Earth | Page 561 | Science Codex

Farming adaptations needed to combat climate change to impact crop yields in 2050

Sorghum is a staple food crop in West African countries whose crop yields already suffer from long droughts and unpredictable rainfall.

Using heat-tolerant varieties of sorghum as a new management practice shows the most potential as an adaptation for maintaining crop yield as global warming raises the temperatures in West Africa.

This study's unique framework compares how West African sorghum crop yields will fare in the higher temperatures and higher CO2 of the future--if specific farming management practices or technologies are adopted and if they are not adopted.

Researchers design solids that control heat with spinning superatoms

PITTSBURGH--Researchers found that the thermal conductivity of superatom crystals is directly related to the rotational disorder within those structures. The findings were published in an article in Nature Materials this week.

Carnegie Mellon University's Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Jonathan A. Malen was a corresponding author of the paper titled "Orientational Order Controls Crystalline and Amorphous Thermal Transport in Superatomic Crystals."

OU study demonstrates seasonality of bird migration in response to environmental cues

A University of Oklahoma study demonstrates for the first time that remote sensing data from weather surveillance radar and on-the-ground data from the eBird citizen science database both yield robust indices of migration timing, also known as migration phenology. These indices can now be used to address the critical gap in our knowledge regarding the cues that migrants use for fine tuning their migration timing in response to climate.

Dam removal projects accelerate, but research lags behind

A new review reveals gaps in the science of dam removal. Although more than 1200 dams have been removed in the United States, fewer than 10 percent have been scientifically evaluated. Those studies that do exist focus more on short-term river channel responses rather than longer-term biological responses.

The findings were compiled by scientists at the USGS John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis. They illustrate the need for long-term and well-designed studies in order to anticipate the effects of dam removal.

NASA sees Hurricane Newton approaching landfall in Baja California, Mexico

NASA's Terra satellite and a NASA animation of imagery from NOAA's GOES-West satellite provided views of Hurricane Newton as it neared landfall in Baja California, Mexico, today, Sept. 6.

NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of Newton on Sept. 5, Monday, at 1:45 p.m. EDT (17:45 UTC) just as it was classified as a hurricane. At the time Terra saw the storm it was south of the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico.

Hermine becomes a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico

Tropical Storm Hermine officially reached hurricane status on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016, at 1:55 p.m. EDT. NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured a visible image of the hurricane at 3:15 p.m. EDT (1915 UTC).

The image shows a much more organized Hermine with bands of thunderstorms wrapping around its low-level center and blanketing the entire state of Florida. The image was created at NASA/NOAA's GOES Project office, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

'Tug of war' keeps scientists working on storm tracks

Storm tracks--regions where storms travel from west to east across oceans and continents driven by the prevailing jet stream--determine weather and climate in middle-latitude places like Chicago and New York.

One vent just isn't enough for some volcanoes

One vent just isn't enough for some volcanoes: the curious case of Mount Etna's wandering craters.

Volcanoes are geology at its most exciting. They seem so fiery, dangerous and thrillingly explosive. That may be true, but most old and mature volcanoes are surprisingly stuck in their ways and even if when they will blow is difficult to forecast, where they will blow from is often more predictable.

Parametric analysis on collapse-resistance performance of reinforced-concrete frame with specially shaped columns under loss of

The finite element analysis on the static test of a reinforced concrete frame with specially shaped columns in the event of one corner column removal was conducted and verified accurately enough to further perform parametric analysis. As the frame sustained loads primarily depending on the beam resisting mechanism in the test, four related parameters, namely the height of beam section, rebar ratio of beam, rebar ratio of slab and limb length of specially shaped column are chosen for parametric analyses respectively.

NASA animation shows landfall and progression of Hurricane Hermine

NASA and NOAA satellites have been providing forecasters with a continual stream of data and images as Hermine strengthened into a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, made landfall in northern Florida's Gulf coast and moved into Georgia.

NASA observes a weaker Tropical Cyclone Gaston, warnings up in Azores

NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed over Gaston as it continued to weaken over the waters of the North Central Atlantic Ocean and head toward the Azores Islands. Warnings are in effect in the Azores on Sept. 2.

NASA sees Hurricane Lester approaching Hawaiian Islands

Hurricane Lester was nearing the Hawaiian Islands when NASA's Aqua satellite caught an image of the powerful and well-developed storm.

Hurricane Lester appeared well-developed and had a clear eye in imagery from the MODIS instrument or Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. Aqua passed over Lester on Sept. 1 at 6:50 p.m. EDT (22:50 UTC).

Early-onset spring models may indicate 'nightmare' for ag

ITHACA, N.Y. - Warm springs in the Great Lakes and Northeast regions - which create havoc for agriculture - may start earlier by mid-century if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced, according to a new Cornell University study published in Climate Dynamics.

Very warm springs have been anomalies, but this new analysis of climate model data shows an increased frequency to nearly one in every three years by the end of this century.

HFES Annual Meeting presentations to focus on human factors in cyber security

As the incidence of data breaches that threaten security and privacy increases, governments and organizations are struggling to put barriers in place to prevent consequences such as terror attacks and identity theft. The more data that goes mobile, the greater is exposure to vulnerabilities, requiring a deeper understanding of human factors so that cyber security systems and processes can be improved.

Freshening of the Southern Ocean

Long-term measurements of the salinity in the Southern Ocean have revealed a strong freshening signal over the past decades. In fact, these salinity changes are among the most pronounced in the global ocean. To date, the source of these changes has remained a conundrum.

A newly published study in the scientific journal Nature by researchers from ETH Zurich, the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and the University of Hamburg now describes a possible reason for this freshening of the Southern Ocean waters.