178 articles from WEDNESDAY 3.11.2021
Quillwort genome highlights divergences in aquatic CAM photosynthesis
The humble quillworts are an ancient group of about 250 small, aquatic plants that have largely been ignored by modern botanists. A group of researchers, led by Boyce Thompson Institute's Fay-Wei Li, have sequenced the first quillwort genome and uncovered some secrets of the plant's unique method of photosynthesis—secrets that could eventually lead to the engineering of crops with more efficient...
Hungry caterpillars an underappreciated driver of carbon emissions
A study led by the University of Cambridge has found that periodic mass outbreaks of leaf-munching caterpillars can improve the water quality of nearby lakes—but may also increase the lakes' carbon dioxide emissions.
Hackers are stealing data today so quantum computers can crack it in a decade
While they wrestle with the immediate danger posed by hackers today, US government officials are preparing for another, longer-term threat: attackers who are collecting sensitive, encrypted data now in the hope that they’ll be able to unlock it at some point in the future.
The threat comes from quantum computers, which work very differently from the classical computers we use today....
COP26: Low-carbon firms and Biden hails progress
Five things you need to know about COP26 - the United Nations climate change conference - on Wednesday.
University of Sydney’s Edward Holmes wins PM’s science prize for work on coronavirus genome
Holmes honoured for ‘transformative role’ in Covid response, while Prof Anthony Weiss takes innovation prize for work on biomaterials to assist wound healing Prof Edward Holmes of the University of Sydney has won the prime minister’s prize for science, for his “transformative role in the scientific response to Covid-19”.Holmes, an expert on the evolution of viral diseases, publicly...
Maine referendum deals blow to Hydro-Québec project
Democrats weren't the only losers in elections held Tuesday in the U.S. So was a Canadian-led energy project, rejected by voters in a state referendum. It's not an oil pipeline this time. It's a Hydro-Québec corridor to New England — and its future is now in...
Swap your inhaler, skip the laughing gas: How patients can help curb health-care emissions
Experts estimate the health-care sector contributes about five per cent of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. So what can patients and medical providers do to cut...
4 LatAm nations create fishing-free corridor in east Pacific
Four Latin American countries announced Tuesday that they will expand and unite their marine reserves to create a vast corridor in the Pacific Ocean in hopes of protecting sea turtles, tuna, squid, hammerhead sharks and other species.
Slashing methane emissions key for keeping Earth cool
The pledge taken by about 100 countries at the COP26 climate talks on Tuesday to slash emissions from methane by 30 percent before 2030 could help cap global warming at liveable levels, but key emitters are missing, experts say.
UK's 'longest-lasting' snow patch melts away
Dubbed the Sphinx, the snow on a remote Scottish mountain has in the past survived for decades at a time.
Black black oil: The challenge of giving up North Sea extraction
The North Sea still contains large quantities of oil and gas but how much longer can it continue to be extracted?
Poland's 'priceless' primeval forest pits environmentalists against state
Stopping by a giant oak tree in Europe's largest surviving primeval forest, environmental journalist Adam Wajrak pauses in admiration.
Ecosystems worldwide are disrupted by lack of large wild herbivores—except in Africa
Biological research has repeatedly demonstrated that the relationship between the producer and the consumer is governed by a scaling law. An international research team has now looked into whether this law of nature can be reproduced in the relationship between the production of plants in an area and the number of large herbivores that graze on them. The study reveals that Africa is the only...
What deadline length is best for avoiding procrastination and completing tasks?
Deadlines often help motivate people to perform tasks that they've been procrastinating over, but different deadline lengths may have different effects. For example, while increasing the deadline length gives a person more time to complete a task, it also means that the task could be postponed until later and possibly forgotten. A recent study in Economic Inquiry found that people often respond...
Terrawatch: Earth’s ‘boring’ plate tectonics period
Curious report suggests calm thousand millennia of ‘Boring Billion’ was more lively than thoughtToday our planet is a lively place: the climate swings from greenhouse to icehouse and back again, while earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain ranges and ocean trenches are all signs of its restless surface. But if you go back far enough, you reach a period where Earth was a very dull place. Nicknamed...
Battling diseases of poverty
Elephantiasis is still a major health burden across Africa.
Q&A: ‘I took my baby on field research trips’
We have very few women in lymphatic filariasis
Cop26: have we just saved our forests? – podcast
The Science Weekly podcast is in Glasgow where we will be bringing listeners daily episodes from Cop26. Each morning you will hear from one of the Guardian’s award-winning environment team. Today, host Madeleine Finlay, talks to Jon Watts about a significant announcement made by global leaders on forest and land use, and we hear from an indigenous leader in Guyana about why it might not be...
COP26: UK firms forced to plan for low-carbon future
Companies must outline how they aim to meet the UK's 2050 net-zero target, under government rules.
Financial community commits $130 trillion US to wean global economy off fossil fuels
Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney was tasked with wringing more than $100 trillion in capital from the global financial community to help get the world's economy off fossil fuels and onto clean energy. Today at the COP26 conference in Glasgow, he announced success — of...
Lung capacity tests found to be accurate precursor of co-morbidities
- ScienceDaily
- 21/11/3 02:01
One of the largest studies to investigate whether Preserved Ratio Impaired Spirometry (PRISm), an understudied low lung function state, is an early predictor of co-morbidities has found it is strongly associated with an increased risk of death. The analysis evaluated results of lung spirometry tests in over 350,000 UK adults and followed them up over 12 years.
Tidal stream power can aid drive for net-zero and generate 11% of UK’s electricity demand
- ScienceDaily
- 21/11/3 02:01
A day before world leaders meet at COP26 to discuss the importance of clean energy, scientists from across the UK say that harnessing the power of the ocean's tidal streams can provide a predictable and reliable means of helping to meet the country's future energy demand.
Prostate cancer urine test identifies good prognosis patients
- ScienceDaily
- 21/11/3 02:01
Researchers have shown that a prostate cancer urine test can identify men at 'intermediate risk' who can safely avoid immediate treatment and benefit from 'active surveillance' instead. Previously, the team's Prostate Urine Risk (PUR) test could identify men with high and low risk cancers. But thanks to some fine-tuning, it can now help men with intermediate-risk disease - for whom treatment...
Deep brain stimulation surgery for treatment-resistant depression: Brain rhythm changes fast
- ScienceDaily
- 21/11/3 02:01
Findings provide a putative physiological biomarker of brain state changes that can predict early antidepressant effects.