This time period — called the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, or PETM — is often used as a historic parallel for our own future under climate change, since humans have also rapidly poured carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over the last 250 years. A University of Arizona-led team of researchers published a study in Proceedings of …
Maps of the past may shed light on our climate future Read More »
The paper describes how the scientists engineered a strain of duckweed, Lemna japonica, to accumulate oil at close to 10 percent of its dry weight biomass. That’s a dramatic, 100-fold increase over such plants growing in the wild — with yields more than seven times higher than soybeans, today’s largest source of biodiesel. “Duckweed grows …
Engineering duckweed to produce oil for biofuels, bioproducts Read More »
That turns out to be increasingly true for much of the United States, according to Northwestern University researchers. In a new study, researchers compared observed rainfall from two climatologically distinct time periods and across 17 different climate regions in the U.S. They found that when it’s rained in recent decades, it’s rained more. In most …
Rainfall is becoming more intense in most of the U.S. Read More »
That turns out to be increasingly true for much of the United States, according to Northwestern University researchers. In a new study, researchers compared observed rainfall from two climatologically distinct time periods and across 17 different climate regions in the U.S. They found that when it’s rained in recent decades, it’s rained more. In most …
Rainfall is becoming more intense in most of the U.S. Read More »
Numerous studies throughout the United States from Seattle to New York have demonstrated that cats comprise less than 5% of coyote diet. Why then do diet studies in Los Angeles reveal that cats make up nearly 20% of coyote diet? Residents in Culver City, a suburb of Los Angeles, reported that 72 cats were killed …
Brazil presents a key example. The country is home to the world’s largest area of rainforest — some 1.2 million square miles, an area more than 16 times the size of Nebraska. The Amazon contains large tracts of rainforests that, when converted to agriculture, release a huge amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, exacerbating …
Husker study: Brazil can grow more soybeans without deforesting Amazon Read More »
Most small electronic devices contain circuit boards that are made from glass fibers, resins and metal wiring. These boards are not easy to recycle and are relatively bulky, making them undesirable for use in point-of-care medical devices, environmental monitors or personal wearable devices. One alternative is to use paper-based circuit boards, which should be easier …
Disposable electronics on a simple sheet of paper Read More »
New research describes how growing algae onshore could close a projected gap in society’s future nutritional demands while also improving environmental sustainability. “We have an opportunity to grow food that is highly nutritious, fast-growing, and we can do it in environments where we’re not competing for other uses,” said Charles Greene, professor emeritus of earth …
Onshore algae farms could be ‘breadbasket for Global South’ Read More »
Eventually, when conditions become favorable, spores that may have been dormant for years can wake up in minutes and spring back to life. Spores wake up by re-hydrating and restarting their metabolism and physiology. But until now scientists did not know whether spores can monitor their environment “in their sleep” without waking up. In particular …
The thinking undead: How dormant bacteria calculate their return to life Read More »
A new study appearing this week in the journal Science identifies the political factors that allow some countries to take the lead in adopting cleaner sources of energy while others lag behind. The findings offer important lessons as many governments around the world race to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit the devastating impacts of …
Why some countries are leading the shift to green energy Read More »
