Environment
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Since we first got wind of Saildrone's autonomous USVs back in 2018, they've mapped miles of ocean floor, chased hurricanes, and surveyed remote regions. Now the company is adding a new vessel to tackle near-shore mapping and maritime surveillance.
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Environmental modification has a flow-on effect on natural ecosystems, including the insects that carry disease. For the first time, researchers have shown how environmental change affects the transmission of insect-borne diseases.
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In July last year, Saildrone launched one its sensor-packed unmanned aquatic drones on a voyage of discovery in the North Pacific, tasked with filling in ocean mapping blanks around Alaska's Aleutian Islands as well as off the coast of California.
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A new study has shown that foods that come from the ocean or freshwater, known as "blue foods," have the potential to address several important global issues, including nutritional deficits, disease, and climate change.
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Researchers have identified 27 feedback loops demonstrating how one effect of climbing temperatures leads to events that further reinforce global warming and the initial event itself. The findings make immediate climate action even more crucial.
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Atmospheric dust can both cool and warm our planet. A new study shows that this dust could be masking the true impact of greenhouse gasses on climate change, and that a shift in the dust quantity could lead to a warming spike.
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Plastics are made to last, which is great while they’re being used but not so great after they’re discarded. Chemists have now developed a new kind of plastic that has all the durability of regular plastic, but biodegrades within months or even days.
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The green economy desperately needs huge quantities of battery metals, and they're sitting right there on the deep ocean floor. Here's a device designed to harvest them with the minimum possible impact to one of the world's last untouched ecosystems.
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Striking new research suggests the lifespan of honey bees kept in controlled laboratory conditions is 50% shorter than what was seen in the 1970s. The researchers hypothesize genetic changes in bees may be responsible for the shorter lifespans.
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The seafloor is rich in valuable metals, but gathering them is disruptive to the environment. An international project has now tested a system called Apollo 2, which can vacuum up metal nodules without kicking up sediment.
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Around 66 million years ago a huge asteroid slammed into Earth and wiped out most life. Two new studies have identified evidence that the impact triggered global tsunamis almost a mile high and mega-earthquakes that rumbled for months afterwards.
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Engineers at the University of Washington have designed a reactor that can completely destroy PFAS forever chemicals. The technology could help treat chemicals at manufacturing sites before they can leak out into the natural environment.
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