Bioinspired process makes marine sand more durable, resistant to erosion. New research from Northwestern University has systematically proven that a mild zap of electricity can strengthen a marine coastline for generations — greatly reducing the threat of erosion in the face of climate change and rising sea levels. In the new study, researchers took inspiration from clams, mussels and other shell-dwelling sea life, which use dissolved minerals in seawater to build their shells. Samples of seawater-soaked sand in Rotta Loria’s…
…but climate change brings uncertain future. A new analysis combines hydrology data with climate change models to help water managers prepare for hydropower’s future. In a new study assessing how climate change might alter hydropower generation across the continental United States, researchers show that except for some parts of the Southwest, hydropower generation is expected to rise in the future. The analysis also shows that in the Pacific Northwest in the future, less water will be stored in the mountains…
A global library – full of hailstones instead of books – is helping researchers to better understand and predict damaging storms. A University of Queensland library – full of hailstones instead of books – is helping researchers to better understand and predict damaging storms. Dr Joshua Soderholm, an Honorary Senior Research Fellow from UQ’s School of the Environment, and lead researcher PhD candidate Yuzhu Lin from Penn State in the US, have found storm modelling outcomes change significantly when using…
– a European monitoring project at ZMT. Biodiversity is difficult to observe and assess in the open ocean, which is vast and difficult to access. The European research project “Monitoring the Open-Ocean Biodiversity with Fishers” (MOOBYF) is now pursuing a new strategy for which it draws on ZMT’s deep-rooted collaboration with the local population that lives from fishing in the Indian Ocean. “Fish Aggregating Device” (FAD) made of bamboo off Gondol on the north coast of Bali. © MOOBYF The…
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology and the University of Giessen report in a new study in Communications Biology, that the adaptation of antlion larvae to their ecological niche has also changed their venom. Antlions inject a complex venom mixture into their prey that differs in composition and effectiveness from the venom of related lacewing larvae and reflects the specific ecology of the species. In a new study published in Communications Biology, researchers from the Max Planck…
For a long time, scientists assumed that jellyfish were a dead-end food source for predatory fish. However, a team from the Alfred Wegener Institute together with the Thünen Institute has now discovered that fish in Greenland waters do indeed feed on jellyfish. In two of the analyzed species, they even made up the majority of the food, as the researchers describe in a study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science. The results suggest that the role of jellyfish…
The liquid-based solution uses a solvent to trap the plastic particles, leaving clean water behind. University of Missouri scientists are battling against an emerging enemy of human health: nanoplastics. Much smaller in size than the diameter of an average human hair, nanoplastics are invisible to the naked eye. Linked to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in people, nanoplastics continue to build up, largely unnoticed, in the world’s bodies of water. The challenge remains to develop a cost-effective solution to get rid…
Large-scale project investigates the release of additives in water. Plastic waste in rivers and oceans is constantly releasing chemicals into the water. Until now, it was unknown how large these quantities are and which substances are released particularly strongly. In the large-scale P-LEACH project, experts from four research institutes of the Helmholtz Association have now analyzed the composition and concentrations of many different substances. The main focus was on the question of how sun’s UV radiation increases the release of…
Sylt-based researchers release comprehensive study on the effects of climate change since the founding of the Wadden Sea Station 100 years ago. Climate change can produce a range of effects on flat sedimentary coasts. Researchers from the Wadden Sea Station on Sylt have just released a multidisciplinary overview of the far-reaching climate-based changes in the Wadden Sea, a listed World Heritage Site. The review paper in celebration of the station’s centennial was published in the journal Marine Biodiversity. It covers…
Organofluorine compounds — sometimes called ‘forever chemicals’ — are increasingly turning up in our drinking water, oceans and even human blood, posing a potential threat to the environment and human health. Now, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a way to fingerprint them, which could help authorities trace them to their source when they end up in aquifers, waterways or soil. The technique involves passing samples through a strong magnetic field then reading the burst of…
Recycling of Incineration Bottom Ash. Today, copper ore extraction is economically viable from a minimum content of 0.3 percent. Waste incineration produces ash with a fine fraction containing an average of 0.3 to 0.5 percent copper. However, its extraction is only worthwhile if the remaining mineral fraction can be utilized further. The University of Duisburg-Essen and partners from the waste incineration, processing, and cement industries developed a corresponding process in the EMSARZEM project. A practical test in an industrial format…
Understanding the relationship between the Antarctic Ice Sheet and the earth beneath is key to predicting future climate change impacts, finds McGill-led study. A McGill-led study suggests that Earth’s natural forces could substantially reduce Antarctica’s impact on rising sea levels, but only if carbon emissions are swiftly reduced in the coming decades. By the same token, if emissions continue on the current trajectory, Antarctic ice loss could lead to more future sea level rise than previously thought. The finding is…
… uses minimal ingredients and steps. A new 3D printing method developed by engineers at the University of California San Diego is so simple that it uses a polymer ink and salt water solution to create solid structures. The work, published in Nature Communications, has the potential to make materials manufacturing more sustainable and environmentally friendly. The process uses a liquid polymer solution known as poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), or PNIPAM for short. When this PNIPAM ink is extruded through a needle into…
Study highlights economic and environmental efficiency of Indigenous harvesting in the Canadian Arctic communities. Local foods are critical to the food security and health of Indigenous peoples around the world, but local “informal” economies are often invisible in official economic statistics. Consequently, these economies may be overlooked in the policies designed to combat climate change. For instance, Indigenous communities in the North American Arctic are characterized by mixed economies featuring hunting, fishing, gathering and trapping activities, alongside the formal wage…
A decarbonised steel industry that includes carbon dioxide removal techniques in its net zero arsenal could use lower-grade iron ore, according to a new study. Steel accounts for 5-8% of carbon dioxide emissions globally. Its total emissions have risen over the past decade, largely due to increased demand. The International Energy Agency has stated that, without innovation, the scope to limit emissions is ‘limited’. Therefore, the commercialisation of new zero-emission production processes is critical. Innovative processes are the focus of…
Herbicide use in agriculture and urban areas may not be the dominant source of glyphosate in European waters, says University of Tübingen study – Far-reaching implications for indus-try and politics. Analysis of sewage sludge for the formation of glyphosate in Professor Carolin Huhn’s laboratory at the University of Tübingen. Foto: Friedhelm Albrecht / University of Tübingen A research team at the University of Tübingen has found that most glyphosate that ends up in Euro-pean rivers likely does not come from…
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