Earth | Page 859 | Science Codex

Agroforestry systems can repair degraded watersheds

NAIROBI, Kenya. (27 March 2014) ----Agroforestry, combined with land and water management practices that increase agricultural productivity, can save watersheds from degradation.

A study conducted by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in the Gabayan watershed in eastern Bohol, Philippines, has shown that agroforestry systems create a more sustainably managed watershed that allows people living there to benefit from the ecosystem. The benefits include higher crop yields, increased income and resilience to climate change.

A more potent greenhouse gas than CO2, methane emissions will leap as Earth warms

While carbon dioxide is typically painted as the bad boy of greenhouse gases, methane is roughly 30 times more potent as a heat-trapping gas. New research in the journal Nature indicates that for each degree that the Earth's temperature rises, the amount of methane entering the atmosphere from microorganisms dwelling in lake sediment and freshwater wetlands — the primary sources of the gas — will increase several times. As temperatures rise, the relative increase of methane emissions will outpace that of carbon dioxide from these sources, the researchers report.

Researchers reveal the dynamics behind Arctic ecosystems

Field studies covering three continents show that temperature has an unexpectedly important effect on food-web structure, while the relationship between predator and prey is crucial for the food-web dynamics and thereby the entire ecosystem.

Temperature is decisive

Prestorage conditioning, diphenylamine improve condition of 'honeycrisp' apple

EAST LANSING, MI--Since the introduction of 'Honeycrisp' apples in 1991, the variety has become a consumer favorite for its unusual texture and delicious flavor. Honeycrisp has increased in popularity with growers as well; Michigan, New York, and Washington boast significant numbers of 'Honeycrisp' orchards. As the growing area dedicated to the variety has grown, the need to find better methods for improving storage performance has become more important to growers.

Ancient sea creatures filtered food like modern whales

The animals lived 520 million years ago during the Early Cambrian, a period known as the 'Cambrian Explosion' in which all the major animal groups and complex ecosystems suddenly appeared. Tamisiocaris belongs to a group of animals called anomalocarids, a type of early arthropod that included the largest and some of the most iconic animals of the Cambrian period. They swam using flaps down either side of the body and had large appendages in front of their mouths that they most likely used to capture larger prey, such as trilobites.

Million suns shed light on fossilized plant

Scientists have used one of the brightest lights in the Universe to expose the biochemical structure of a 50 million-year-old fossil plant to stunning visual effect.

The team of palaeontologists, geochemists and physicists investigated the chemistry of exceptionally preserved fossil leaves from the Eocene-aged 'Green River Formation' of the western United States by bombarding the fossils with X-rays brighter than a million suns produced by synchrotron particle accelerators.

Sensing gravity with acid

WOODS HOLE, Mass.—While probing how organisms sense gravity and acceleration, scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and the University of Utah uncovered evidence that acid (proton concentration) plays a key role in communication between neurons. The surprising discovery is reported this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

How to look into the Solar interior

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Model now capable of street-level storm-tide predictions

The water that surged into the intersection of New York City's Canal and Hudson streets during Hurricane Sandy—to choose just one flood-ravaged locale—was ultimately driven ashore by forces swirling hundreds of miles out in the Atlantic.

That simple fact shows not only the scale and power of a tropical cyclone, but the difficulty of modeling and forecasting its potential for coastal flooding on the fine scale needed to most effectively prepare a response.

Stink bug traps may increase damage to tomato fruits

The invasive brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) is an important pest of fruits and vegetables. To counter them, some home gardeners use pheromone-baited traps that are designed to attract, trap, and kill them. However, new research from entomologists at the University of Maryland suggests that the traps may actually increase stink bug damage to tomatoes. The research will appear in the April issue of Environmental Entomology (DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1603/EN13237).

Famous paintings help study the Earth's past atmosphere

A team of Greek and German researchers has shown that the colours of sunsets painted by famous artists can be used to estimate pollution levels in the Earth's past atmosphere. In particular, the paintings reveal that ash and gas released during major volcanic eruptions scatter the different colours of sunlight, making sunsets appear more red. The results are published today in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, an open access journal of the European Geosciences Union (EGU).

Ancient Indonesian climate shift linked to glacial cycle

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Using sediments from a remote lake, researchers from Brown University have assembled a 60,000-year record of rainfall in central Indonesia. The analysis reveals important new details about the climate history of a region that wields a substantial influence on the global climate as a whole.

Researchers see Kelvin wave on quantum 'tornado' for first time

"We weren't surprised to see the Kelvin waves on the quantum vortex, but we were excited to see them because they had never been seen before," said Daniel Lathrop, a UMD physics professor. "Seeing the Kelvin waves provided the first experimental evidence that previous theories predicting they would be launched from vortex reconnection were correct."

Computer models solve geologic riddle millions of years in the making

An international team of scientists that included USC's Meghan Miller used computer modeling to reveal, for the first time, how giant swirls form during the collision of tectonic plates – with subduction zones stuttering and recovering after continental fragments slam into them.

The team's 3D models suggest a likely answer to a question that has long plagued geologists: why do long, curving mountain chains form along some subduction zones – where two tectonic plates collide, pushing one down into the mantle?

Lots of carbon dioxide equivalents from aquatic environments

Large amounts of carbon dioxide equivalents taken up by plants on land are returned to the atmosphere from aquatic environments. This is the conclusions from a study carried out by two students at Linköping University, Sweden.