PFAS, commonly known as "forever chemicals," are a group of man-made substances that have been used in various industries since the 1940s due to their resistance to heat, water, and oil.
We are tasking our computers with processing ever-increasing amounts of data to speed up drug discovery, improve weather and climate predictions, train artificial intelligence, and much more.
A breakthrough technology has been developed that enables the production of green hydrogen in a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly manner, bringing us closer to a carbon-neutral society by replacing expensive precious metal catalysts.
A research team including faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York will head to Peru to study the link between ancient agricultural practices, climate shift and war.
Air conditioning doesn't just cool the air – it can also reduce the risk of harm from wildfire smoke, new research led by the University of Technology Sydney suggests.
Even if global warming were to stop completely, the volume of ice in the European Alps would fall by 34% by 2050. If the trend observed over the last 20 years continues at the same rate, however, almost half the volume of ice will be lost as has been demonstrated by scientists from the University of Lausanne (UNIL, Switzerland) in a new international study.
Epidermal microorganisms, vital in nutrient exchange between hosts and environments, have now been shown to play a key role in host toxicity through community changes.
An international team of marine biologists including Oliver Shipley, PhD, of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) at Stony Brook University, has discovered a unique isopod, a form of crustacean, that has been formally identified as a new species of the genus Booralana from the deep waters of The Bahamas. The news is published in the journal Zootaxa.
A joint study by the University of Tübingen, the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research, the University of Osnabrück and the University of Rwanda has found that 80 percent of the energy required in Africa could come from renewable sources by 2040 – if the capacity of existing power plants were fully utilized and all the plants currently on the drawing-board were built.
In an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and curb global warming, the U.S. has enacted several ambitious federal laws, such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed in 2022 and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021.
As global warming speeds up, meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement has become crucial. Cities, especially in countries like China, play a major role in reducing carbon emissions.
Radioactive wastewater is an unavoidable byproduct of nuclear operations, containing harmful radionuclides like cesium, which pose serious health risks.
Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory studied how insect communities responded to newly established habitats on solar energy facilities built on retired agricultural land. At the end of five years, all habitat and biodiversity metrics increased.
A new computational framework created by Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers is accelerating their understanding of who’s in, who’s out, who’s hot and who’s not in the soil microbiome, where fungi often act as bodyguards for plants, keeping friends close and foes at bay.
University of Idaho will lead a modeling project to enhance water budget predictions in the contiguous United States after being awarded a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 104g National Competitive Grant. This is the first time a scientist in Idaho has won the grant in the past two decades.
Though natural fertilizers from treated sewage sludge provide crops with nutrients, they bring along microplastics too. Recent research shows these plastics are easily spread by even slight winds.
Houston’s water and wastewater system could be more resilient with the development of hybrid urban water supply systems that combine conventional, centralized water sources with reclaimed wastewater, according to a study by Rice University engineers published in Nature Water.
Humans store water in huge metal towers and deep concrete reservoirs. But nature’s water storage is much more scenic – the snowpack that tops majestic mountains.
The ocean is the world’s largest habitat, yet much of its biodiversity is still unknown. A study published in Frontiers in Science marks a significant breakthrough, reporting the largest and most comprehensive database of marine microbes to date – matched with biological function, location, and habitat type.
Conserving water won’t be enough to restore the depleted Great Salt Lake, the signature Utah landscape whose existence as a functioning ecosystem remains seriously imperiled from low water levels and rising salinity.
Conserving water won’t be enough to restore the depleted Great Salt Lake, the signature Utah landscape whose existence as a functioning ecosystem remains seriously imperiled from low water levels and rising salinity. Much of the water saved by Utah cities and farms through various conservation measures will have to be allowed to flow into the terminal lake if its levels are to rebound and remain at a safe level, according to Utah’s Great Salt Lake Strike Team. The panel of university and agency experts has released its latest data analysis just ahead of Utah’s upcoming legislative session.
RUDN University professor strengthened ordinary concrete with epoxy resin. The author was the first to show that in this way it is possible to make concrete 80-100% stronger, taking into account the corrosive influence of an aggressive environment.
In the last century, global economic growth, spurred by globalization and technological advances, led to increased environmental degradation, primarily due to greenhouse gases from economic activities.
Two teams from UNIL and EPFL have succeeded in demonstrating that the insect synthesizes nutrients for native gut microbes. A study published in Nature Microbiology.
It is common knowledge that humans have a big effect on the world and their natural environment. However, what may be less well-known is that humans can also induce earthquakes.
Researchers uncover factors in urban areas that affect diversity in insects and spiders. The study — which also turned up dozens of previously unknown species — could help ensure the health of these crucial ecosystem contributors.
Fractional Vegetation Cover (FVC), key for ecological studies, has historically been mapped at coarse resolutions. Recent high-resolution satellite data have increased the demand for finer FVC products.
Cities play a key role in climate change and biodiversity and are one of the most recognizable features of the Anthropocene. They also accelerate innovation and shape social networks, while perpetuating and intensifying inequalities.
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and Columbia University have developed a way to convert carbon dioxide (CO2), a potent greenhouse gas, into carbon nanofibers, materials with a wide range of unique properties and many potential long-term uses.
New research has uncovered internationally significant rock art sites in Arnhem Land were far from random and instead “chosen” for the critical vantage points they provided.
Environmental epidemiologists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, in collaboration with an interdisciplinary team of researchers at Oregon State University, Pacific Northwest National Labs, and Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, report on the findings of a new study of air pollution exposures collected using personal wristband monitors worn by pregnant individuals in New York City matched with data from a questionnaire. Factors predictive of exposures to air pollution include income, time spent outdoors, maternal age, country of birth, transportation type, and season.
Free nitrous acid (FNA) is known for its capacity to inhibit various microorganisms in wastewater systems, significantly benefiting treatment process management.
For the first time, scientists have succeeded in the stabilisation and direct imaging of small clusters of noble gas atoms at room temperature. This achievement opens up exciting possibilities for fundamental research in condensed matter physics and applications in quantum information technology.
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) play a crucial role in environmental protection by mitigating risks to public health and aquatic ecosystems through the prevention of pollutant release.
Urban agriculture has the potential to decentralize food supplies, provide environmental benefits like wildlife habitat, and mitigate environmental footprints, but researchers have identified knowledge gaps regarding both the benefits and risks of urban agriculture and the social processes of growing more food in urban areas.