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Green Algae Could Hold Clues for Engineering Faster-Growing Crops

Two new studies of green algae — the scourge of swimming pool owners and freshwater ponds — have revealed new insights into how these organisms siphon carbon dioxide from the air for use in photosynthesis, a key factor in their ability to grow so quickly. Understanding this process may someday help researchers improve the growth rate of crops such as wheat and rice.

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Going Diving in the Tropics? Don't Eat the Reef Fish!

Reducing tourist consumption of reef fish is critical for Palau’s ocean sustainability, finds a new Nippon Foundation-UBC Nereus Program study published today in Marine Policy.

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NASA Sees Large Tropical Storm Jose Doing a "Sit and Spin" off the Massachusetts Coast

Tropical Storm Jose continued to spin south of Massachusetts when NASA's Aqua satellite flew overhead from space and captured an image of the large storm that hasn't moved much.

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Controlling problem ice — by cracking it

Scientists and engineers have been waging a quiet but determined battle against an unlikely problem: the build-up of ice on different structures.

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Gravity Waves Influence Weather and Climate

Gravity waves form in the atmosphere as a result of destabilizing processes, for example at weather fronts, during storms or when air masses stroke over mountain ranges. They can occasionally be seen in the sky as bands of cloud. For weather forecast and climate models, however, they are mostly “invisible” due to their short wavelength. The effects of gravity waves can only be taken into consideration by including additional special components in the models. The “MS-GWaves” research unit funded by the German Research Foundation and led by Goethe University Frankfurt has meanwhile further developed such parameterizations and will test them in the second funding period.

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When residents take charge of their rainforests, fewer trees die

When the government gives citizens a personal stake in forested land, trees don’t disappear as quickly and environmental harm slows down.

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Bio-inspired approach to RNA delivery

By delivering strands of genetic material known as messenger RNA (mRNA) into cells, researchers can induce the cells to produce any protein encoded by the mRNA. This technique holds great potential for administering vaccines or treating diseases such as cancer, but achieving efficient delivery of mRNA has proven challenging.

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Protected Waters Foster Resurgence of West Coast Rockfish

West Coast rockfish species in deep collapse only 20 years ago have multiplied rapidly in large marine protected areas off Southern California, likely seeding surrounding waters with enough offspring to offer promise of renewed fishing, a new study has found.

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New Study Pushes Back Deadline to Act to Limit Warming to 1.5 Degrees

A new study suggests that nations have a bit more time than previously thought if they want to cut greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). The research, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, finds that the world’s economies can emit an additional 700 billion tons of carbon dioxide before exceeding 1.5 degrees — more than twice previous estimates.

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Fly away home? Ice age may have clipped bird migration

The onset of the last ice age may have forced some bird species to abandon their northerly migrations for thousands of years, says new research led by a University of Nebraska-Lincoln ornithologist.

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