environmental
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Environment
Recognizing Indigenous Rights in Environmental Data
A field site for indigenous land and geosciences. Credit: Natural Communication (2025). doi:10.1038/s41467-024-53480-2 Every day around the world, environmental scientists collect around 274 terabytes of data. This is increasing thanks to advances in science and technology. Data ranging from soil composition to river flow are often collected or sampled from ecosystems managed by Indigenous peoples. In a new perspective in…
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Science
The material acts as a biomimetic of teak wood and creates an environmental barrier coating.
The multiscale layered structure of teak wood provides excellent mechanical properties and environmental stability, which has inspired the biomimetic design of environmental barrier coatings. In this study, a multiscale nano Yb2Si2O7-Yb2SiO5 composite EBC with a layered structure similar to teak wood was realized by a new vapor/liquid phase alternating deposition method in plasma spray-physical vapor deposition (PS-PVD). In this process,…
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Environment
Environmental groups challenge updates to California’s low-carbon transportation rules
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A coalition of environmental groups filed a challenge Wednesday to California’s main climate regulator, arguing that recent updates to a major climate change program will cause more pollution in the state’s San Joaquin Valley. The lawsuit, filed in Fresno County Superior Court, requires the California Air Resources Board to “adequately disclose, analyze, and mitigate the significant…
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Environment
Research reveals that environmental pollutants are halved when passed through the digestive tract of Japanese sea worms
The red circles in (A) and (B) indicate the location of Yoro Tidal Flat. The dashed ellipse in (C) indicates the sampling area where fecal pellets of Marphysa sp. E was collected. Reduced mud (RM) was collected from RM1, RM2, and RM3. (D) Image of Yoro Tidal Flat (July 19, 2023). Credit: Dr. Atsuko Nishigaki Dr. Atsuko Nishigaki of Toho…
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Earth
Study finds that natural regeneration of tropical forests has immense potential to address environmental challenges
Joshua Slaughter (left) and Matthew Fagan discuss a map of Costa Rica’s forested areas. A global map of potential natural forest regrowth areas, developed in a nature study led by Brooke Williams and Hawthorne Beyer and based on the Global Forest Lands Database developed by Fagan, covers the area of tropical Mexico. This suggests that larger areas may be able…
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Other Sciences
“Extreme Citizen Science” — High school students promoted to real researchers for motivation and environmental monitoring
High school students collecting water samples. Credit: Frederik Wolff Nisbeth Teglhus In addition to assisting with sample collection and butterfly discovery for research projects, non-experts can now perform actual laboratory work alongside professional researchers. The University of Copenhagen, in collaboration with a Danish high school, has shown that “Extreme Citizen Science” not only increases students’ interest in science, but also…
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Environment
‘Water corrupts, air infects’: Here’s how the ancient Greeks and Romans tackled environmental destruction
The Ilissos River was a symbol of health in the 19th century. Credit: Edward Dodwell, Wikimedia Commons Today, the dangerous state of the environment is frequently in the news. Many stories describe how the Earth is being harmed by humans and discuss ways to prevent this. These concerns are not new. Thousands of years ago, the people of ancient Greece…
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Science
Making Darwin’s finches sing can help establish connections between environmental changes and the emergence of new species
The beak of Darwin’s intermediate finch can evolve to crush hard seed shells. Credit: Andrew Hendry They say “hindsight is 20/20,” but ecological speciation theory (the theory that new species emerge in response to ecological change) seems to hold true in hindsight. Until now, it has been difficult to prove this experimentally. In a study published in the journal Science,…
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Environment
Environmental scientists say increasing access to nature in all everyday settings and education
People will use more green space if it is available throughout their everyday environment, not just where they live. Professor Yuta Uchiyama of Kobe University said, “These results can be used as evidence for policy making, especially in the fields of environmental management and urban planning, as there is a possibility of utilizing green spaces not only around residential areas…
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Biology
New data science tools dramatically speed up environmental molecular analysis
Source: Nature Protocols (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41596-024-01046-3 A research team led by scientists at the University of California, Riverside has developed a computational workflow for analyzing large data sets in the field of metabolomics, the study of small molecules found in cells, biofluids, tissues and entire ecosystems. Recently, the team applied this new computational tool to analyze contaminants in ocean waters…
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