139 articles from WEDNESDAY 24.11.2021

Albatross divorce rates found to climb during times of warm sea surface temperature

A team of researchers from Universidade de Lisboa, the University of Montana, the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute and Instituto Universitário, Rua Jardim do Tabaco, has found that black-browed albatrosses living on the Falkland Islands see rising divorce rates during times when the sea surface temperatures rise. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the...

Russia launches new docking module to ISS

A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying the new Prichal docking module for the International Space Station blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, the Roscosmos space agency said.

Protecting the Pacific's endangered marine species using artificial intelligence

The pelagic ocean covers over 50 percent of the planet's surface and many of the species that call it home travel thousands of miles each year, seeking food and suitable nursery grounds. Some of these species end up in your favorite sushi—like Bigeye tuna—while others are some of the most imperiled on the planet, like leatherback sea turtles. Catching one without catching the other has...

Endangered ocelots and their genetic diversity may benefit from artificial insemination

The female ocelot lay anesthetized on the exam table, behind the scenes at the Albuquerque Biopark Zoo. As a veterinarian on the team preparing to artificially inseminate this animal, my palms were sweating at the thought of missing a step, dropping the sperm sample, or finding out our sample did not survive freezing. Any of these possibilities would end the procedure.

The world's largest organism is slowly being eaten by deer

In the Wasatch Mountains of the western US on the slopes above a spring-fed lake, there dwells a single giant organism that provides an entire ecosystem on which plants and animals have relied for thousands of years. Found in my home state of Utah, "Pando" is a 106-acre stand of quaking aspen clones.

Has living through Covid made me a hypochondriac? I asked some experts | Maeve Higgins

I’m doing my best to act normal, but I’ve become incredibly aware of other people’s snuffling, coughing and wheezing. Am I vigilant – or paranoid?Like the unnamed woman Drake sings about in his 2015 hit Hotline Bling, I’ve been wearing less – at least metaphorically – and going out more. Apparently she started to behave that way ever since Drake left the city. Before that, he...

Battery-electric trains can deliver environmental justice, cost savings and resilience to the U.S.

Trains have been on the sidelines of electrification efforts for a long time in the U.S. because they account for only 2% of transportation sector emissions, but diesel freight trains emit 35 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually and produce air pollution that leads to $6.5 billion in health costs, resulting in an estimated 1,000 premature deaths each year. What's more, these deaths and...

How a new global carbon market could exaggerate climate progress

Nations are poised to begin building an international carbon market, after finally adopting the relevant rules at the UN climate conference in Glasgow earlier this month. Under the COP26 agreement, countries should soon be able to buy and sell UN-certified carbon credits from one another, and use them as a way to achieve greenhouse gas reduction pledges under the Paris climate agreement. But...

Women at higher risk of miscarriage to be offered hormone drug by NHS

Charities say Nice’s decision to endorse progesterone for some cases in England will help save babies’ lives Women at a higher risk of miscarriage in England are to be offered a hormone drug under new NHS guidelines.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has published updated guidance on miscarriage that says certain women can be offered progesterone to help prevent...

Nasa launches spacecraft in first ever mission to deflect asteroid

Spacecraft heads off on 6.8m-mile journey to crash into moonlet Dimorphos in test to see if asteroids can be diverted from collision with EarthA spacecraft that must ultimately crash in order to succeed lifted off late on Tuesday from California on a Nasa mission to demonstrate the world’s first planetary defence system.Carried aboard a SpaceX-owned Falcon 9 rocket, the Dart (Double Asteroid...