Travelling pollution
Brussels, Belgium (SPX) Apr 05, 2015 -
Researchers from the UK and Malaysia have detected a human fingerprint deep in the Borneo rainforest in Southeast Asia. Cold winds blowing from the north carry industrial pollutants from East Asia to the equator, with implications for air quality in the region. Once there, the pollutants can travel higher into the atmosphere and impact the ozone layer. The research is published today in Atmosphe ...
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Ancient seashell coloration patterns revealed using ultraviolet light
London, UK (SPX) Apr 05, 2015 -
Nearly 30 ancient seashell species coloration patterns were revealed using ultraviolet (UV) light, according to a study published April 1, 2015 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Jonathan Hendricks from San Jose State University, CA.
Unlike their modern relatives, the 4.8-6.6 million-year-old fossil cone shells often appear white and without a pattern when viewed in regular visible lig ...
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Lizard activity levels can help scientists predict environmental change
Columbia MI (SPX) Apr 05, 2015 -
Spring is here and ectotherms, or animals dependent on external sources to raise their body temperature, are becoming more active. Recent studies have shown that as the average global temperature increases, some lizards may spend more time in the shade and less time eating and reproducing, which could endanger many species.
Now, a detailed field study of the Puerto Rican crested anole by a ...
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How we hear distance
Storrs CT (SPX) Apr 05, 2015 -
Mammals are good at figuring out which direction a sound is coming from, whether it's a rabbit with a predator breathing down its neck or a baby crying for its mother. But how we judge how far away that sound is was a mystery until now. Researchers from UConn Health report in the 1 April issue of the Journal of Neuroscience that echoes and fluctuations in volume (amplitude modulation) are the cu ...
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Keeping hungry jumbos at bay
Nottingham UK (SPX) Apr 05, 2015 -
Until now electric fences and trenches have proved to be the most effective way of protecting farms and villages from night time raids by hungry elephants. But researchers think they may have come up with another solution - the recorded sound of angry predators.
Using an infrared sensor playback system elephants triggered the sound of growling tigers, leopards and angry shouts of villagers ...
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Citizen scientists map global forests
Vienna, Austria (SPX) Apr 02, 2015 -
New maps of global forest cover from the International Institute for Applied System Analysis (IIASA)'s Geo-Wiki team provide a more accurate view of global forests. The maps were published in the journal Remote Sensing of the Environment, and are freely available for exploration and download on the Geo-Wiki Web site.
While there are many existing sources of data about forests, including sa ...
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Chile's Bachelet visits flood-hit north after 25 killed
Santiago (AFP) April 4, 2015 -
Chile's President Michelle Bachelet visited the flood-hit north of the country where at least 25 people died this week, vowing to "rebuild" the stricken region.
Flash floods broke out last week across the Atacama area, home to the world's driest desert, submerging entire towns and leaving thousands of people homeless.
"We stand with you, as we have from the beginning, and we will rebuil ...
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