When extreme events are no longer rare: Lessons from Hurricane Ida

When Hurricane Ida barreled into Louisiana late last month, bringing 10- to 15-foot storm surges and record-breaking winds, many wondered whether the New Orleans' levee system—newly rebuilt at a cost of approximately $14.5 billion—would be strong enough to prevent the catastrophic flooding that inundated the city following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Music download patterns found to resemble infectious disease epidemic curves

A team of mathematicians at the McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind in Canada, has found that music download patterns resemble the patterns found in disease epidemics. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society A, the group describes applying a standard model used to describe the spread of disease to a large database of downloadable music.

Boating, shoreline fishing and swimming may be damaging freshwater ecosystems

German scientists brought together and re-analyzed the data from 94 previous studies looking at damage to freshwater ecosystems from recreational activities around the world, and say boating had the most consistently negative effect on the environment, affecting individual plants and animals, whole populations, and even whole communities of organisms.

Soft corals, hard problem: New technique reveals corals vulnerable to bleaching

UNSW marine biologists have developed a method for identifying Australia's soft corals that are most vulnerable—and most resistant—to rising sea temperatures and episodes of coral bleaching, and therefore, which species are in most urgent need of protection.

Avoiding an energy cold crunch with more efficient cooling

As temperatures soar, air conditioners switch on. Cooling takes lots of energy—which strains power grids and drives up emissions in countries still dependent on fossil fuels.

Rethinking resilience in the face of climate change

By the time Hurricane Ida hit Philadelphia in early September, it had already dropped massive rainfall on parts of the Gulf Coast. As the storm continued north, record-breaking downpours in New York City led to extensive flooding. Then images started to emerge of water rising so high it reached several Philly highway overpasses.

New X-ray imaging technique investigates cells hosting Chlamydiae bacteria

Best known as the cause of a sexually transmitted infection, Chlamydiae are a diverse group of pathogens whose strains can also lead to pneumonia and blindness.

Elements in liquid metals compete to win the surface

Some alloys are in the liquid state at or near room temperature. These alloys are usually composed of gallium and indium (elements used in low energy lamps), tin and bismuth (materials used in constructions). The ratio and nature of elements in liquid alloys generate extraordinary phenomena on the surface of liquid metals which have been rarely explored to date and that is competition between elements to occupy the surface of alloys. As such the composition of the surface of the alloys is different from the core and this surface area can be potentially used for harvesting novel materials with unprecedented compositions and properties.

Study unravels the structure of bacterial P pili

A research team led by David Thanassi, Ph.D., of Stony Brook University, has used molecular biology and cryoelectron microscopy to successfully unravel the structure of bacterial appendages called P pili. These pili are deployed by uropathogenic strains of Escherichia coli bacteria that cause kidney infections. The structure of P pili had been elusive to scientists for many years. The finding, published in Nature Communications, is a key step in order to target P pili in the infection process.

Study: Unite solutions to climate and biodiversity crises to save life on earth

Leading experts on the ecological impacts of climate change are calling for urgent action to align the climate and biodiversity agendas to ensure that low cost, low risk, low maintenance opportunities to jointly and efficiently address these two environmental issues are prioritized and implemented.

Infants have more microplastics in their feces than adults, study finds

Microplastics—tiny plastic pieces less than 5 mm in size—are everywhere, from indoor dust to food to bottled water. So it's not surprising that scientists have detected these particles in the feces of people and pets. Now, in a small pilot study, researchers reporting in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology Letters discovered that infants have higher amounts of one type of microplastic in their stool than adults. Health effects, if any, are uncertain.

Children's dislike of cauliflower, broccoli could be written in their microbiome

Many children, as well as adults, dislike Brassica vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts. In the mouth, enzymes from these vegetables and from bacteria in saliva can produce unpleasant, sulfurous odors. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry have found that levels of these volatile compounds are similar in parent-child pairs, suggesting shared oral microbiomes. They also found that high levels cause children to dislike the vegetables.

Scientists ID sterol essential for oil accumulation in plants

Scientists seeking to unravel the details of how plants produce and accumulate oil have identified a new essential component of the assembly line. They discovered a particular sterol—a molecule related to cholesterol—that plays a key role in the formation of oil droplets.

5.9 earthquake causes some damage in Australia, no injuries

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake caused some damage in suburban Melbourne on Wednesday in an unusually powerful temblor for Australia.

EXPLAINER: Wide dangers ahead for Spanish volcanic island

A small Spanish island in the Atlantic Ocean is struggling days after a volcano erupted, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people, and authorities are warning that more dangers from the explosion lie ahead.

Maritime rope could be adding billions of microplastics to the ocean every year

The hauling of rope on maritime vessels could result in billions of microplastic fragments entering the ocean every year, according to new research.

Predicting a riot: Social inequality leads to vandalism in experiments

Social inequality can incite collective violence in an experimental setting, finds a new study by UCL researchers.

Healthcare professionals are important communicators for addressing climate change

An article published in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health notes that medical and healthcare professionals are in a unique position to speak to patients and the broader community about the impact of climate change on health and wellbeing.The authors provide several recommendations for communicating climate change, noting that simple messages, repeated often, by trusted voices, are most effective. 

Low-income single mothers feel they have 'no choice' in COVID-19 school and care decisions

In a recent study published in Family Relations, constraints related to safety or financial needs dictated the decisions that low-income, single mothers made around childcare and schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

New insights on work, stress, and political skills

New research published in the Journal of Employment Counseling indicates that when employees regard work demands as hindrances to achieving their goals, they become emotionally exhausted and consequently become disengaged from their job and are unable to balance their work and family roles.

Article examines retaliatory use of public standards in trade wars between countries

Recent years have seen a resurgence in politicians' willingness to engage in trade wars with other countries. A new article published in Economic Inquiry investigates the extent to which countries use public standards—requirements that goods must satisfy before entering a country's stream of commerce—as a means of political retaliation during such wars.