feed info

84 articles from PhysOrg

Ecologist uses statistics to reveal importance of climate change in controlling deep-sea biodiversity

Which is more important for the richness of deep-sea animals, temperature or food? Dr. Moriaki Yasuhara from the School of Biological Sciences, the Research Division for Ecology & Biodiversity, and The Swire Institute of Marine Science, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), in collaborating with Hideyuki DOI from University of Hyogo and Masayuki USHIO from Kyoto University, have used long-term fossil...

Researchers demonstrate the effectiveness of eDNA in the calculation of marine biodiversity

For almost 20 years, researchers at the Santa Barbara Coastal Long-Term Ecological Research (SBC LTER) site have conducted detailed censuses of the majestic kelp forests off Santa Barbara. By counting fish species and placing them in the context of their environmental conditions, UCSB coastal marine ecologist Robert Miller and his colleagues can look at the effects of human activity and natural...

Liquid core fibers: A data river runs through them

Data and signals can be transmitted quickly and reliably with glass fibers—as long as the fiber does not break. Strong bending or tensile stress can quickly destroy it. An Empa team has now developed a fiber with a liquid glycerol core that is much more robust and can transmit data just as reliably. And such fibers can even be used to build microhydraulic components and light sensors.

Climate change to fuel increase in human-wildlife conflict

With wildfires spreading across the parched Western U.S., severe floods in Europe and in the coming decade a potential surge in coastal flooding, 2021 could be a pivotal year in how governments, societies and families view the threat of climate change.

Forgotten oil and gas wells linger, leaking toxic chemicals

Rusted pipes litter the sandy fields of Ashley Williams Watt's cattle ranch in windswept West Texas. The corroded skeletons are all that remain of hundreds of abandoned oil wells that were drilled long before her family owned the land. The wells, unable to produce any useful amounts of oil or gas, were plugged with cement decades ago and forgotten.

The price of pests: Australia's $390 billion invasive species bill

In just the last 60 years alone, deliberately or accidentally introduced invasive species have cost the Australian economy AUD$389.59 billion, a new analysis has revealed, with that number likely to rise unless better investments, reporting and coordinated interventions are introduced.

Ground system for NASA's Roman Space Telescope moves into development

When it launches in the mid-2020s, NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will revolutionize astronomy by building on the science discoveries and technological leaps of the Hubble, Spitzer, and Webb space telescopes. The mission's wide field of view and superb resolution will enable scientists to conduct sweeping cosmic surveys, yielding a wealth of information about celestial realms from our...

Experiment with working poor in India finds no impact from more night sleep

Subjectively, getting more sleep seems to provide big benefits: Many people find it gives them increased energy, emotional control, and an improved sense of well-being. But a new study co-authored by MIT economists complicates this picture, suggesting that more sleep, by itself, isn't necessarily sufficient to bring about those kinds of appealing improvements.

How light pollution affects animal orientation

The growth of cities with their streetlights and illuminated buildings has led to brighter nights. This has consequences for animals: the artificial light illuminates them directly, but also lights up the sky, making the stars invisible. Yet many animals rely on the stars as their compass for orientation.