How is Antarctica melting, exactly? Crucial details are beginning to come into focus

The front of the Ross Ice Shelf floats in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Matt Siegfried/Scripps Institution of Oceanography, CC BY-NC Madelaine Gamble Rosevear, University of Tasmania; Ben Galton-Fenzi; Bishakhdatta Gayen, The University of Melbourne, and Catherine Vreugdenhil, The University of MelbourneThe size of the Antarctic ice sheet can be hard to comprehend. Two kilometres thick on average and covering nearly twice the area of Australia, the ice sheet holds enough freshwater to raise global sea levels by 58 metres. Ice loss from this sheet is projected to be the leading driver of sea level rise by 2100, yet its contribution remains highly uncertain. While sea levels are certain to rise this century, projections of the contribution from Antarctic ice vary from a 44 cm rise to a 22 cm fall. Much of this uncertainty is because the ocean processes that control the fate of the sheet occur on an incredibly small scale and are very difficult to measure and model. But recently scientists have made significant progress in understanding this “ice-ocean boundary layer”. This progress is the subject of our new review paper, published today in Annual Reviews. Shrinking, thinning and retreating At the margins of the Antarctic ice sheet, glaciers flow into the Southern Ocean, forming floating ice shelves. These ice shelves act as...

Read More........→January 22, 2025

In 2025, let’s make it game on – not game over – for our precious natural world

Jakub Maculewicz/Shutterstock Darcy Watchorn, Deakin University and Marissa Parrott, The University of MelbourneIt’s just past midnight in the cool, ancient forests of Tasmania. We’ve spent a long day and night surveying endangered Tasmanian devils. All around, small animals scurry through bushes. A devil calls in the darkness. Microbats swoop and swirl as a spotted-tailed quoll slips through the shadows. Working here is spine-tingling and electric. Weeks later, we’re in a moonlit forest in Victoria. It was logged a few years earlier and burnt by bushfire a few decades before that. The old trees are gone. So too are the quolls, bats and moths that once dwelled in their hollows. Invasive blackberry chokes what remains. The silence is deafening, and devastating. In our work as field biologists, we often desperately wish we saw a place before it was cleared, logged, burnt or overtaken by invasive species. Other times, we hold back tears as we read about the latest environmental catastrophe, overwhelmed by anger and frustration. Perhaps you know this feeling of grief? The new year is a chance to reflect on the past and consider future possibilities. Perhaps we’ll sign up to the gym, spend more time with family, or – perish the thought – finally get to the dentist. But let us also set a New Year’s resolution for nature. Let’s...

Read More........→January 17, 2025

How light can shift your mood and mental health

llaszlo/Shutterstock Jacob Crouse, University of Sydney; Emiliana Tonini, University of Sydney, and Ian Hickie, University of SydneyThis is the next article in our ‘Light and health’ series, where we look at how light affects our physical and mental health in sometimes surprising ways. Read other articles in the series. It’s spring and you’ve probably noticed a change in when the Sun rises and sets. But have you also noticed a change in your mood? We’ve known for a while that light plays a role in our wellbeing. Many of us tend to feel more positive when spring returns. But for others, big changes in light, such as at the start of spring, can be tough. And for many, bright light at night can be a problem. Here’s what’s going on. An ancient rhythm of light and mood In an earlier article in our series, we learned that light shining on the back of the eye sends “timing signals” to the brain and the master clock of the circadian system. This clock coordinates our daily (circadian) rhythms. “Clock genes” also regulate circadian rhythms. These genes control the timing of when many other genes turn on and off during the 24-hour, light-dark cycle. But how is this all linked with our mood and mental health? Circadian rhythms can be disrupted. This can happen if there are problems with how the body clock develops or functions,...

Read More........→December 11, 2024

How Covid virus defeats body’s immune response

New Delhi, (IANS): Japanese researchers have discovered that SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for Covid-19, carries an enzyme that can act against a cell’s innate defence mechanism against viruses.This can answer why Covid-19 is more infectious than the previous SARS and MERS-causing viruses, said the researchers from Kobe University.The team focussed their study on the role of a molecular tag called “ISG15” in Covid virus that prevents nucleocapsid proteins from attaching to each other -- a key process to enable viruses to assemble.In addition, the “enzyme can remove the tags from its nucleocapsid, recovering its ability to assemble new viruses and thus overcoming the innate immune response,” explained virologist Shoji Ikuo from the varsity, in a paper in the Journal of Virology.While SARS and MERS viruses also carry an enzyme that can remove the ISG15 tag, Shoji’s team found that their versions are less efficient.“The results suggest that the novel coronavirus is simply better at evading this aspect of the innate immune system’s defense mechanism, which explains why it is so infectious,” Shoji said.The innate immune system is the first line of defense against pathogens which limits viral entry, replication, and assembly. It also detects and removes infected cells.Unlike SARS and MERS viruses, Covid rapidly spread to almost all...

Read More........→November 03, 2024

Einstein and anime: Hong Kong university tests AI professors

HONG KONG - Using virtual reality headsets, students at a Hong Kong university travel to a pavilion above the clouds to watch an AI-generated Albert Einstein explain game theory.The students are part of a course at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) that is testing the use of "AI lecturers" as the artificial intelligence revolution hits campuses around the world.The mass availability of tools such as ChatGPT has sparked optimism about new leaps in productivity and teaching, but also fears over cheating, plagiarism and the replacement of human instructors.Professor Pan Hui, the project lead for HKUST's AI project, is not worried about being replaced by the tech and believes it can actually help ease what he described as a global shortage of teachers."AI teachers can bring in diversity, bring in an interesting aspect, and even immersive storytelling," Hui told AFP.In his "Social Media for Creatives" course, AI-generated instructors teach 30 post-graduate students about immersive technologies and the impact of digital platforms.AFP | Peter PARKSThese instructors are generated after presentation slides are fed into a programme. The looks, voices and gestures of the avatars can be customised, and they can be displayed on a screen or VR headsets.This is mixed with in-person teaching by Hui, who says the system...

Read More........→October 29, 2024

Targeted Sound Waves Treat Pain and Depression in as Little as One 40-minute Session

credit – University of UtahA crown-like device has been relieving patients of pain and depression in clinical trials, and has the authors excited.Called the Diadem, named for a crown-like adornment worn by sovereigns across time, it sends therapeutic sound waves to targeted regions of the brain with millimeter precision.These sorts of non-pharma treatments can raise eyebrows with some, as for the last generation, the prescription of SSRIs for depression has been widespread and nearly universal among American clinicians.But the paper’s lead author Tom Riis, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Utah, reports rave reviews among his team.“We’ve been blown away by the positive results so far,” Rise told New Atlas. “After just a single 40-minute stimulation session, patients are showing immediate, clinically substantial improvements in symptoms.”“While it should be kept in mind that not every participant saw drastic improvement, in the ones that did the change could be quite remarkable,” he added. “For several, you could just see it in their eyes—coming out of the session, their mood and behavior were a total 180 from when they had walked in. They were noticeably at ease, less burdened, more present.”The paper on the device was conducted during phase 2 clinical trials, and the authors,...

Read More........→September 21, 2024

Crystals hold a secret history of volcanoes – and clues about future eruptions

An eruption at Mt Stromboli in Italy. J Caulfield Teresa Ubide, The University of QueenslandImagine you had a crystal ball that revealed when a volcano would next erupt. For the hundreds of millions of people around the world who live near active volcanoes, it would be an extremely useful device. As it turns out, certain crystals really can help us forecast volcanic eruptions. These crystals are produced in molten rock as it travels from deep inside Earth to the surface. With increasingly sophisticated scientific methods, we can extract a secret history of volcanoes from these crystals – the why, where and when of past eruptions. These historical records can help us interpret if signs of volcano unrest, such as earthquakes tracking the movement of magma towards the surface, may lead to an eruption. So, as I explain in a new column in Nature Geoscience, we are getting closer to having crystal balls (for volcanoes, at least). Volcano crystal balls Magma, the super-hot molten rock which feeds volcanic eruptions, is generated many tens of kilometres below the surface in Earth’s mantle. Lava engulfing houses during the 2021 eruption at La Palma in the Canary Islands. R BalcellsOn its journey up to the surface, magma may get stalled in different reservoirs along the way, and travel to its eventual eruption along a complex...

Read More........→September 19, 2024

New Carbon Fiber Batteries Could Form the Actual Framework of Cars and Airplanes

Artist impression of vehicle partly constructed with batteries made of carbon fibre composite stiff as aluminum – Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden / Henrik Sandsjö / SWNSCars and planes could soon be built from the world’s strongest batteries, thanks to a ground-breaking innovation from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.Researchers detailed the advance of so-called massless energy storage—and a structural battery that could cut the weight of a laptop by 50%, make mobile phones as thin as a credit card, or increase the driving range of an EV by up to 70 percent on a single charge.Structural batteries are materials that, in addition to storing energy, can carry loads. Stiff, strong carbon fibers could store electrical energy chemically and, in this way, the battery material can become part of the actual construction material of a product.And, when cars, planes, ships, or computers are built from a material that functions as both a battery and a load-bearing structure, the weight and energy consumption are radically reduced.“We have succeeded in creating a battery made of carbon fibre composite that is as stiff as aluminum and energy-dense enough to be used commercially,” says Chalmers researcher Richa Chaudhary, the first author of a paper recently published in Advanced Materials. “Just like a human skeleton,...

Read More........→September 17, 2024

Why do dogs have different coats? Experts explain – and give grooming tips for different types

WildStrawberry / Shutterstock Susan Hazel, University of Adelaide and Mia Cobb, The University of MelbourneDog hair comes in many varieties, from shaggy to short, curly to straight. If you live with a dog, you live with their hair – on your couch, in your clothes, it’s everywhere! Beyond colour, have you ever wondered what’s behind the differences in coat type? We actually know quite a lot about why dogs have different coats, and it comes down to their genes. What are the main coat types in dogs? The three main features of dog coats are how long the hairs are, whether they are curly or straight, and whether they have extra flourishes. The flourishes are called “furnishings”, and can include a hairy moustache and shaggy eyebrows. The three main features of a dog’s coat (aside from colour) are how long the hairs are, whether they are curly or straight, and whether they have extra ‘furnishings’ such as moustaches and eyebrows. Laugesen MateoCombinations of these three features result in seven different coat types in dogs: short, wire, wire and curly, long, long with furnishings, curly, and curly with furnishings. We know from a study of more than 1,000 dogs with varying coats that differences in only three genes are responsible for this variety. The gene responsible for long hair (called FGF5) is recessive, meaning dogs...

Read More........→September 12, 2024

A window of opportunity for climate and biodiversity

There have been calls for a joint approach to tackling climate change and biodiversity loss for years, but to date, co-ordinated global policy is still lacking. (Pixabay/Pat Josse) Idil Boran, York University, Canada and Nathalie Pettorelli, Zoological Society of London The world is facing unparalleled changes in climatic conditions and drastic loss of biological diversity, putting humanity at risk. The breakdown of the earth’s climate and the rapid loss of wildlife are intertwined, yet response by governments to these crises currently fails to recognize the deep connections between them. There have been calls for a joint approach to tackling climate change and biodiversity loss for years, but to date, co-ordinated global policy is still lacking. In our recent paper published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, we argue that a joint work program between the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is the best approach. Our paper also provides a concept of how this joint program could be set up, ideas on the type of issues it should tackle, and recommendations for successful implementation. Nature-based solutions Nature-based solutions (NbS) are defined as “actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified...

Read More........→September 05, 2024

Elite athletes are generally smarter than us – cognitive sciences can explain why

Alberto Filgueiras, CQUniversity AustraliaThe year was 1920. It was George “Babe” Ruth’s first season playing for the New York Yankees. During that season, he scored an amazing 54 home runs. He alone scored more home runs than any team. However, “The Bambino,” as he was nicknamed, was far from an example of athletic prowess. He was chubby, did not like to practice and was constantly seen at parties drinking and gambling. So, how could he achieve such greatness on the baseball field? To answer this question, a prominent sportswriter from the New York Times, Hugh Fullerton, knocked on the door of the Columbia University psychology lab where two graduate researchers, Albert Johanson and Joseph Holmes, were prompted to answer. Fullerton’s enquiry was simple: if Ruth’s achievements could not be explained by physical abilities, then what other factors might be involved? It was no surprise when the researchers discovered Ruth scored higher than the average population in every psychological test he did. Ruth’s testing results formed the basis of an article by Fullerton in Popular Science Monthly titled: “Why Babe Ruth is greatest home-run hitter”. These findings changed the popular perspective on sport performance, suggesting physical attributes weren’t the only reason athletes were able to excel – mental skills were finally...

Read More........→August 29, 2024