materials using curved surfaces
Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered a way to control the growth of twisting, microscopic spirals of materials just one atom thick.
Pituitary puzzle gets a new piece, revising evolutionary history
A new USC-led study suggests a change to the developmental—and evolutionary—story of the pituitary gland.
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...
Chile celebrates successful breeding of endangered frog
A critically endangered species of frog seems to have a bright future after conservationists in Chile launched a rescue campaign that has produced 200 offspring.
Video: Why is fertilizer used in explosives?
Over the last century, the compound ammonium nitrate has been involved in at least 30 disasters and terrorist attacks.
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.
Mystery of unusual neutron star system revealed after 20 years, thanks to thousands of volunteers
After more than two decades, an international research team has identified a galactic mystery source of gamma rays: a heavy neutron star with a very low mass companion orbiting it.
Diversity improves among TV actors, but executives still overwhelmingly white and male
When it comes to gender and racial diversity in television industry jobs, the playing field continues to level for women and minorities, but there's stubborn structural gridlock at the highest ranks and behind the camera.
Microscopy breakthrough reveals how proteins behave in 3-D
Six years ago, the Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to three scientists for finding ways to visualize the pathways of individual molecules inside living cells.
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...