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58 articles from PhysOrg

Getting ready for the next 'big' quake in Missouri's New Madrid Seismic Zone

There are hundreds of minor earthquakes each year in Missouri's New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ), but most of them are too small for people living in the area to feel. While several major earthquakes—magnitude 7.0 or greater—occurred between 1811-1812 in the NMSZ, none have happened since then, creating a knowledge gap in earthquake preparedness among people now residing in that area of...

Drilling campaign reaches a depth of 808 meters in the Antarctic ice sheet

In Antarctica, the second drilling campaign of the Beyond EPICA—Oldest Ice project, at the remote field site Little Dome C, has been successfully completed. This project is an unprecedented challenge for paleoclimatology studies and its goal is to go back 1.5 million years in time to reconstruct past temperatures and greenhouse gas concentrations through the analysis of an ice core extracted...

Quails could be the unknown reservoir of Tuscany and Sicilian viruses

Quails could be the unknown reservoir of the Toscana virus (TOSV) and the Sandfly Fever Sicilian virus (SFSV), mosquito-borne pathogens that can infect domestic animals and also cause disease in humans. This conclusion is drawn from a study published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology, and led by Jordi Serra-Cobo, professor at the Faculty of Biology and the Biodiversity Research Institute...

Wildfires are increasingly burning California's snowy landscapes, colliding with winter droughts to shrink snowpack

The early pandemic years overlapped with some of California's worst wildfires on record, creating haunting, orange-tinted skies and wide swaths of burned landscape. Some of the impacts of these fires are well known, including drastic declines in air quality, and now a new study shows how these wildfires combined with midwinter drought conditions to accelerate snowmelt.

A new strategy for microbial nutrient acquisition in reduced oxygen environments

Mangroves have been recognized globally as one of the most carbon (C) rich ecosystems although they only occupy about 0.1% of the Earth's land surface. Mangroves are regarded as an important C sink due to their waterlogged conditions, high sedimentation rates, high primary productivity, unique root structures, and anoxic soils resulting in low C decomposition rates. In recent decades, nitrogen (N)...

Three new nautilus species described from the Coral Sea and South Pacific

Nautiloids were once quite plentiful throughout the oceans, based upon the fossil record. Today, they are represented by just a handful of species, including the newly described Nautilus vitiensis of Fiji, Nautilus samoaensis of American Samoa, and Nautilus vanuatuensis of Vanuatu. These descriptions highlight the concept of allopatric speciation, or biogeographic isolation, where populations are...

Sierra Nevada snowpack hits highest level in nearly 30 years

The statewide Sierra Nevada snowpack—the source of nearly one-third of California's water supply—is at its highest level since 1995, boosting hopes that an end to the drought is near, but also raising concerns that a few warm spring storms could melt it too early and trigger major flooding.

Feather mite species associated with Laysan albatross discovered in Japan

Phoebastria immutabilis, commonly known as the Laysan albatross, is a large seabird native to the North Pacific Ocean. Owing to the decrease in their population size, this species has been listed as "Near Threatened" in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Laysan albatrosses, like other birds, have a symbiotic relationship with feather mites, a species of highly...

Not blaming women is key to increasing their presence in tech professions, says researcher

Women account for only 34% of graduates in the EU in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The percentage is even lower in the STEM fields that are not directly related to care. The fact is that girls are systematically discouraged from studying these disciplines throughout their education, which limits their opportunities for access to these fields as adults.

Curious comet's rare close approach

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) today makes its closest approach to Earth before likely leaving our solar system forever. At billions of years old and not seen since Neanderthals roamed, the green comet continues to intrigue as it grows an apparent third tail and unexpectedly—but intriguingly—failed to wow scientists when observed in X-ray light.

Dogs' average age at cancer diagnosis is associated with size, sex, breed

A new analysis has determined median ages of cancer diagnosis for dogs with different characteristics, providing support for the establishment of cancer screening guidelines that vary according to breed or weight. Jill Rafalko of PetDx in La Jolla, California, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.