Earth News, Earth Science, Energy Technology, Environment News

November 15, 2015

Fossil wasps show little change in Southern California habitats since Ice Age
New York NY (SPX) Nov 15, 2015
The La Brea Tar Pits, the world's richest Ice Age fossil site, is famous for saber-toothed cats, mammoths, and giant sloths, but it also has numerous insect and plant fossils. New research on fossil galls--abnormal plant growths caused, in this case, by tiny wasps--helps reconstruct the local habitats of Southern California at the end of the last Ice Age. The work, led by Anna R. Holden of the Richard Gilder Graduate School at the American Museum of Natural History and the La Brea Tar Pits and Mus ... read more

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Computer model developed for predicting the dispersion of vog A paper published this month in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society details the development and utility of a computer model for the dispersion of volcanic smog or "vog," which forms ... more		Freshwater fish, amphibians supercharge their ability to see infrared light? Salmon migrating from the open ocean to inland waters do more than swim upstream. To navigate the murkier freshwater streams and reach a spot to spawn, the fish have evolved a means to enhance their ... more		Marine invasive species benefiting from rising carbon dioxide levels Ocean acidification may well be helping invasive species of algae, jellyfish, crabs and shellfish to move to new areas of the planet with damaging consequences, according to the findings of a new re ... more
				Implantable wireless devices can trigger and block pain signals Building on wireless technology that has the potential to interfere with pain, scientists have developed flexible, implantable devices that can activate - and, in theory, block - pain signals in the ... more		Hair increases surface area for animals by 100 times Georgia Institute of Technology researchers combed through more than two dozen studies and did surface measurements for 27 mammals and insects to better understand how animals are able to clean them ... more

Solar systems for home and business installations

Wheat disease-resistance gene identified, potential to save billions A gene that can prevent some of the most important wheat diseases has been identified--creating the potential to save more than a billion dollars in lost production in Australia alone each year. ... more		Large landowners key to slowing deforestation in Brazil Brazil once had the world's highest rate of deforestation. And while land is still being cleared at an alarming rate, the country has been successful in reducing its deforestation in recent decades. ... more		Rise of the robots: the promise of physical AI Amazon robotics lead casts doubt on eye-catching humanoids 'Western tech dominance fading' at Lisbon's Web Summit		Study unlocks faster way to assess ocean ecosystem health A new study published last week identifies a set of features common to all ocean ecosystems that provide a visual diagnosis of the health of the underwater environment coastal communities rely on. T ... more
				Research links tundra fires, thawing permafrost Wildfires on Arctic tundra can contribute to widespread permafrost thaw much like blazes in forested areas, according to a study published in the most recent issue of the online journal Scientific R ... more		A new tool to guide recovery from disasters The 1999 Odisha Cyclone struck the eastern coast of India, knocking out whole swaths of the Indian Railways Network, bringing the eastern IRN system to a halt. Cyclones Hudhud and Phailin caused sim ... more

Nuclear Operations and Maintenance Efficiency Summit USA 2015

A warmer world will be a hazier one Aerosols, tiny solid and liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere, impact the environment by affecting air quality and alter the Earth's radiative balance by either scattering or absorbing sunli ... more		Complex skeletons evolved earlier than realized, fossils suggest The first animals to have complex skeletons existed about 550 million years ago, fossils of a tiny marine creature unearthed in Namibia suggest. The find is the first to suggest the earliest complex ... more		'The war of tomorrow will begin in space': Macron UN watchdog calls on Iran to urgently allow 'long overdue' uranium stockpile verification How drones are altering contemporary warfare		The past shows how abrupt climate shifts affect Earth New research shows how past abrupt climatic changes in the North Atlantic propagated globally. The study, led by researchers from Centre for Ice and Climate at the University of Copenhagen's Niels B ... more
Managed bees spread and intensify diseases in wild bees For various reasons, wild pollinators are in decline across many parts of the world. To combat this, managed honey bees and bumblebees are frequently shipped in to provide valuable pollination servi ... more		A giant fullerene system inhibits the infection by an artificial Ebola virus Different studies have demonstrated that the ebola virus infection process starts when the virus reaches the cellular DC-SIGN receptor to infect the dendritic cells (of the immune system). European ... more		New drought atlas maps 2,000 years of climate in Europe The long history of severe droughts across Europe and the Mediterranean has largely been told through historical documents and ancient journals, each chronicling the impact in a geographically restr ... more		An arms race among venomous animals In a new study published in the journal PLOS Genetics, scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have revealed new discoveries about how animal venom evolves. Venom is a complex mixture of pr ... more

	Ancient brains turn paleontology on its head Science has long dictated that brains don't fossilize, so when Nicholas Strausfeld co-authored the first ever report of a fossilized brain in a 2012 edition of Nature, it was met with "a lot of flac ... more		Senior US lawmaker tours Tibet six years after Beijing 'refusal' Senior US lawmaker Nancy Pelosi led a congressional delegation on a rare visit to Tibet, China confirmed Thursday, more than six years after reportedly being forbidden from visiting the region. ... more

China's Shenzhou-20 astronauts return to Earth after delay

Blue Origin launches NASA Mars mission and nails booster landing

Race for first private space station heats up as NASA set to retire ISS

Russia bans burning of dry fields after wildfires		Armero eruption haunts Colombia 30 years on		EU downplays cancer risk from weedkiller in win for Monsanto		GBissau releases ex-military chief charged over coup bid		East Africa hunger to worsen as El Nino strikes: UN
France, US clash on legal status of future climate deal		Police torture rife in China despite reforms: Amnesty		Pakistan asks Supreme Court to overturn ban on hunting rare bird		At least 8 killed in Iran flash flooding: state TV		Shipping fears as Rhine falls to lowest level in 40 years

Climate summit: 'considerable task ahead', says France

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Fuego Volcano eruption subsides in Guatemala

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Strong 6.9-magnitude quake hits Chile: USGS

Wildfires may double erosion across western US watersheds by 2050

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Trampolining water droplets

High-Q crystal microresonator fabricated by femtosecond laser

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Using hydrogen to enhance lithium ion batteries

Scotland leads unconventional gas extraction health assessments

Vector network analysis using lasers

The social and legal complexities of augmented reality

Amplifying and removing visual variation in digital imagery

Structure of 'concrete disease' solved

Daring move for first US-China fusion team

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