New study finds that the nutritional value of prey within a single species can widely vary, offering key insights for food web dynamics and ecosystem change The hunt is on and a predator finally zeroes in on its prey. The animal consumes the nutritious meal and moves on to forage for its next target. But how much prey does a predator need to consume? Following a period of massive starvation among animals living along the California coast, University of California…
Hardly any gemstone is more difficult to find than diamonds. Geologists from ETH Zurich and the University of Melbourne have now established a link between their occurrence and the mineral olivine. This could make the search for diamonds easier in the future. In brief The abundance of magnesium and iron in the mineral olivine provides information on whether or not diamonds could be present in a kimberlite rock sample. The more magnesium is found in the olivine, the more likely…
The new research project YESSS – Year-round EcoSystem Study on Svalbard – is focussing on how Arctic warming is changing over the seasons in Svalbard. The team of around 30 scientists observes the life cycles, foraging and overwintering strategies of selected key species all year round and conducts experiments at the AWIPEV station on Svalbard. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding the project, which is coordinated by the Alfred Wegener Institute, with 2.7 million euros until the…
Insect pollination is vital for many plants. Air pollution caused by humans can disrupt this sensitive process. This is shown in a review article written at the University of Würzburg. Pollination, i.e. the transfer of pollen grains from the male to the female organs, is an essential part of reproduction for the majority of plants. For many of these plants, this transfer is carried out by insects in search of food – this is known as insect pollination. The impact…
Geologists from the University of Cologne are investigating the influence of past climate and environmental changes on the East Antarctic Ice Sheet in regions that are ice-free today. In three expeditions with the research vessel ‘Polarstern’, a consortium of German geoscientists is exploring changes in the East Antarctic Ice Sheet in the geological past. The second of these expeditions was completed on 1 February 2024, and the third is still underway in Antarctica until early April 2024. The researchers are…
Mizzou’s new Digital Agriculture Research and Extension Center will enhance research, education and outreach in emerging digital technologies for farming. Nearly one-third of Missouri’s economy is tied to agriculture. That’s why the state’s flagship land-grant institution, the University of Missouri, has launched the Digital Agriculture Research and Extension Center (DAREC). The center aims to help farmers and other agricultural producers move toward a future of sustainable agriculture by leveraging emerging digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) for increased agricultural productivity,…
TUD geoscientists research in the frozen South. On February 6, 2024, when the German polar research vessel “Polarstern” sets sail from Hobart, Australia, on research cruise PS141, five researchers from TU Dresden will also be on board: Dr. Mirko Scheinert, Lutz Eberlein, and Erik Loebel from the Chair of Geodetic Earth System Research, Xabier Blanch Gorriz from the Junior Professorship in Geosensor Systems, and student Marie Weber (who is in the 5th semester of her studies in Geodesy and Geoinformation)….
How far into the future can we look? Research study confirms intrinsic limits of weather forecasting and identifies reasons / Forecasts for midlatitude weather could be significantly improved. Weather-related disasters and climatological extremes, including rivers bursting their banks and flooding as well as heatwaves and droughts, cause tragic loss of life and cost billions of dollars in property damage each year. Therefore, weather forecasts and protective measures are enormously important and will become even more relevant in the future. However,…
Embassy reception on board at harbour call in Hobart, Tasmania, between two Antarctic expeditions. She has been travelling in the Arctic and Antarctic in the service of research for over 40 years, but there are still areas that are new territory even for the Polarstern: Between two expeditions to East Antarctica, the Alfred Wegener Institute’s research icebreaker reached Hobart in Tasmania on 30 January 2024 and will remain there until 6 February. The German Embassy in Australia, together with the…
Weather and Climate Model ICON published under Open Source License. The scientific and research community in Germany and Switzerland is setting a milestone in climate and weather research: Since January 31, 2024, the renowned climate and weather model ICON has been made available to the public under an open source license. This groundbreaking step contributes to making science and scientific services more transparent. At the same time, it enables further scientific progress in an area from which society can particularly…
A lot of waste is generated in the trade fair and event industry. It makes sense to have furniture that can quickly be dismantled and stored to save space – or simply disposed of and recycled. Paper is the ideal raw material here: locally available and renewable. It also has an established recycling process. The German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research (DITF) and their project partners have jointly developed a recycling-friendly modular system for trade fair furniture. The “PapierEvents”…
Poison ivy ranks among the most medically problematic plants. Up to 50 million people worldwide suffer annually from rashes caused by contact with the plant, a climbing, woody vine native to the United States, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, the Western Bahamas and several areas in Asia. It’s found on farms, in woods, landscapes, fields, hiking trails and other open spaces. So, if you go to those places, you’re susceptible to irritation caused by poison ivy, which can lead to reactions that…
… essential to monitor climate change. We know that our climate is changing. Extreme weather events are becoming more common, sea levels are rising and overall, our planet is getting warmer. Monitoring these changes is critical. One of the best indicators of climate change is the Ocean Heat Content (OHC) estimate, a measurement of overall oceanic temperature calculated by gathering water temperature data in oceans around the world in differing locations, at varying depths and across time. The data necessary…
For the first time without any chemical treatment, a research team analyses extraterrestrial amino acids and other organic compounds in an English meteorite fall. Meteorites are fragments of asteroids which find their way to Earth as shooting stars and provide information on the origins of our solar system. A team of researchers has examined the so-called Winchcombe meteorite and demonstrated the existence in it of nitrogen compounds such as amino acids and heterocyclic hydrocarbons – without applying any chemical treatment…
…paves the way for saving the northern white rhinos from extinction. BioRescue, an international consortium of scientists and conservationists, succeeded in achieving the world’s first pregnancy of a rhinoceros after an embryo transfer. The southern white rhino embryo was produced in vitro from collected egg cells and sperm and transferred into a southern white rhino surrogate mother at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya on September 24, 2023. The BioRescue team confirmed a pregnancy of 70 days with a well-developed…
Help from artificial intelligence (AI) in observing marine mammals is crucial. Computers can count seals from aerial photographs with lightning speed and reliability. Based on their spatial patterns, the tiny dots on the aerial images can even be assigned to one of the two major species of seals in the Wadden Sea. That is shown in the thesis that marine biologist Jeroen Hoekendijk will defend on January 26 in Wageningen. “To better understand if and how marine mammals like seals…
In January 2024, the third research mission of the German Marine Research Alliance mareXtreme starts with significant participation of GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. As part of the mission, about 150 scientists from 29 research institutions and partner organisations investigate how risk management for extreme marine events and natural hazards can be improved. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the science ministries of the northern German states of Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony and…
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