Experts warn that climate change, increasing populations are threatening the resilience of UK wastewater infrastructure

Researchers from the University of Portsmouth have examined the dynamic changes in the resilience of UK wastewater treatment works, now known as Water Resource Recovery Facilities (WRRFs), and discovered that environmental stressors are increasing the potential for pollution events.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-science-news/experts-warn-that-climate-change-increasing-populations-are-threatening-the-resilience-of-uk-wastewater-infrastructure

New study calculates retreat of glacier edges in Alaska's Kenai Fjords National Park

As glaciers worldwide retreat due to climate change, managers of national parks need to know what's on the horizon to prepare for the future. A new study from the University of Washington and the National Park Service measures 38 years of change for glaciers in Kenai Fjords National Park, a stunning jewel about two hours south of Anchorage.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-science-news/new-study-calculates-retreat-of-glacier-edges-in-alaskas-kenai-fjords-national-park

Worrying finding in California's climate initiative reveals problem with using forests to offset CO2 emissions

Researchers have found that California's forest carbon buffer pool, designed to ensure the durability of the state's multi-billion-dollar carbon offset program, is severely undercapitalized. The results show that, within the offset program's first 10 years, estimated carbon losses from wildfires have depleted at least 95% of the contributions set aside to protect against all fire risks over 100 years. This means that the buffer pool is unable to guarantee that credited forest carbon remains out of the atmosphere for at least 100 years. The results, published in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, illustrate that the program, one of the world's largest, is likely not meeting its set requirements.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-science-news/worrying-finding-in-californias-climate-initiative-reveals-problem-with-using-forests-to-offset-co2-emissions

Protein that may predict future diabetes risk and death from cancer identified

New research, published in Diabetologia, suggests that people with elevated levels of the protein prostasin (mainly found in epithelial cells which line the surfaces and organs of the body) may be at higher risk of developing diabetes.

Researchers point to gap in Indigenous health equalities

A UBC Okanagan researcher is calling attention to the looming gap in health equality when it comes to Indigenous populations living off-reserve in Canada.

Bonobos receive consolation from bystanders when producing 'baby-like' signals to express their emotional distress

Psychologists from Durham University, UK have found in their study that bonobos produce a variety of signals including "baby-like" signals to strategically display distress when they are attacked by other bonobos.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-science-news/bonobos-receive-consolation-from-bystanders-when-producing-baby-like-signals-to-express-their-emotional-distress

A simple, cheap material for carbon capture, perhaps from tailpipes

Using an inexpensive polymer called melamine—the main component of Formica—chemists have created a cheap, easy and energy-efficient way to capture carbon dioxide from smokestacks, a key goal for the United States and other nations as they seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-science-news/a-simple-cheap-material-for-carbon-capture-perhaps-from-tailpipes