Eyes on Nature: How Satellite Imagery Is Transforming Conservation Science

High-resolution earth imagery has provided ecologists and conservationists with a dynamic new tool that is enabling everything from more accurate counting of wildlife populations to rapid detection of deforestation, illegal mining, and other changes in the landscape.

Improved Representation of Solar Variability in Climate Models

For upcoming climate model studies, scientists can use a new, significantly improved data set for solar forcing. An international science team led by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC) in Granada (Spain) has now published the details of the new reconstruction of this reference dataset in the journal Geoscientific Model Development. A significantly enhanced influence of solar cycle effects is expected, particularly in the stratosphere.

Pollution from Viscose Manufacturing Another Reality Check for the Fashion Industry

The cellulose-based synthetic fiber viscose is a popular fabric of choice for countless apparel companies, and is often touted as a sustainable material. But this textile, often sourced from wood pulp, has generated more than its fair share of controversy over the years. Some high-profile designers, notably Stella McCartney, have pledged to source material that can only be traced to responsibly managed forests; McCartney herself has striven to raise awareness about the links viscose has to deforestation and pollution.

Gas hydrate younger than previously thought

Dr. Ewa Burwicz-Galerne from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel has been awarded during the ninth International Gas Hydrate Conference (ICGH9) in Denver (Colorado, USA) for the world's best PhD thesis in the field of natural gas hydrate research in the past three years. For her thesis, the geologist has developed some of the most complex numerical models of gas hydrates and has gained new insights into their development. The latest study recently was published in the international journal Geochemistry Geophysics, Geosystems.

Seasonality of Sea Ice Enhances Climate Warming in the Arctic

The sea ice cover of the Arctic Ocean shrinks rapidly with most ice loss observed during the summer months. A new study under participation of the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel recently published in the international peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports shows that this sea ice cover becomes increasingly seasonal. As the authors state the strongest changes in the Arctic can be expected to occur in the coming decade.

Researchers use virtual reality to unpick causes of common diseases

Researchers from the University of Oxford are using a unique blend of virtual reality and innovative genetic techniques to understand the causes of diseases such as diabetes and anaemia.

Beech trees native to Scotland after all, scientists discover

Beech trees should be considered native to Scotland – despite a long-running debate over their national identity, researchers at the University of Stirling and Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) report.

Ensuring carpoolers are compatible is key to ridesharing success

Ensuring that would-be carpoolers are riding with people they actually like could potentially decrease car use by nearly 60 per cent, research from a professor at the University of Waterloo has found.

York study finds exposure to neonics results in early death for honeybee workers and queens

Worker and queen honeybees exposed to field-realistic levels of neonicotinoid insecticides die sooner, reducing the health of the entire colony, a new study led by York University biologists has found.

Researchers were also surprised to find the neonicotinoid-contaminated pollen collected by the honeybees came not from crops grown from neonicotinoid-treated seeds, but plants growing in areas adjacent to those crops.

Possible new threat to Earth's ozone layer

The Montreal Protocol has been hailed for controlling chlorine-based chemicals that created a vast hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica. But new research by British and American scientists suggest a chemical not controlled by the international treaty poses a potential risk to the Earth’s protective ozone layer.