74 articles from MONDAY 2.9.2019

Weatherwatch: an unsung climate hero comes in from the cold

US woman Eunice Foote only now receiving credit for first identifying greenhouse effectThis year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Eunice Foote, a pioneer in climate research of whom few people have heard. She showed that water vapour and carbon dioxide helped to heat Earth’s atmosphere, and realised that when the atmosphere had higher levels of carbon dioxide it made the climate much...

Some storm-savvy Floridians shrug, others flee or bunker down

Michael James was boarding over the last two windows of his house on Florida's east coast. The first gusty blasts of wind were announcing Hurricane Dorian's imminent arrival, and most residents had fled. But James, an old hand at this, knew he had a few hours to go before leaving.

Iran admits its rocket blew up

The explosion marked the third failure involving a rocket at the Iranian center, which has raised suspicions of sabotage in Iran’s space...

New feedback phenomenon found to drive increasing drought and aridity

A new Columbia Engineering study indicates that the world will experience more frequent and more extreme drought and aridity than currently experienced in the coming century, exacerbated by both climate change and land-atmosphere processes. The researchers demonstrate that concurrent soil drought and atmospheric aridity are largely driven by a series of land-atmosphere processes and feedback...

Toxic frogs with weak defenses persist in the gene pool alongside stronger competitors

Diversity is a hallmark of life and it shows up in unexpected places. A multi-national team of evolutionary biologists investigated how two types of poison frog co-exist when only one might be expected. Their innovative study uncovers conditions where diversity flourishes against the odds, and offers new perspectives on chemical defense. The findings were published in the Proceedings of the...

Vintage film shows Thwaites Glacier ice shelf melting faster than previously observed

Newly digitized vintage film has doubled how far back scientists can peer into the history of underground ice in Antarctica, and revealed that an ice shelf on Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is being thawed by a warming ocean more quickly than previously thought. This finding contributes to predictions for sea-level rise that would impact coastal communities around the world.

X-37B: America's Space Plane (Or Warplane?) That Has the World Guessing

The last “sexy” theory is that the space plane is basically a spy satellite with the ability to return to Earth and have its optical sensors periodically upgraded. The X-37 has orbited over some interesting locations, including North Korea, China, ISIS-held territory and Iran. U.S. optical spy satellites are, however, quite large—the size of a school bus—and the X-37’s payload bay is far...

A European Satellite Had to Fire Thrusters to Avoid Colliding With a SpaceX Satellite

Three months after Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched the first set of what will be a broadband-providing constellation of satellites, other operators are already veering to keep their own spacecraft out of harm’s way. The European Space Agency tweeted Monday that it fired the thrusters on its Earth observation satellite Aeolus to avoid a potential collision with one of SpaceX’s...

How humans have shaped dogs' brains

Dog brain structure varies across breeds and is correlated with specific behaviors, according to new research published in JNeurosci. These findings show how, by selectively breeding for certain behaviors, humans have shaped the brains of their best friends.

Hurricane Dorian Is Barely Moving at All. Here’s Why That Makes it Especially Dangerous

Hurricane Dorian, which slammed the Bahamas early Monday as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, is packing remarkably strong winds — but the storm itself is crawling along, moving at a mere 1 mile per hour early Monday before slowing to “stationary” as of Monday afternoon. The storm’s glacial pace will result in even more devastation, meteorologists say. With sustained winds...

What lies beneath: Singapore plans a subterranean future

Space-starved Singapore has expanded outwards by building into the sea and upwards by constructing high-rises but planners are now looking underground as they seek new areas for growth. Singapore has already built an underground highway and state-of-the-art air conditioning system, but is now looking to house more facilities beneath the surface in order to optimise land use above...

A comprehensive catalog of human digestive tract bacteria

The human digestive tract is home to thousands of different strains of bacteria. Many of these are beneficial, while others contribute to health problems such as inflammatory bowel disease. Researchers have now isolated and preserved samples of nearly 8,000 of these strains, while also clarifying their genetic and metabolic context.