SciGlow | All Science News In One Place
SciGlow is a newsletter of science stories from the major research labs. Headlines link to in-depth articles and editorials. SciGlow keeps scientists and others up-to-date on current research.
The Himalayan orogenic belt produces frequent large earthquakes that impact population centers for a distance of over 2500 km. In the central region, the 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Nepal, with moment magnitude (MW) 7.8, partially ruptured a ~120-km by 80-km patch of the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT), the detachment that separates the underthrusting Indian plate … Read more
Researchers have discovered 56 previously uncharted subglacial lakes beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet bringing the total known number of lakes to 60. Although these lakes are typically smaller than similar lakes in Antarctica, their discovery demonstrates that lakes beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet are much more common than previously thought. The Greenland Ice Sheet covers … Read more
The largest block of tropical forest in the planet may be severely threatened. One of ten species of tree in the world grows in Amazonia, and half of them could be threatened by the middle of the century. This is one of the findings of a recent study published in Nature Climate Change, where four … Read more
Nature, said Ralph Waldo Emerson, is no spendthrift. Unfortunately, he was wrong. New research led by University of Utah biologists William Anderegg, Anna Trugman and David Bowling find that some plants and trees are prolific spendthrifts in drought conditions – “spending” precious soil water to cool themselves and, in the process, making droughts more intense. … Read more
The future behaviour of terrestrial vegetation under a warmer climate and a CO2 enriched atmosphere is one of the largest sources of uncertainty in climate science. Till present the experimental analysis of plants under future environmental conditions has been restricted to very expensive manipulation experiments (e.g. FACE) with very limited spatial extent, plant age, species … Read more
Increased solar radiation penetrating through the damaged ozone layer is interacting with the changing climate, and the consequences are rippling through the Earth’s natural systems, effecting everything from weather to the health and abundance of sea mammals like seals and penguins. These findings were detailed in a review article published today in Nature Sustainability by members of … Read more
New research suggests that after seeing or hearing about impacts of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef people feel less able to respond individually to those issues , and think the best outcome will be through collective efforts led by governments and corporations. James Cook University Dr Scott Heron was part of an international … Read more
Scientists have previously struggled to identify patterns for earthquakes happening in hazardous areas around the world, with the suggestion that they appear to strike largely at random. However, a study published in Nature Communications suggests that Coulomb pre-stress – the static stress present on a fault plane prior to rupture – can go some way to explaining … Read more
Oxygen concentrations in both the open ocean and coastal waters have declined by 2-5% since at least the middle of the 20th century. This is one of the most important changes occurring in an ocean becoming increasingly modified by human activities, with raised water temperatures, carbon dioxide content and nutrient inputs. Through this, humans are … Read more
Type IIa diamonds are by definition stones which have very low nitrogen contents, below analytical detection limits. The presence of nitrogen in a diamond results in a yellow colour, but stones which do not have nitrogen impurities can have excellent white colours, including the top D-colour category. Some Type II diamonds can be very large, … Read more