A new study led by Oregon State University suggests leaves in forest canopies are not able to cool themselves below the surrounding air temperature, likely meaning trees’ ability to avoid damaging temperature increases, and to pull carbon from the atmosphere, will be compromised in a warmer, drier climate. The findings by an international collaboration that … Read more
While increased carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere encourage plant growth, they also reduce the nutritional value of plants, which can have a larger impact on nutrition and food safety worldwide. Researchers at Michigan State University discovered a new way plants are adapting to the changing climate — information that can be used to help … Read more
A new Stanford University-led study in Costa Rica reveals that restoring relatively narrow strips of riverfront forests could substantially improve regional water quality and carbon storage. The analysis, available online and set to be published in the October issue of Ecosystem Services, shows that such buffers tend to be most beneficial in steep, erosion-prone, and … Read more
A University of Houston mechanical engineer has developed a sprayable ice-shedding material that is 100 times stronger than any others. The new durable coating material has been tested by Boeing under erosive rain conditions at 385 miles per hour and has outperformed current state-of-the-art aerospace coating technologies. The principle of the new “fracture-controlled material” lies … Read more
A new study from the University of Eastern Finland shows that lettuce can take up nanoplastics from the soil and transfer them into the food chain. The concern about plastic pollution has become widespread after it was realised that mismanaged plastics in the environment break down into smaller pieces known as microplastics and nanoplastics. It … Read more
Ecosystem restoration can assist in COVID-19 recovery if it is closely integrated with socioeconomic, health and environmental policies, scientists say in a new article in The Lancet Planetary Health. The repair of ecosystems as a core public health intervention can reduce the risk of infection and play an integral role in the long-term rehabilitation from … Read more
A team of researchers led by Meenesh Singh at University of Illinois Chicago has discovered a way to convert 100% of carbon dioxide captured from industrial exhaust into ethylene, a key building block for plastic products. Their findings are published in Cell Reports Physical Science. While researchers have been exploring the possibility of converting carbon … Read more
This twister thrillseeker’s new house will blow you away. World-famous storm chaser Josh Morgerman is building a high tech hurricane-resistant home that looks like a quaint little cottage and acts like a bulwark. The Science Channel series star of “Hurricane Man,” is raising his “Hurricane House 2.0” in Bay St. Louis — the heart of … Read more
Although they have not been around for long, microplastics have found their way to almost every ecosystem on the planet. They have been discovered in the soil, in rivers, in our food and bottled water, and even in the human body. Recently, a team of researchers found, for the first time, microplastics in water trapped … Read more
Tree-planting has been widely seen as an effective way of binding carbon as carbon dioxide levels rise in the atmosphere. But now researchers from the University of Gothenburg and elsewhere are warning that forests on nutrient-poor land won’t be an additional carbon sink in the long term. As forests age, their uptake of CO2 declines … Read more