An environmental engineering team has discovered that specific bacterial species can cleave the strong fluorine-to-carbon bond certain kinds of 'forever chemical' water pollutants, offering promise for low-cost treatments of contaminated drinking water.
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Sea ice’s cooling power is waning faster than its area of extent
As sea ice disappears and grows less reflective, the Arctic has lost around a quarter of its cooling power since 1980, and the world has lost up to 15%, according to new research.
Evidence for butchery of giant armadillo-like mammals in Argentina 21,000 years ago
Cut marks on fossils could be evidence of humans exploiting large mammals in Argentina more than 20,000 years ago, according to a new study.
Intensive Farming Could Raise Risk of New Pandemics
Intensive livestock farming could raise the risk of new pandemics, researchers have warned.
A new addition to the CRISPR toolbox: Teaching the gene scissors to detect RNA
CRISPR-Cas systems, defense systems in bacteria, have become a plentiful source of technologies for molecular diagnostics. Researchers have now expanded this extensive toolbox further. Their novel method, called PUMA, enables the detection of RNA with Cas12 nucleases, which naturally target DNA. PUMA promises a wide range of applications and high...
Could intensive farming raise risk of new pandemics?
Industrialized farming is often thought to reduce the risk of zoonotic diseases because of better control, biosecurity and separation of livestock. A new study examines the effect of social and economic factors -- which are often overlooked in traditional assessments.
Nature-based solutions to disaster risk from climate change are cost effective
A new global assessment of scientific literature finds that nature-based solutions (NbS) are an economically effective method to mitigate risks from a range of disasters -- from floods and hurricanes to heatwaves and landslides -- which are only expected to intensify as Earth continues to warm.
Scientists use machine learning to predict diversity of tree species in forests
Researchers used machine learning to generate highly detailed maps of over 100 million individual trees from 24 sites across the U.S. These maps provide information about individual tree species and conditions, which can greatly aid conservation efforts and other ecological projects.
Microplastic pollution increases sea foam height and stability
Researchers examine the specific impacts of microplastics on the geophysics of sea foam formation in the critical zone where water meets air in the top layer of the ocean. They devised two simulations for their work -- a column filled with sea water injected with air and a laboratory-scale breaking...
Immune system in the spotlight
Our immune system is always on alert, detecting and eliminating pathogens and cancer cells. Cellular control mechanisms cause diseased cells to present antigens on their surface like signs for the immune system. For analysis of the necessary complex antigen processing and transport processes in real time, researchers have developed a...