Earth
The regrowth of Amazonian forests following deforestation can happen much slower than previously thought, a new study shows.
The findings could have significant impacts for climate change predictions as the ability of secondary forests to soak up carbon from the atmosphere may have been over-estimated.
The study, which monitored forest regrowth over two decades, shows that climate change, and the wider loss of forests, could be hampering regrowth in the Amazon.
Stabilizing global temperatures will require deep reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions worldwide. Recent integrated assessments of global climate change show that CO2 emissions must approach net-zero by mid-century to avoid exceeding the 1.5°C climate target. However, "committed emissions," those emissions projected from existing fossil fuel infrastructure operating as they have historically, already threaten that 1.5°C goal.
Diverse diseases like breast cancer can present challenges for clinicians, specifically on a cellular level. While one patient's tumor may differ from another's, the cells within the tumor of a single patient can also vary greatly. This can be problematic, considering that an examination of a tumor usually relies on a biopsy, which only captures a small sample of the cells.
Unlike almost every other organ, the mammary gland does not develop until after birth. And it's unusually dynamic, shape-shifting during menstrual cycles, puberty, pregnancy, and lactation.
As you read this line, you're bringing each word into clear view for a brief moment while blurring out the rest, perhaps even ignoring the roar of a leaf blower outside. It may seem like a trivial skill, but it's actually fundamental to almost everything we do. If the brain weren't able to pick and choose what portion of the incoming flood of sensory information should get premium processing, the world would look like utter chaos--an incomprehensible soup of attention-hijacking sounds and sights.
The human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, wages war in our bodies using a strategy evolved over millions of years that turns our own cellular machines against themselves. Despite massive strides in understanding the disease, there are still important gaps. For years, scientists at the University of Utah wished there was a way to visualize how the virus and its molecules interact with human cells in real time. So, a research group developed one.
Leading a double life as both solids and liquids, liquid crystals occupy center stage for creating smaller, faster and more efficient technologies. Even at the level of single particles, liquid crystals can bend light and react to external forces, like electric fields or physical pushes and pulls. And so, a tiny quantity of liquid crystals is usually enough to achieve high performance in many applications, ranging from monitor screens to solar panels.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that digital storybooks that animate upon a child's vocalization offer beneficial learning opportunities, especially for children with less developed attention regulation.
Toronto, ON -- To the medical community's surprise, several studies from the US, Canada, and Europe suggest a promising downward trend in the incidence and prevalence of dementia. Important risk factors for dementia, such as mid-life obesity and mid-life diabetes, have been increasing rapidly, so the decline in dementia incidence is particularly perplexing.
The Bedfordshire town of Luton has come bottom of a league table of predicted city-wide air pollution concentrations among UK cities, according to new analysis by the Universities of Birmingham and Lancaster.
Although Luton's air pollution emissions are about as expected for its population, the town's compactness limits dispersal of pollution, meaning it drops to last place among the 146 most populous UK places in terms of predicted air pollution concentrations.
Scientists from the University of Bristol and the British Museum, in collaboration with Oxford Archaeology East and Canterbury Archaeological Trust, have, for the first time, identified the use of birch bark tar in medieval England - the use of which was previously thought to be limited to prehistory.
Since some years ago, the Internet of Things (IoT) has been a constantly evolving reality. The possibility that machines (nodes) can communicate with each other has paved the way for applications that promise to have a profound impact on our lives. They include smart farming, home automation and communication between vehicles.
Chemical defenses of plants not only affect the growth and development of herbivores, but also, indirectly, the next consumers in the food chain. A new study shows that herbivores and their predators have evolved efficient strategies to deal with toxic plant secondary metabolites. Caterpillars of the diamondback moth deploy a specific gut enzyme to render the toxic substances of their host plant harmless. Without the activity of this enzyme, growth, survival and reproduction are impaired.
Researchers identify possible link between cannabis use and structural changes to heart.
Regular cannabis use could affect the structure and function of the heart, research led by a team at Queen Mary University of London suggests.
Analysing MRI images from the UK Biobank population study, the team identified an association between regular cannabis use and an enlarged left ventricle - the heart's main pumping chamber - together with early signs of impairment of heart function.
The results are published today in JACC Cardiovascular Imaging.
To many people, the term "urban growth" connotes shiny new high-rise buildings or towering skyscrapers. But in a new analysis of 478 cities with populations of more than 1 million people, researchers at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES) found urban growth is seldom typified by such "upward" growth. Instead, the predominant pattern in cities across the world is outward expansion: Think suburbs instead of skyscrapers.