Put a plastic bag in your tank: Converting polyethylene waste into liquid fuel

Researchers in India have developed a relatively low-temperature process to convert certain kinds of plastic waste into liquid fuel as a way to re-use discarded plastic bags and other products. Researchers in India have developed a relatively low-temperature process to convert certain kinds of plastic waste into liquid fuel as a way to re-use discarded plastic bags and other products. They re

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The Loss of biodiversity limits toxin degradation

You might not think of microbes when you consider biodiversity, but it turns out that even a moderate loss of less than 5% of soil microbes may compromise some key ecosystem functions and could lead to lower degradation of toxins in the environment. Research published today in the SfAM journal, Environmental Microbiology, reports that without a rich diversity of soil bacteria, specialized functions such as the removal of pesticide residues ar

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Bald reef gets new growth with seaweed transplant

Transplanted seaweed is attached to a reef by a team member. Credit: Image courtesy of University of New South Wales Marine ecologists in Sydney have successfully restored a once thriving seaweed species, which vanished along a stretch of the city's coastline during the 1970s and 80s when there were high levels of sewage. A team of researchers from UNSW, the Sydney Institute of Marine Scien

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Updating air pollution measurement methods

Launching a natural research experiment in Kathmandu, Nepal, this month using advanced monitoring methods to assess health risk from air pollution, environmental health scientist Rick Peltier at the University of Massachusetts Amherst hopes to demonstrate for the first time in a real-world setting that air pollution can and should be regulated based on toxicology variables rather than simply o

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The Science behind Hindu’s Four Ages (Chatur Yugas): Magnetogeddon may destroy the World!

Science behind Hindu’s Four Ages (Chatur Yugas): Magnetogeddon may destroy the world! Research paper written by London Swaminathan Research article No.1458; Dated  4th   December 2014. The study of the earth’s magnetic field and the prediction about Magnetogeddon by the scientists justify the Hindus’ classification of Chatur Yugas. An interesting article reveals the science behind

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Scientists uncover hidden river of rubbish threatening to devastate wildlife

The sheer amount of plastic recovered shows there is an unseen stream of rubbish flowing through London which could be a serious threat to aquatic wildlife. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Royal Holloway London Thousands of pieces of plastic have been discovered, submerged along the river bed of the upper Thames Estuary by scientists at Royal Holloway, University of London and the Nat

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Mining can damage fish habitats far downstream, study shows

In this image, acid is seeping from a Kentucky coal mine.  Credit: Wesley Daniel, Michigan State University Anglers across the nation wondering why luck at their favorite fishing spot seems to have dried up may have a surprising culprit: a mine miles away, even in a different state. Scientists at Michigan State University (MSU) have taken a first broad look at the impacts of mines acros

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Laser from a plane discovers Roman goldmines in Spain

These are ancient goldmines in the Eria river valley, with channels and reservoirs for exploitation. The model generated with LiDAR data (left) allows these structures to be located on aerial photos (right). Credit: J. Fernández Lozano et al. Hidden under the vegetation and crops of the Eria Valley, in León (Spain), there is a gold mining network created by the Romans two thousand years ago,

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Out of India: Finding the origins of horses, rhinos

An artist’s depiction of Cambaytherium thewissi. Credit: Elaine Kasmer Working at the edge of a coal mine in India, a team of Johns Hopkins researchers and colleagues have filled in a major gap in science's understanding of the evolution of a group of animals that includes horses and rhinos. That group likely originated on the subcontinent when it was still an island headed swiftly for c

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Artisanal gold mining and its health risks

searchers from the UPM have characterized the health risks derived from the usage of mercury in artisanal gold mining in Colombia through probabilistic models. Researchers from the UPM have characterized the health risks derived from the usage of mercury in artisanal gold mining in Colombia through probabilistic models. The tools developed by researchers from the Environmental Geochemistry R

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Mapping reveals targets for preserving tropical carbon stocks

This is an image from the Peru-wide, high-resolution carbon map showing the effects of deforestation (blue; no more carbon remaining) into a region of ultra-high carbon stocks in the surrounding forest (red). You can see massive losses in the bustling city of Pucallpa (right side) and the thousands of small farmers spreading into the forest to the west of Pucallpa. Image courtesy of Greg Asner

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New laws threaten Brazil's unique ecosystems

Brazil's globally significant ecosystems could be exposed to mining and dams if proposals currently being debated by the Brazilian Congress go ahead, according to researchers publishing in the journal Science this week. Credit: Alexander C. Lees Brazil´s globally significant ecosystems could be exposed to mining and dams if proposals currently being debated by the Brazilian Congress go ahead,

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A fraction of the global military spending could save the planet's biodiversity, say experts: Only one in four protected areas is well managed

This image shows Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda. A fundamental step-change involving an increase in funding and political commitment is urgently needed to ensure that protected areas deliver their full conservation, social and economic potential, according to an article published today in Nature by experts from Wildlife Conservation Society, the University of Queensland, and the IUCN

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Carbon dioxide converted into a valuable resource

Arshe Said, postgraduate researcher at Aalto University, operating a pilot plant that converts CO2 and slag into Precipitated Calcium Carbonate (PCC). Credit: Image courtesy of Aalto University Researchers at Aalto University have opened a pilot plant that converts CO2 and slag, the by-product of steel manufacturing, into a valuable mineral product. The product, Precipitated Calcium Carb

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Better regulations needed for deep-sea biology

Deep-sea biology. Credit: Image courtesy of Radboud University Nijmegen Although we know relatively little about the deep sea, we do extract raw materials for electronics and medicines from it. Biologist Erik Dücker describes the history of deep-sea biology in his thesis. He also gives some pointers on policy and on how to protect this remarkable but rather inaccessible area. He will receive

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The Philippine tarsier: Genetic proof of a new variety

It’s not a monkey. It’s not a lemur. It’s not an African Bush Baby or even a Madagascan Mouse. Meet the Philippine tarsier: a tiny, adorable and downright “cool” primate from Southeast Asia. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Kansas It's not a monkey. It's not a lemur. It's not an African Bush Baby or even a Madagascan Mouse. Meet the Philippine tarsier: a tiny, adorable and downright "c

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Uranium exposure, skin cancer: Study may help explain link

Diane Stearns and NAU nursing student, Janice Wilson. Credit: Diane Stearns After years of delving deep into DNA and researching ways in which metal damage may lead to cancer, a team of researchers is taking a step back to look at the surface where one answer may have been all along. The varying health risks from exposure to natural uranium are well established, but Diane Stearns, professor

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Heavy metals and hydroelectricity

August 2014 GSA Today cover image: The northeastern shoreline of Lake Junín, Peru. The pristine water surface belies a high level of heavy metal contamination of surface sediments. Credit: Donald T. Rodbell Hydraulic engineering is increasingly relied on for hydroelectricity generation. However, redirecting stream flow can yield unintended consequences. In the August 2014 issue of GSA Today,

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Lead in teeth can tell a body's tale, study finds

Revealing information UF geology professor George Kamenov has published research that shows trace amounts of lead in modern and historical human teeth can give clues about where they came from. Credit: Ray Carson/UF Photography Your teeth can tell stories about you, and not just that you always forget to floss. A study led by University of Florida geology researcher George D. Kamenov showed

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