New research in Science is showing how the rise of modern agriculture has turned a North American native plant, common waterhemp, into a problematic agricultural weed.
Warming Seas’ Negative Impact on Giant Kelp Starts in Early Life – Otago Study
Rising ocean temperatures are driving deterioration of kelp forests worldwide, but a University of Otago study hopes to help turn the tide and restore the valuable habitats.
Assessing El Niño ‘Flavors’ to Unravel Past Variability, Future Impact
As with many natural phenomena, scientists look to past climate to understand what may lie ahead as Earth warms.
Electric Car Sales Drive Toward Cleaner Air, Less Mortality
Electric cars – and their continued sales growth – are expected to have a greener, cleaner influence on air pollution and reduce human mortality in most, if not all, U.S. metropolitan areas, according to Cornell research published in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (March 2023).
Paper-thin solar cell can turn any surface into a power source
MIT researchers developed a scalable fabrication technique to produce ultrathin, flexible, durable, lightweight solar cells that can be stuck to any surface. Glued to high-strength fabric, the solar cells are only one-hundredth the weight of conventional cells while producing about 18 times more power-per-kilogram.
Researchers shed (laser) light on emerging water treatment technique
Assuring that a growing global population has access to clean water will require new water treatment methods. One of these next-generation methods involves a form of iron called ferrate, which creates fewer toxic byproducts than chemicals like chlorine and is potentially cheaper and easier to deploy than complex ozone treatment...
Epigenetic emergency switch improves defense against infections
During infections, the hematopoietic system switches from normal to emergency mode. This improves the defense against the pathogens. Scientists have now found an epigenetic switch in blood stem cells and progenitor cells of mice that can trigger the switch from one mode to the other.
Primordial germ cells made from northern white rhino stem cells
In its race to advance assisted reproduction and stem cell associated technologies to save the northern white rhinoceros from extinction, researchers announce a major breakthrough: the creation of primordial germ cell-like cells (PGCLSs) from induced pluripotent stem cells of the northern white rhino Nabire. Now there is one last step...
Mount Etna Stands Above the Dust
Dust briefly clouded the skies over Sicily in early December 2022, yet the Italian island’s iconic volcano still managed to put on a show.
La Niña Times Three
In December 2022, Earth was in the grips of La Niña—an oceanic phenomenon characterized by the presence of cooler than normal sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific.