ysabetwordsmith | Entries tagged with science

Art pieces double as carbon-free air conditioning, inspired by ancient civilizations

Researchers at Virginia Tech have developed a 3D-printed evaporative cooling system made of hollow clay columns that can cool the surrounding air by up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

The columns are filled with water and sand, and when warm air passes through the porous clay exterior, water stored in the sand columns evaporates, which in turn, cools the air that passes through.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

Mojave lichen defies death rays—could life thrive on distant exoplanets?

Lichen from the Mojave Desert can survive, and replicate, under levels of extreme solar radiation found on Earth-like planets in other solar systems.
Lichen from the Mojave Desert has stunned scientists by surviving months of lethal UVC radiation, suggesting life could exist on distant planets orbiting volatile stars. The secret? A microscopic “sunscreen” layer that protects their vital cells—even though Earth’s atmosphere already filters out such rays.

( Read more... )

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New butterfly species wows scientists: 'This discovery reveals a lineage shaped by 40,000 years of evolutionary solitude'

The Satyrium semiluna, or half-moon hairstreak, is a small gray butterfly that looks like a moth at first glance. The wildflower lovers are widespread across North America, from the Sagebrush steppe to the montane meadows of the Rocky Mountains.

But tucked away in the southeastern corner of Alberta, Canada, another colony of butterflies flaps across the Blakiston Fan landform of Waterton Lakes National Park.

Until now, they were thought to be a subpopulation of half-moon hairstreaks — until scientists made a phenomenal discovery: They were a new species of butterfly that had hidden in plain sight for centuries.

The researchers, who recently published their findings in the scientific journal ZooKeys, defined the new species as Satyrium curiosolus.

Current Mood: busy

This is the earliest mass extinction we know of on Earth, and it may well have been the worst. However, it usually doesn't appear on the standard lists of major mass extinctions.

Currently we are in the Anthropocene, whether people want to admit it or not. We are also in the midst of the Anthropocene Extinction, whether people want to admit it or not. See the insect apocalypse, amphibian apocalypse, and bird apocalypse.

Despite these grim statistics, humanity is not the most destructive species the Earth has ever known. That honor goes to whatever organism first discovered fire, harnessed the power of the Sun, and farted so much oxygen that almost everything else died.

Current Mood: busy

How to Color Your Map Using SCIENCE!

Sketching out a map for a setting can be a lot of fun. Drawing a map gives you a bird’s-eye view of the world, a way to spatially organize plot arcs, and can be a great piece of artwork in its own right. But like most works of fiction, the creator should remember to keep it as believable as possible. This might be less important or less possible for unrecognizably alien worlds. Maps of Earth-like settings, however, can benefit from following some basic rules. Forests, tundras, deserts and plains don’t appear arbitrarily. These biomes are located where they are on Earth due to the way air and water circulate in the atmosphere – and any Earth-like world should follow the same basic rules for its atmosphere that Earth does.

But who wants to spend time researching atmospheric science just to know which parts of their map to color green, brown, or beige? Well, I do, so let me save you some trouble by relaying what I’ve learned.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

French Polynesia created the world’s largest marine protected area

At the U.N. Ocean Conference this week, French Polynesia announced the creation of the world’s largest marine protected area, covering nearly 5 million square kilometers, or over 1.9 million square miles. It also plans to add another 500,000 square kilometers by next World Ocean Day.

Of that area, 1.1 million square kilometers (424,712 square miles) will be designated as highly or fully protected, meaning only traditional coastal fishing, ecotourism, and scientific research are allowed.

It's a step forward, but my standard of FULLY protected means "humans don't go there." That's what is required for many edge-sensitive and disturbance-sensitive species. On land, if there is so much as a road through it, those species will avoid the area even if there are no vehicles using the road most of the time.

Current Mood: busy

Here's another post about the insect apocalypse, including a trophic cascade devastating other species especially insectivores. This one proposes electromagnetic radiation as a causal factor, which may or may not be true, and is not being studied. It would be nice if that were a cause, because it is a factor under human control and thus could be fixed.

Current Mood: busy

Firefly species discovered after 90-year absence: 'Even when things seem lost, they can still find their way back'

Tan soon realized that he was looking at a Pteroptyx gombakia, or a Gombak bent-winged firefly. The discovery marked the first time that the species had been identified in 90 years — and the first live sighting of the species, ever.

Yay, fireflies!

Current Mood: busy

‘Half the tree of life’: ecologists’ horror as nature reserves are emptied of insects
A new point in history has been reached, entomologists say, as climate-led species’ collapse moves up the food chain even in supposedly protected regions free of pesticides.

They include in Germany, where flying insects across 63 insect reserves dropped 75% in less than 30 years; the US, where beetle numbers dropped 83% in 45 years; and Puerto Rico, where insect biomass dropped up to 60-fold since the 1970s. These declines are occurring in ecosystems that are otherwise protected from direct human influence.
[---8<---]
At one research centre – falling within a 22,000-hectare (85 sq mile) stretch of intact forest in Panama – scientists comparing current bird numbers with the 1970s found 70% of species had declined, and 88% of these had lost more than half of their population.

As the insects die off, everything that eats them -- birds, amphibians, reptiles, etc. -- suffers a decline also.

Current Mood: angry

Today I started making liquid fertilizer from Russian comfrey. Begin with Part 1: Jugs. With those done, I harvested leaves.

( Walk with me ... )

Current Mood: accomplished

Today I started making liquid fertilizer from Russian comfrey. This plant fills a lot of guild roles in permaculture including fertilizer, miner, mulcher, protector, attractor. I have been using it primarily as a bee plant that I can also slash-and-drop several times a season. I grow it under many of my trees and there's some in the prairie garden too.

There are various ways to make liquid fertilizer from comfrey. I will be testing two: 1) a small amount of comfrey leaves in a large amount of water, and 2) only comfrey leaves crammed tightly in a jug. (See Part 2: Leaves.)

( Walk with me ... )

Current Mood: accomplished

Krakencoder predicts brain function 20x better than past methods

Scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine have developed a new algorithm, the Krakencoder, that merges multiple types of brain imaging data to better understand how the brain s wiring underpins behavior, thought, and recovery after injury. This cutting-edge tool can predict brain function from structure with unprecedented accuracy 20 times better than past models and even estimate traits like age, sex, and cognitive ability.

That ... sounds pretty exactly like something over in Terramagne. It's part of Thalassia's health care system, although they've had theirs for a while. *ponder* I think the ~20 year gap between here and there is holding steady.

Current Mood: busy

New evidence reveals advanced maritime technology in the philippines 35,000 years ago

In a bold reimagining of Southeast Asia s prehistory, scientists reveal that the Philippine island of Mindoro was a hub of human innovation and migration as far back as 35,000 years ago. Advanced tools, deep-sea fishing capabilities, and early burial customs show that early humans here weren t isolated they were maritime pioneers shaping a wide-reaching network across the region.

Current Mood: busy

Whales blow bubble rings--And they might be talking to us

Newly documented behavior in a recently published paper by SETI Institute and UC Davis team members may offer insights into nonhuman intelligence--and help shape the search for life beyond Earth.
Humpback whales have been observed blowing bubble rings during friendly interactions with humans a behavior never before documented. This surprising display may be more than play; it could represent a sophisticated form of non-verbal communication. Scientists from the SETI Institute and UC Davis believe these interactions offer valuable insights into non-human intelligence, potentially helping refine our methods for detecting extraterrestrial life. Their findings underscore the intelligence, curiosity, and social complexity of whales, making them ideal analogues for developing communication models beyond Earth.

Current Mood: busy

3,500-year-old graves reveal secrets that rewrite bronze age history

Around 1500 BC, radical changes occurred in people's lives: they ate and lived differently, and the social system was also reorganized.
Bronze Age life changed radically around 1500 BC in Central Europe. New research reveals diets narrowed, millet was introduced, migration slowed, and social systems became looser challenging old ideas about nomadic Tumulus culture herders.

Current Mood: busy

A new study finds that baboons walk together in a line out of friendship, not survival

But the prevailing theory — and ultimate conclusion of the study — found that baboons simply preferred to walk beside their closest friends.

“We find no evidence that progression orders are adaptive responses to minimize an individuals’ risk, maximize their resource acquisition, or are the result of decision-makers leading the group,” Marco Fele, the study's lead author, wrote in Behavioral Ecology.

“Instead, we find that individuals’ positions are predicted by pairwise affiliations, resulting in consistency in order, with more dominant individuals occupying central positions in progressions.”

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

Backyard feeders changed the shape of hummingbird beaks, scientists say

According to a recent study in Global Change Biology, a journal focused on environmental change, the use and prevalence of hummingbird feeders — like those red and clear plastic ones filled with homemade sugar water — changed the size and shape of the birds' beaks. The range of the hummingbird also spread from the southern part of California all the way up the West coast into Canada.

"Very simplified, the bills get longer and they become more slender, and that helps to have a larger tongue inside that can get more nectar from the feeder at a time," says Alejandro Rico-Guevara, a professor of biology at the University of Washington and senior author on the study.

Current Mood: busy

Science Newsfrom research organizations

Anthropologists have examined the societal consequences of global glacier loss. This article appears alongside new research that estimates that more than three-quarters of the world's glacier mass could disappear by the end of the century under current climate policies.

Their article appears alongside new research that estimates that more than three-quarters of the world's glacier mass could disappear by the end of the century under current climate policies. While the study projects the physical outcomes of glacial melt, Howe and Boyer highlight the social impacts and human stories behind the statistics -- from disrupted ecosystems and endangered cultural heritage to funeral rites held for vanished ice.

Current Mood: busy

Scientists believe penguin poop might be cooling Antarctica — here's how

In a paper published on Thursday in the journal Communications Earth and Environment, they describe how ammonia wafting off the droppings of 60,000 birds contributed to the formation of clouds that might be insulating Antarctica, helping cool down an otherwise rapidly warming continent.

Current Mood: busy

Sperm from cancer-risk donor used to conceive at least 67 children across Europe

Case of man carrying rare genetic variant fuels calls for limit on number of children that can be fathered by one donor.

It is not ethical to control other people's reproductive choices by force, which is what that proposal amounts to. There are better ways.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

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The Wordsmith's Forge

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How to Make Comfrey Liquid Fertilizer Part 2: Leaves

How to Make Comfrey Liquid Fertilizer Part 1: Jugs

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