After decades of clean up attempts, world's lakes still suffer from phosphorus pollution
Odense M, Denmark (SPX) Jul 12, 2016 -
Leading scientists warn: Phosphorus pollution is a major concern. We need to speed up recovery treatments of lakes - or accept poor freshwater quality. In a series of studies published in a special issue of the journal Water Research, leading scientists assess how to control phosphorus pollution in lakes.
In 40 % of Europe's lakes the water quality does not meet the demands of EUs Water Fr ...
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NASA's Field Campaign Investigates Arctic North American Ecosystems
Washington DC (SPX) Jul 12, 2016 -
Sampling charred soils in Saskatchewan, outfitting robins with GPS backpacks in Alberta, and measuring the growth rates of trees in northern Alaska - scientists with a decade-long NASA project are in the field this summer to study the impacts of a rapidly warming climate.
The Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment, or ABoVE campaign, which started field work in Alaska and northwestern Cana ...
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Scientists simulate tiny bacteria-powered 'windfarm'
Oxford CA (SPX) Jul 12, 2016 -
A team of scientists from Oxford University has shown how the natural movement of bacteria could be harnessed to assemble and power microscopic 'windfarms' - or other man-made micromachines such as smartphone components.
The study, published in the journal Science Advances, uses computer simulations to demonstrate that the chaotic swarming effect of dense active matter such as bacteria can ...
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Beavers may restore imperiled streams, fish populations
Logan UT (SPX) Jul 12, 2016 -
Utah State University scientists report a watershed-scale experiment in highly degraded streams within Oregon's John Day Basin demonstrates building beaver dam analogs allows beavers to increase their dam building activities, which benefits a threatened population of steelhead trout.
"Whether or not beaver dams are beneficial to trout and salmon has been hotly debated," says ecologist Nick ...
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How plants sense electric fields
Wurzburg, Germany (SPX) Jul 12, 2016 -
The cells of plants, animals and humans all use electrical signals to communicate with each other. Nerve cells use them to activated muscles. But leaves, too, send electrical signals to other parts of the plant, for example, when they were injured and are threatened by hungry insects.
"We have been asking ourselves for many years what molecular components plants use to exchange information ...
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Monitoring Air Quality
Huntsville AL (SPX) Jul 12, 2016 -
Air quality is a global issue. Currents of air waft gaseous and particulate pollutants from region to region, country to country, and even continent to continent. Emissions from human activities, sunlight, weather, pollution from far away, wildfires, and wind-blown dust can all affect air quality. And it can change from day to day or even hour to hour. Addressing this global issue requires a glo ...
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Recreating ancient vertebrate's first step on dry land
Washington DC (SPX) Jul 12, 2016 -
Could a tail have allowed ancient vertebrates to make the transition from water to land? Reporting in Science today, researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Clemson University and National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis described results of a groundbreaking study to answer this question using amphibious fish, a custom-built robot and mat ...
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