The fellowship of the wing: Pigeons flap faster to fly together
Birds that fly in 'V'-formations, such as geese, are able to conserve energy by flying in aerodynamically optimal positions.
Topic
Environmental
A collection of 1043 articles
Squid could thrive under climate change
Dr Blake Spady, from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) at James Cook University (JCU), led the study.
Zebras' stripes could be used to control their temperature, study reveals
The authors argue it is the special way zebras sweat to cool down and the small-scale convection currents created between the stripes which aid evaporation, while the previously unrecorded ability of zebras to erect their black stripes is a further aid to heat loss.
These three elements are key to
Electrode's 'hot edges' convert carbon dioxide gas into fuels and chemicals
The research team, from the University of Bath, Fudan University, Shanghai, and the Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, hopes the catalyst design will eventually allow the use of renewable electricity to convert CO2 into fuels without creating additional atmospheric carbon -- essentially acting like an electrochemical 'leaf'
Polymers jump through hoops on pathway to sustainable materials
Most consumer plastics are blends of linear polymers..
Australian islands home to 414 million pieces of plastic pollution
The study led by IMAS researcher Dr Jennifer Lavers and published in the journal Scientific Reports estimated beaches on the Indian Ocean islands are littered with 238 tonnes of plastic, including 977,000 shoes and 373,000 toothbrushes. Dr Lavers' research made headlines around the world when in May 2017
Scientists propose rethinking 'endangered species' definition to save slow-breeding giants
"Critical thresholds in so-called vital rates -- such as mortality and fertility rates among males and females of various ages -- can signal an approaching population collapse long before numbers drop below a point of no return," says lead author Dr. Shermin de Silva, President Founder of Asian elephant conservation
Nearly a quarter of West Antarctic ice is now unstable
A team of researchers, led by Professor Andy Shepherd from the University of Leeds, found that Antarctica's ice sheet has thinned by up to 122 metres in places, with the most rapid changes occurring in West Antarctica where ocean melting has triggered glacier imbalance. This means that the affected glaciers
Iceland volcano eruption in 1783-84 did not spawn extreme heat wave: Massive Laki volcano eruption led to unusually cold winter in Europe
The study, in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, will help improve predictions of how the climate will respond to future high-latitude volcanic eruptions..
Earliest evidence of the cooking and eating of starch
The new research by an international team of archaeologists, published in the Journal of Human Evolution, provides archaeological evidence that has previously been lacking to support the hypothesis that the duplication of the starch digestion genes is an adaptive response to an increased starch diet. "This is very exciting.
The
Breakthrough in new material to harness solar power
The University of Toledo physicist pushing the performance of solar cells to levels never before reached made a significant breakthrough in the chemical formula and process to make the new material.
As bumblebee diets narrow, ours could too: Fewer plants cause developmental delays for prolific produce pollinators
A new study from the University of California, Riverside, reveals the loss of plant diversity harms the humble bumble at a critical stage in its development from egg to adult.
Radioactive carbon from nuclear bomb tests found in deep ocean trenches
A new study in AGU's journal Geophysical Research Letters finds the first evidence of radioactive carbon from nuclear bomb tests in muscle tissues of crustaceans that inhabit Earth's ocean trenches, including the Mariana Trench, home to the deepest spot in the ocean. Organisms at the ocean surface have incorporated this
Climate change is giving old trees a growth spurt
A new study of growth rings from Dahurian larch in China's northern forests finds the hardy trees grew more from 2005 to 2014 than in the preceding 40 years..
Paper wasps capable of behavior that resembles logical reasoning
For millennia, transitive inference was considered a hallmark of human deductive powers, a form of logical reasoning used to make inferences: If A is greater than B, and B is greater than C, then A is greater than C. But in recent decades, vertebrate animals including monkeys, birds and fish