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Research Demonstrates Impact of Climate Change on Treatment & Prevention of Parasite Infections

New research demonstrates how climate change and the immune reaction of the infected individual can affect the long-term and seasonal dynamics of parasite infections. The study, led by Penn State scientists, assessed the infection dynamics of two species of soil-transmitted parasites in a population of rabbits in Scotland every month for 23 years.

16 Feb 2016

Marine Organisms at Risk of Infectious Disease Due to Warmer Ocean Temperatures

A new study describes how diverse marine organisms are susceptible to diseases made worse by warming oceans. The research warns that warm sea temperatures in 2015 may increase the levels of epizootic shell disease in American lobster in the northern Gulf of Maine in 2016.

16 Feb 2016

Cloud Droplets Play Key Role in Atmospheric Transformation of Volatile Organic Pollutants

In addition to precipitation, clouds influence the climate in various ways: they cover 70% of the Earth's surface and represent nearly 15% of the volume of the atmosphere. Scientists need to understand their underlying chemical and physical mechanisms in order to better integrate them into climate change models.

16 Feb 2016

Improved Agricultural Water Management Could Reduce Global Food Gap by 2050

Improved agricultural water management could halve the global food gap by 2050 and buffer some of the harmful climate change effects on crop yields. For the first time, scientists investigated systematically the worldwide potential to produce more food with the same amount of water by optimizing rain use and irrigation. They found the potential has previously been underestimated. Investing in crop water management could substantially reduce hunger while at the same time making up for population growth. However, putting the findings into practice would require specific local solutions, which remains a challenge.

16 Feb 2016

AAAS: Stanford University Professor Highlights Effects of Fossil-Fuel Extraction on Drinking Water

“The answer to that question is 'yes,' but not usually,” said Rob Jackson, a professor of Earth system science at Stanford University.

16 Feb 2016

Scientists Highlight Importance of Asynchrony in Stability of Ecosystems

Whether an animal or plant community remains stable despite external impacts does not depend on biological diversity alone: asynchrony across the species is also a crucial factor. The more the species in an ecosystem fluctuate in their evolution over time, the less they are likely to falter. As a result, diversity takes second place in terms of the factors to be considered in the context of ecosystem stability. A team of scientists spearheaded by the TU Munich and TU Darmstadt have published these findings in the journal “Nature Communications”.

15 Feb 2016

Researchers Discover Characteristic Traits of Trees for Survival in a Location

Life is not easy for the trees in a forest: To avoid being edged out by other trees, they must prevail in the struggle for resources. Ultimately, the successful trees are those whose traits are best suited to their location. An international team, which included researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena, has now discovered how three characteristic traits – wood density, maximum height and specific leaf area – decide which trees will emerge victorious in the competition between neighbouring individuals.

15 Feb 2016

New Yeast Strain Helps Reduce Cost of Biofuels Produced with Ionic Liquids

An assistant research specialist at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) has designed a new strain of yeast that could improve the efficiency of making fuel from cellulosic biomass such as switchgrass.

15 Feb 2016

Study Highlights Urgent Need for More Aggressive Strategies to Reduce Air Pollution

New research shows that more than 5.5 million people die prematurely every year due to household and outdoor air pollution. More than half of deaths occur in two of the world’s fastest growing economies, China and India.

15 Feb 2016

AAAS Annual Meeting: Scientists to Present Research on Radioactive Waste Containment

The UK’s synchrotron science facility, Diamond Light Source, is a hub for renewable energy and energy recycling research, but less well known are its applications as a hub for nuclear research. Work in this area is transforming our energy future by making the nuclear fuel cycle safer, more efficient and more straightforward to use.

15 Feb 2016

Researchers Work on Development of Cost-Effective, Alternative Fuel Source

Loughborough University engineering experts are helping to improve lives in India by sharing essential knowledge of how to turn waste into clean energy.

12 Feb 2016

University of Arkansas Professor Participates in Ecological Farming Association Conference

Curt Rom, a University Professor of horticulture in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas, was a featured speaker at an Ecological Farming Association conference last month.

12 Feb 2016

New Findings Reveal Major Northward Expansion of Marine Mammal Exposure to Toxins

Toxins from harmful algae are present in Alaskan marine food webs in high enough concentrations to be detected in marine mammals such as whales, walruses, sea lions, seals, porpoises and sea otters, according to new research from NOAA and its federal, state, local and academic partners.

12 Feb 2016

Study Results Highlight Complexity of Underground Carbon Sequestration

When carbon dioxide is stored underground in a process known as geological sequestration, it can find multiple escape pathways due to chemical reactions between carbon dioxide, water, rocks and cement from abandoned wells, according to Penn State researchers.

12 Feb 2016

Newly Developed Dynamic Model Focuses on Site Scale Conservation

Knowing how climate change may affect an entire region is only marginally useful to land managers trying to preserve the small white lady’s slipper, a once-abundant orchid that today is found in small “postage stamp” prairie fragments as little as 10 acres in size in Minnesota and another dozen states across the Midwest. Land managers need the details: how might a small fragment of orchid habitat change with climate change, and what climate adaptation strategies will be most effective in preserving remaining populations of small white lady’s slipper?

12 Feb 2016