A new study of more than 13,000 cities worldwide has found that the number of person-days in which inhabitants are exposed to extreme combinations of heat and humidity has tripled since the 1980s. The authors say the trend, which now affects nearly a quarter of the world's population, is the...
Scientists capture the fleeting transition of water into a highly reactive state
Researchers have uncovered a key step in the ionization of liquid water using the lab's high-speed 'electron camera,' MeV-UED. This reaction is of fundamental significance to a wide range of fields, including nuclear engineering, space travel, cancer treatment and environmental remediation.
Marine heatwaves could wipe out an extra six per cent of a country’s fish catches, costing millions their jobs
Extremely hot years will wipe out hundreds of thousands of tons of fish available for catch in a country's waters in this century, on top of projected decreases to fish stocks from long-term climate change, a new study predicts. Modelling a worst-case scenario where no action is taken to mitigate...
Revealing the logic of the body’s ‘second brain’
Researchers have made a surprising discovery about the human gut's enteric nervous system that itself is filled with surprising facts. For starters, there's the fact that this 'second brain' exists at all.
‘Fight or flight’ – unless internal clocks are disrupted, study in mice shows
Daily release of hormones depends on the coordinated activity of clocks in two parts of the brain, a finding that could have implications for human diseases.
Study on African buffalo offers insights on persistence of highly contagious pathogens
A new study on foot-and-mouth disease among buffalo in South Africa could help explain how certain extremely contagious pathogens are able to persist and reach endemic stage in a population, long after they've burned through their initial pool of susceptible hosts.
Scientists use nuclear physics to probe Floridan Aquifer threatened by climate change
Scientists used a nuclear dating technique to study the dynamics of the Floridan Aquifer. The findings show the promise of this emerging technique to help understand geological processes and to forecast the effects of climate change on coastal aquifers.
New analytical technique helps researchers spot subtle differences in subcellular chemistry
Researchers can now rapidly isolate and chemically characterize individual organelles within cells. The new technique tests the limits of analytical chemistry and rapidly reveals the chemical composition of organelles that control biological growth, development and disease.
Encourage wealthy and well-connected to use their influence to tackle climate change
A paper article identifies five ways that people of high socioeconomic status have a disproportionate impact on global greenhouse gas emissions - and therefore an outsized responsibility to facilitate progress in climate change mitigation.
Bigleaf maple decline tied to hotter, drier summers in Washington state, U.S.
A new study has found that recent bigleaf maple die-off in Washington is linked to hotter, drier summers that predispose this species to decline. These conditions essentially weaken the tree's immune system, making it easier to succumb to other stressors and diseases.