Study looked at threatened blackbuck in India's densely populated Maharasthra regionAnimals navigate a gauntlet of competing livestock, humans, and Indian wolvesSmall refuges allow animals to surviveResults helpful for future land-use planning
Heavens
For thousands of years, the marshes at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in modern day Iraq were an oasis of green in a dry landscape, hosting a wealth of wildlife. The culture of the Marsh Arab, or Ma'dan, people who live there is tightly interwoven with the ecosystem of the marshes. The once dense and ubiquitous common reed (Phragmites australis) served as raw material for homes, handicrafts, tools, and animal fodder for thousands of years. Distinctive mudhif communal houses, built entirely of bundled reeds, appear in Sumerian stonework from 5,000 years ago.
For thousands of years, the marshes at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in modern day Iraq were an oasis of green in a dry landscape, hosting a wealth of wildlife. The culture of the Marsh Arab, or Ma'dan, people who live there is tightly interwoven with the ecosystem of the marshes. The once dense and ubiquitous common reed (Phragmites australis) served as raw material for homes, handicrafts, tools, and animal fodder for thousands of years. Distinctive mudhif communal houses, built entirely of bundled reeds, appear in Sumerian stonework from 5,000 years ago.
In humans inhaled air is conditioned poorly in the nasal cavity in comparison with primates, such as chimpanzees and macaques, according a recent study published in PLOS Computational Biology. Unlike our protruding external nose, which has little effect on improving air conditioning performance, other hominins (including australopithecines) were endowed with flat nasal features and faculties to improve air conditioning.
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) have revisited the all-sky survey carried out by the ROSAT satellite, to create a new image of the sky in at X-ray wavelengths. Along with this a revised and extended version of the catalogue of bright and faint point-like sources will be released. The now published "2RXS catalogue" provides the deepest and cleanest X-ray all-sky survey to date, which will only be superseded with the launch of the next generation X-ray survey satellite, eROSITA, currently being completed at MPE.
Calculations by scientists have found highly magnetized, rapidly spinning neutron stars called magnetars could explain the energy source behind two extremely unusual stellar explosions.
Stellar explosions known as supernovae usually shine a billion times brighter than the Sun. Super-luminous supernovae (SLSNe) are a relatively new and rare class of stellar explosions, 10 to 100 times brighter than normal supernovae. But the energy source of their super-luminosity, and explosion mechanisms are a mystery and remain controversial amongst scientists.
Finnish researchers have demonstrated that photoinhibition of photosystem I, which reduces the effectiveness of photosynthesis, is actually a plant's self-defense mechanism against more extensive harm. The research was funded by the Academy of Finland.
Plants use energy from the Sun to convert carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates that act as the building blocks and energy sources for life. Oxygen is produced as a by-product of photosynthesis. However, this also causes secondary reactions that slow photosynthesis.
Predicting the future from the present - that's what logistic maps can do. For example, they can be used to predict the evolution of a population in the near future based on its present situation. They are relevant when studing systems such as entire populations, where the behaviour of the separate units - which have the ability to self-organise - cannot explain the behaviour of the system as a whole.
Kyoto University researchers have discovered a way of replacing surface ions of copper oxide nanocrystals at ambient conditions -- a feat that will make nanocage production considerably simpler.
Ionic semiconductor nanocages can be used as photoelectric conversion materials like those used in solar panels. Like a cage in the literal sense, nanocages can also encapsulate drugs and enzymes, promising further developments for targeted drug delivery.
Although years of drought and over-pumping have significantly depleted groundwater in Arizona and California, a new study shows the situation has an upside: It has created underground reservoirs where extra surface water can be stored during wet times so it is available during drought.
The study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters in March, also found that regions that actively store surface water in underground aquifers have increased their groundwater supply over time, even as surrounding areas depleted theirs.
The Earth is often struck by solar eruptions. These eruptions consist of energetic particles that are hurled away from the Sun into space, where those directed towards Earth encounter the magnetic field around our planet. When these eruptions interact with Earth's magnetic field they cause beautiful auroras. A poetic phenomenon that reminds us, that our closest star is an unpredictable neighbor.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- What happens when doctors misbehave? The answer depends a lot on which state they practice in, a new study shows.
In fact, the percentage of doctors who get disciplined or pay a malpractice claim is four times less in some states than the percentage in other states, the research by a pair of University of Michigan Medical School researchers shows.
Alexandria, Va., USA - The International and American Associations for Dental Research (IADR/AADR) have published an article titled "Tooth Loss Increases the Risk of Diminished Cognitive Function: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis" in the OnlineFirst portion of the JDR Clinical & Translational Research. In it, Cerutti-Kopplin et al systematically assessed the association between oral health and cognitive function in adult populations.
A new study published today in Nature reports discovery of a rare event -- that Earth's moon slowly moved from its original axis roughly 3 billion years ago.
Former Tropical Cyclone Emeraude was battered by northeasterly vertical wind shear and reduced to a remnant low pressure area in the Southern Indian Ocean. NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed over the system on March 24 captured a visible image of the large area of remnant clouds.