Environmental Science News - SciTechDaily

The Downfall of “Umbrella Science”: Researchers Need To Step Out Into the Rain

American Institute of Biological Sciences — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 15:24:17 +0000

To be outstanding in one’s field, one may need to be out standing in one’s field. An interdisciplinary research team led by John T. Van...

Concerning – New Detection Method Uncovers Massive Amount of Methane

University of California - Riverside — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 19:29:53 +0000

Advancement in pollution detection methods raises questions about current environmental policies. UC Riverside scientists have discovered a massive amount of methane, a highly potent greenhouse...

Plastic Containers Can Contain Toxic “Forever Chemicals” – And They Are Getting Into Food

University of Notre Dame — Sat, 01 Apr 2023 20:51:51 +0000

Scientists at the University of Notre Dame are expanding their list of consumer products that contain PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), a harmful group of...

The “Wrong Kind of Fire” Is Burning – Unprecedented Levels of High-Severity Fire Burn in Sierra Nevada

University of California - Davis — Sun, 26 Feb 2023 00:36:42 +0000

Compared to historical patterns, the “wrong kind of fire” is burning. According to a study conducted by the Safford Lab at the University of California,...

Scientists Discover an Unexpected Danger Lurking in Ancient Mayan Cities

Frontiers — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 18:11:08 +0000

Mercury exposure may have been a health risk for the ancient Maya. Mesoamerica’s ancient Maya cities never cease to amaze visitors. However, an unexpected danger...

Scientists Finally Discover What Caused the Collapse of This Ancient Kingdom

University of Basel — Sat, 23 Jul 2022 19:30:03 +0000

Droughts in the sixth century helped Islam gain ground Extreme dryness aided the collapse of the ancient South Arabian kingdom of Himyar. The journal Science...

Scientists Create Cement Entirely Out of Waste Material

Nanyang Technological University — Sun, 12 Jun 2022 04:38:55 +0000

Creating renewable biocement entirely out of waste material Cement is a binder, a substance used in construction that hardens, sets, and adheres to other materials...

Making Electricity Cheaper: A Cellphone-Sized Device Automatically Adjusts a Home’s Power Use to Save Money

Kimberly Hickok, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory — Fri, 29 Apr 2022 11:47:00 +0000

A cellphone-sized device automatically adjusts a home’s power use up or down to save the consumer money and increase the resiliency of the electric grid....

Crucial Tool for Managing Global Warming Allows Scientists To Measure Carbon Without Disturbing Plants

Adam Becker, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 12:31:58 +0000

Scientists develop a new way to take a census of carbon in the ground under our feet – a crucial tool for managing climate change...

Amazing Image Reveals Distribution of Aerosols in Earth’s Atmosphere

NASA Earth Observatory — Mon, 03 Sep 2018 14:48:23 +0000

On August 23, 2018 the identification and distribution of aerosols in the Earth’s atmosphere is shown in this dramatic, planet-wide visualization. Produced in real time,...

Satellite Imagery Reveals the Above Anvil Cirrus Plume of a Storm

Joe Atkinson, NASA's Langley Research Center — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 12:33:02 +0000

It’s not quite a smoking gun, but one could be forgiven for thinking of it that way: a distinctive cloud formation that often signals damaging...

NASA Tracks Carbon Monoxide from California Wildfires As It Drifts East

Esprit Smith, Jet Propulsion Laboratory — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 03:08:02 +0000

California is being plagued by massive wildfires, and the effects on air quality from those fires can extend far beyond the state’s borders. In addition...

NASA Views One of the Most Rapidly Changing Glaciers in the World

Yvette Smith, NASA — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 13:00:16 +0000

The Columbia Glacier descends from an ice field 10,000 feet (3,050 meters) above sea level, down the flanks of the Chugach Mountains, and into a narrow inlet that...

Scientists Examine the Microbes That Thrive in Air Conditioning

Bill Hathaway, Yale University — Mon, 23 Jul 2018 15:10:47 +0000

Typically, we don’t think too much about the inner workings of our air-conditioning units, even as we enjoy the relief they bring on sweltering days....

Link Between Individual Variation in Risk-Taking Behavior and Survival Revealed

Peter Reuell, Harvard Staff Writer — Tue, 10 Jul 2018 13:26:40 +0000

For more than a century, scientists have understood that natural selection has profound effects on how an animal looks. Anole lizards that spend more time...

Evolution of Earth’s First Animals Caused Global Warming

Alex Morrison, University Of Exeter — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 13:15:39 +0000

The evolution of Earth’s first animals more than 500 million years ago caused global warming, new research shows. Some 520-540 million years ago, animal life...

Air Pollution Significantly Increases Mortality in Low-Income Countries

Dr. Susanne Benner, Max Planck Institute — Sun, 01 Jul 2018 13:45:56 +0000

In 2015, around 4.5 million people died prematurely from diseases attributed to ambient air pollution, including 237,000 children under the age of five from respiratory...

Scientists Reveal How And Why Antarctica’s Glaciers Are Changing

Matthew Wright, University of Maryland — Wed, 13 Jun 2018 18:22:20 +0000

New research review provides insights into the continent’s response to climate warming. Scientists from the University of Maryland, the University of Leeds, and the University...

ESF Scientists List Top 10 New Species for 2018

Claire B. Dunn, College of Environmental Science and Forestry — Wed, 23 May 2018 15:56:25 +0000

The large and small, beautiful and bizarre are among the newly discovered animals, plants and microbes announced by the College of Environmental Science and Forestry...

Scientists Detail How Coyotes Conquered the Continent

Roland Kays, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences — Wed, 23 May 2018 15:38:40 +0000

Coyotes now live across North America, from Alaska to Panama, California to Maine. But where they came from, and when, has been debated for decades....

MIT Engineers Reveal the Intricacies of a Splashing Droplet

Jennifer Chu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology — Mon, 21 May 2018 15:17:27 +0000

As a single raindrop falls to the ground, it can splash back up in a crown-like sheet, spraying smaller droplets from its rim before sinking...

MIT Study Shows Health Benefits Will Offset Cost of China’s Climate Policy

Jennifer Chu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 15:16:46 +0000

A new MIT study reports that, if China follows through with its international pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, every one of its provinces will...

Biologically Inspired Membrane Separates and Captures Greenhouse Gases

Neal Singer, Sandia National Laboratories — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 16:53:25 +0000

A biologically inspired membrane intended to cleanse carbon dioxide almost completely from the smoke of coal-fired power plants has been developed by scientists at Sandia...

Scientists Identify Key Ingredients When First Organisms Appeared on Earth

Jennifer Chu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 15:06:53 +0000

Large concentrations of sulfites and bisulfites in shallow lakes may have set the stage for Earth’s first biological molecules. Around 4 billion years ago, Earth...