Floating sensors predict plastic on Galapagos beaches

As part of their Galapagos Plastic Free project, physicists Stefanie Ypma and Erik van Sebille are developing an app that tells park rangers on the Galapagos Islands where they can clean up plastic every day. The researchers use drifters, or "floating sensors," to create a model of the complicated ocean currents in and around the archipelago. The first batch of drifters was put to sea from a boat this week. The location of the drifters can be followed live on an interactive map.

The pandemic is a golden opportunity for Papua to step up its game in education technology

Papua, Indonesia's easternmost island and one of its most rural provinces, is significantly behind in education—both in terms of students' learning achievements and digital infrastructure.

Responsible investment is not enough to combat climate change

In their new book on responsible investment, Professor Vesa Puttonen and Bachelor of Science Tatu Puttonen state that politicians cannot outsource their responsibility for combating climate change to asset managers and investors. The book has been published as part of the Aalto University publication series.

The principle of aquaponics clearly defined

It is one of the big topics in sustainable food production: aquaponics—the combination of fish farming in aquaculture and plant cultivation in hydroponics. That is the short definition. What convinces consumers is the resource-saving approach that saves water, energy and artificial fertilizer. That is the theory. Missing or vague definitions and standards make it difficult to plan and evaluate plants properly. Researchers led by the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) have now tightened up the definitions and created a calculation model for resource use. They argue that the coupling of internal flows, for example of water, nutrients and energy, must be evaluated. After all, it is the cycle idea that ultimately makes aquaponics sustainable.

COVID-19 disruptions hurt schoolkids the most

This month the few remaining countries in East Asia and the Pacific that had kept schools shuttered since the COVID-19 outbreak are reopening, some on a limited scale.

Three reasons people with power are more likely to make bad decisions

The AFR Magazine's annual power issue, ranking Australia's most powerful people in politics, business and professions, always makes for some interesting discussions.

Old, goopy museum specimens can tell fascinating stories of wildlife history

As the climate crisis threatens millions of species worldwide, biodiversity conservation is now an all-hands-on-deck operation. Natural history collections play a critical role in this effort as repositories holding records of historical biodiversity shifts, like libraries made of biological specimens.

New laser meets demanding requirements for driving cutting-edge attosecond light sources

Researchers have combined a fiber-laser system with recent advancements in multi-pass cells to create a laser with a unique combination of few-cycle pulses at high average power, pulse energy and repetition rate and with stable carrier envelope phase (CEP) operation. These characteristics make the new laser ideal for driving next generation attosecond sources, such as those at the Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) in Europe.

Indigenous knowledge and the persistence of the 'wilderness' myth

Aboriginal people in Australia view wilderness, or what is called "wild country," as sick land that's been neglected and not cared for. This is the opposite of the romantic understanding of wilderness as pristine and healthy—a view which underpins much non-Indigenous conservation effort.

Want to reduce your carbon footprint? Build a smaller house with no basement

A team of researchers in the University of Toronto's Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering has some practical advice for developers, homeowners and urban planners who want to reduce their environmental impact.

Researchers suggest a way to achieve net-zero emission plastics

A team of researchers with members affiliated with institutions in Germany, Switzerland and the U.S. has created a model that they claim could be used to achieve net-zero-emission plastics by 2050. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group outlines their model and requirements for implementation.

Long-term sea-level rise requires a worldwide commitment to adaptation

Without adaptation, sea-level rise will put millions more people at risk of flooding, scientists have warned. This requires a timely and adequate commitment to adaptation. Using a novel "scenario-neutral" approach researchers from Deltares, together with Utrecht University, IVM, Newcastle University, Tyndall Centre and Bournemouth University, assess when, where, and how fast coastal areas need to adapt as far ahead as 2150.

Scientists capture the fleeting transition of water into a highly reactive state

Researchers at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have uncovered a key step in the ionization of liquid water using the lab's high-speed "electron camera," MeV-UED. This reaction is of fundamental significance to a wide range of fields, including nuclear engineering, space travel, cancer treatment and environmental remediation. Their results were published in Science today.

How to power electronics using mechanical motion

The push toward low powered, energy-saving devices has been a direction the electronics industry has always pursued. The switch to low powered LED lighting is a good example of this trend. Another avenue is the development of energy harvesting, self-sufficient devices. The idea here is to use materials that display piezoelectric and triboelectric effects to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. Piezoelectric materials generate an electrical charge when stressed mechanically, while the triboelectric effect is the buildup of charges on two dissimilar materials after they have come in contact with each other.

Researchers propose expanded evolutionary concept

New work from the Kiel Evolution Center suggests that somatic gene variations play a larger role in evolutionary adaptation mechanisms than previously thought.

'Fight or flight' – unless internal clocks are disrupted, study in mice shows

For humans and animals, many aspects of normal behavior and physiology rely on the proper functioning of the body's circadian clocks.

In first, ocean drone captures footage from inside hurricane

In a world first, US scientists on Thursday piloted a camera-equipped ocean drone that looks like a robotic surfboard into a Category 4 hurricane barreling across the Atlantic Ocean.

Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts

Hawaii's Kilauea volcano, one of the world's most active, has erupted but its lava so far is limited to its central crater and not threatening inhabited areas, authorities said Thursday.

Australian mining giants back net-zero target

Australia's powerful mining sector has backed a 2050 net-zero carbon target, heaping pressure on the country's coal-championing government to follow suit.

EXPLAINER: Why home protection is important in wildfires

Wildfires have destroyed nearly 50,000 homes in California alone in the last five years, and scientists say global warming is only making things worse.