/ en-us Â鶹ÒùÔº internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Â鶹ÒùÔºics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Mercury (Hg) is a naturally occurring element found across the globe, yet it becomes highly toxic as it accumulates up the food chain. Pollution from human activities has pumped increasing amounts of mercury into the atmosphere, and for reasons that are not well understood, the Arctic region has significantly higher levels of mercury, despite having a relatively sparse population and less pollution. /news/2025-05-sea-unravel-mercury-high-arctic.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 15 May 2025 08:56:04 EDT news666518161 Over the last decade, humanity's emissions of carbon dioxide (COâ‚‚) have stabilized after a period of huge growth. Average growth is now down to just 0.6% per year, compared to 2% per year in the previous decade. But leveling off isn't the same as declining—and we've leveled off at a very high rate of emissions. The Global Carbon Project estimates human activities released a record high of 10.2 gigatons of carbon (GtC) in 2024. /news/2025-05-emissions-carbon-dioxide-atmosphere-faster.html Environment Thu, 08 May 2025 10:40:04 EDT news665919602 Our lungs are fairly susceptible to diseases. Unlike most other organs, the lungs are in direct contact with the outside world. When we breathe in, our lungs can also take in things besides the oxygen we need, including irritants, pollutants, viruses and bacteria which may cause diseases like pneumonia, bronchitis and cancer. /news/2025-05-hard-meds-lungs-breathable-algae.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 06 May 2025 12:52:05 EDT news665754721 When does "anomalous weather" become "a new climate"? The moment that variations in a specific climate variable turn into the new normal is termed Time of Emergence (ToE). Scientists from the University of Groningen and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) have developed a method to predict the time of emergence in various Arctic regions, based on warming, wetting, and sea ice melting. /news/2025-05-robust-method-climate-arctic-based.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 06 May 2025 12:22:03 EDT news665752921 In the waters off New England, one of Earth's rarest mammals swims slowly, mouth agape. The North Atlantic right whale filters clouds of tiny reddish zooplankton—called Calanus finmarchicus—from the sea. These zooplankton, no bigger than grains of rice, are the whale's lifeline. Only about 370 of these massive creatures remain. /news/2025-05-nasa-tiny-plankton-giant-whales.html Ecology Biotechnology Tue, 06 May 2025 09:08:06 EDT news665741281 Up to 250,000 deaths from poor air quality could be prevented annually in central and western Europe by 2050 if greenhouse gas emissions are drastically reduced, say researchers. /news/2025-05-greenhouse-gases-deaths-poor-air.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 06 May 2025 09:00:07 EDT news665674501 Clouds form upon existing particles in the atmosphere and extreme weather events like flooding and snowstorms are related to the production of large amounts of ice in clouds. /news/2025-05-biological-particles-crucial-heavy-climate.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 05 May 2025 10:25:03 EDT news665659501 As Europe increases its reliance on solar energy to meet climate and energy security targets, a growing atmospheric phenomenon is complicating the path forward: Saharan dust. New research presented at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly (EGU25) shows that mineral dust carried on the wind from North Africa is not only reducing photovoltaic (PV) electricity generation across Europe but also making it harder to predict. /news/2025-05-saharan-storms-threaten-europe-solar.html Earth Sciences Environment Fri, 02 May 2025 11:16:03 EDT news665403362 A research team has developed a novel aerosol-based emulsion system that enables the self-assembly of asymmetric nanostructures—something long considered a major challenge in materials science. The team includes researchers from the Hefei Institutes of Â鶹ÒùÔºical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with collaborators at the University of California. /news/2025-04-scientists-aerosol-asymmetric-superstructures.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Wed, 30 Apr 2025 12:28:03 EDT news665234881 Air pollution with particulate matter smaller than 1 micrometer has fallen by an average of 5% annually in rural Saxony. However, the decreases were particularly marked in air masses coming from Eastern Europe: PM1 concentrations fell by as much as 28% per year. /news/2025-04-eastern-europe-air-cleaner-term.html Environment Mon, 28 Apr 2025 17:08:08 EDT news665078881 Since last fall, NASA scientists have flown an advanced 3D Doppler wind lidar instrument across the United States to collect nearly 100 hours of data—including a flight through a hurricane. The goal? To demonstrate the unique capability of the Aerosol Wind Profiler (AWP) instrument to gather extremely precise measurements of wind direction, wind speed, and aerosol concentration—all crucial elements for accurate weather forecasting. /news/2025-04-nasa-3d-laser-aims-air.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 28 Apr 2025 16:47:04 EDT news665077621 Criegee intermediates (CIs)—highly reactive species formed when ozone reacts with alkenes in the atmosphere—play a crucial role in generating hydroxyl radicals (the atmosphere's "cleansing agents") and aerosols that impact climate and air quality. The syn-CH3CHOO is particularly important among these intermediates, accounting for 25%–79% of all CIs depending on the season. /news/2025-04-atmospheric-reaction-criegee-intermediates-unexpectedly.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 28 Apr 2025 15:58:03 EDT news665074681 A technique to cool the planet, in which particles are added to the atmosphere to reflect sunlight, would not require developing special aircraft but could be achieved using existing large planes, according to a new modeling study led by UCL (University College London) researchers. /news/2025-04-geoengineering-technique-cool-planet-aircraft.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 28 Apr 2025 09:00:07 EDT news665047561 Through its "Moon to Mars" program, NASA plans to send the first crewed missions to Mars by the end of the next decade. To fulfill this bold vision, the agency is investigating advanced technologies through numerous programs. This includes advanced propulsion technologies that will reduce transit times to Mars, thereby limiting astronaut exposure to microgravity and cosmic radiation. Other technologies under consideration include methods for waste elimination, water reclamation, crew health and safety, and resource self-sufficiency. /news/2025-04-payloads-mars-champs.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Mon, 21 Apr 2025 09:23:04 EDT news664446181 As NASA prepares to return to the moon, studying astronaut health and safety is a top priority. Scientists monitor and analyze every part of the International Space Station crew's daily life—down to the air they breathe. These studies are helping NASA prepare for long-term human exploration of the moon and, eventually, Mars. /news/2025-04-nasa-glenn-lunar-air-quality.html Space Exploration Fri, 18 Apr 2025 13:18:03 EDT news664201081 The accumulation of toxic elements poses a significant threat to terrestrial ecosystems, with the patterns and influencing factors of this accumulation being complex. However, elevational patterns of toxic elements in montane ecosystems, along with the underlying drivers, have largely been unexplored. /news/2025-04-potential-drivers-toxic-elements-elevational.html Environment Thu, 17 Apr 2025 16:26:02 EDT news664125961 In February, NASA's ER-2 science aircraft flew instruments designed to improve satellite data products and Earth science observations. From data collection to processing, satellite systems continue to advance, and NASA is exploring how instruments analyzing clouds can improve data measurement methods. /news/2025-04-clouds-nasa-flies-satellite.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 17 Apr 2025 10:44:03 EDT news664105442 The Tijuana River has been plagued with raw sewage and industrial waste from Tijuana for decades, fouling beaches along the U.S.-Mexico border with polluted water and sending foul odors drifting through communities in San Diego County. /news/2025-04-plagued-pollution-decades-tijuana-river.html Environment Thu, 17 Apr 2025 08:30:03 EDT news664096423 A research team led by Prof. Shi Chong from the Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Japanese scientists, has made a significant advancement in satellite-based air quality monitoring. /news/2025-04-ai-powered-algorithm-satellite-air.html Environment Tue, 15 Apr 2025 16:47:04 EDT news663954422 Prescribed burns literally fight fire with more fire. Often referred to as "beneficial fires," they target areas at risk for wildfires and burn away material that could otherwise fuel a future blaze. /news/2025-04-parameters-forest-safer-cleaner.html Environment Tue, 15 Apr 2025 15:36:05 EDT news663950161 The sun may rise every morning, but the amount of sunlight reaching Earth's surface can substantially vary over decades, according to a perspective article led by an international research team. /news/2025-04-amount-sunlight-earth-surface-varies.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 15 Apr 2025 03:00:02 EDT news663848449 Research led by the Union of Concerned Scientists reports that emissions from the world's largest fossil fuel and cement companies have contributed significantly to both present-day and long-term sea level rise. Products from 122 major producers have contributed up to 37% of the rise in global sea level observed through 2022 and may account for an additional 0.26 to 0.55 meters by 2300. /news/2025-04-industrial-carbon-contribute-significantly-sea.html Earth Sciences Environment Fri, 11 Apr 2025 06:50:01 EDT news663563173 Hantavirus recently made news headlines as the cause of death for Betsy Arakawa, the wife of actor Gene Hackman, but little is commonly known about it other than its connection to rodents. /news/2025-04-hantavirus-hotspots-revealed-rodent-species.html Ecology Cell & Microbiology Thu, 10 Apr 2025 14:22:04 EDT news663513722 Amid deepening inequalities and escalating crises, including climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, a new United Nations report presents a bold approach for change. /news/2025-04-deep-urgently-sustainable-world.html Environment Wed, 09 Apr 2025 16:15:04 EDT news663434101 When the KÄ«lauea Volcano erupted in May 2018, an enormous amount of ash was released into the atmosphere in a plume nearly five miles high. A new study by an international team of researchers revealed that a rare and large summertime phytoplankton bloom in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre in the summer of 2018 was prompted by ash from KÄ«lauea falling on the ocean surface approximately 1,200 miles west of the volcano. The research was published recently in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. /news/2025-04-klauea-volcano-ash-prompted-largest.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 09 Apr 2025 14:12:04 EDT news663426722 Multiple plans exist to explore Mars in the coming decades using robotic and crewed missions. The ultimate goal of these missions is to determine whether human beings could live there someday. This requires access to building materials, water, cutting-edge manufacturing technology, and closed-loop habitation systems with bioregenerative life support systems (BLSS). Basically, future settlers will need to create conditions that mimic Earth's self-sustaining ecological systems—essentially, we need to "take Earth with us" to other planets. /news/2025-04-quickly-temperatures-mars.html Planetary Sciences Fri, 04 Apr 2025 11:42:03 EDT news662985722 An international study led by the University of Eastern Finland and the Finnish Meteorological Institute has demonstrated that the formation and properties of lower-atmosphere clouds are highly sensitive to changes in atmospheric aerosol concentrations. /news/2025-04-term-reveal-cloud-sensitivity-atmospheric.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 03 Apr 2025 11:21:03 EDT news662898061 When Hunga Tonga–Hunga HaÊ»apai, an underwater volcano near Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean, erupted in 2022, scientists expected that it would spew enough water vapor into the stratosphere to push global temperatures past the 1.5 C threshold set by the Paris Accords. A new UCLA-led study shows that not only did the eruption not warm the planet, but it actually reduced temperatures over the Southern Hemisphere by 0.1 C. /news/2025-04-hunga-volcano-eruption-unexpected-southern.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 02 Apr 2025 13:23:23 EDT news662818999 The ice-giant planet Uranus, which travels around the sun tipped on its side, is a weird and mysterious world. Now, in an unprecedented study spanning two decades, researchers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have uncovered new insights into the planet's atmospheric composition and dynamics. This was possible only because of Hubble's sharp resolution, spectral capabilities, and longevity. /news/2025-03-hubble-year-uranus-yields-atmospheric.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 31 Mar 2025 16:11:23 EDT news662656269 There is a non-zero chance that somewhere in the nearby solar system is a rock that might kill us all. /news/2025-03-earth-asteroids-generation-planetary-defense.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Thu, 27 Mar 2025 07:49:51 EDT news662280586