166 articles from THURSDAY 15.9.2022

“Fingerprints” of climate change are clear in Pakistan’s devastating floods

Climate change very likely intensified the South Asian monsoon that flooded Pakistan in recent weeks, killing more than 1,000 people and destroying nearly 2 million homes. That’s according to a new analysis by World Weather Attribution, a network of scientists who use climate models, weather observations, and other tools to determine whether global warming increased the likelihood or severity...

Researchers discover expanding and intensifying low-oxygen zone in the Arabian gulf

A team of researchers from the Arabian Center for Climate and Environmental Sciences (ACCESS) at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) studied the evolution of dissolved oxygen in the Arabian Gulf over three decades and discovered a significant decline in oxygen concentrations and the expansion of the seasonal near-bottom hypoxic zone (lower oxygen levels near the bottom of the Gulf in certain seasons). The...

Cracking the secrets to earthquake safety, one shake simulation at a time

To make sure our buildings and infrastructure are earthquake-safe, we must understand how seismic activity affects different structures. Miniature models and historical observations are helpful, but they only scratch the surface of understanding and quantifying a geological event as powerful and far-reaching as a major earthquake.

Researchers use purified liquid xenon to search for mysterious dark matter particles

Sitting a mile below ground in an abandoned gold mine in South Dakota is a gigantic cylinder holding 10 tons of purified liquid xenon closely watched by more than 250 scientists around the world. That tank of xenon is the heart of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment, an effort to detect dark matter—the mysterious invisible substance that makes up 85% of the matter in the universe.

Study shows potential of Southern cattail for phytoremediation of areas contaminated by mine tailings

Typha domingensis, the Southern cattail, a reedy marsh plant that inhabits fresh to slightly brackish waters and is about 2.5 m tall, can scavenge up to 34 times more manganese from contaminated soil than other plants found in similar environments. In a recent study, it accumulated between 10 and 13 times more manganese than other naturally occurring wetland plants such as hibiscus, sedges and...