Human footprint driving mammal extinction crisis

Human impacts are the biggest risk factor in the possible extinction of a quarter of all land-based mammals. Researchers compared a 16-year trend in the global human footprint with the extinction risk of around 4500 land-based mammal species. We live in an era when one in every four mammal species is at risk of going extinct. But with more than 5600 mammal species globally, it's time-consuming and expensive to track the changes for every species. To get a clearer idea of what's systematically leading to these declines, combined mapping of human pressures with extinction risk assessment data for mammal species. The researchers found that human footprint was linked strongly to extinction risk change for land-based mammals – more than any other variable they tested.

Plastic microfibers found for first time in wild animals' stool, from South American fur seals

For the first time, plastic microfibers have been discovered in wild animals' stool, from South American fur seals. The findings were made by a team of Morris Animal Foundation-funded researchers at the University of Georgia, who suggest examining scat from pinnipeds can be an efficient way to monitor environmental levels of microfibers and microplastics in the environment.icroplastics are plastic fragments smaller than 5 millimeters. Microfibers are the least studied form of microplastic. They are small hairs of plastic, less than 1 millimeter in size, from materials such as polyester or nylon and can end up in the ocean through wastewater after cleaning, no matter how thorough the treatment. They also can absorb a wide array of pollutants.

The researchers believe the microfibers arrived at Guafo Island through changing ocean currents, before being consumed by plankton and continuing up the food chain through fish and, finally, to the seals. There isn't enough evidence to determine if microfibers have any adverse effects on mammals, but some studies have indicated morphological changes in fish.

Earthworms—integral ecosystem engineers

Global demands for food and energy are driving research on sustainably using our planet's fast-depleting natural resources. One creative initiative looked to ancient land-use systems that supported millions of people with no apparent negative effect on biodiversity and ecosystem resilience.

Amazonian dark earths (ADEs) is an ecosystem model based on sites with highly-nutrient-enriched soils and an outstanding capacity for sequestering carbon. Part of the EU-funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships, the HOOKaWORM project built on ADEs to advance a new model for ancient land use.

NASA satellite sees Tropical Cyclone Alcide nearing Madgascar

Tropical Cyclone Alcide continued to linger just northeast of the Island nation of Madagascar in the Southern Indian Ocean when NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead and captured an image of the storm. On Nov. 9 the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite provided a visible light image of the storm. The MODIS image showed a somewhat elongated storm from northwest to southeast with the bulk of clouds in the western quadrant of the storm. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center or JTWC noted that animated multispectral satellite imagery showed that Alcide has lost much of its deep convection (rising air that forms the thunderstorms that make up a tropical cyclone) but maintained its spiral banding, and convection is newly flaring over the low-level circulation center.

Scientists theorize new origin story for Earth's water.

Earth's water may have originated from both asteroid material and gas left over from the formation of the Sun, according to new research. The new finding could give scientists important insights about the development of other planets and their potential to support life.

In a new study in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, researchers propose a new theory to address the long-standing mystery of where Earth's water came from and how it got here.The new study challenges widely-accepted ideas about hydrogen in Earth's water by suggesting the element partially came from clouds of dust and gas remaining after the Sun's formation, called the solar nebula.To identify sources of water on Earth, scientists have searched for sources of hydrogen rather than oxygen, because the latter component of water is much more abundant in the solar system.

Rainforest destruction from gold mining hits all-time high in Peru.

Small-scale gold mining has destroyed more than 170,000 acres of primary rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon in the past five years, according to a new analysis by scientists at Wake Forest University's Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation (CINCIA).That's an area larger than San Francisco and 30 percent more than previously reported.

The scale of the deforestation is really shocking, said Luis Fernandez, executive director of CINCIA and research associate professor in the department of biology. "In 2013, the first comprehensive look at Peruvian rainforest lost from mining showed 30,000 hectares. Five years later, we have found nearly 100,000 hectares of deforested landscape."The scientists at CINCIA, based in the Madre de Dios region of Peru, have developed a new data fusion method to identify areas destroyed by this small or artisanal-scale mining. Combining existing CLASlite forest monitoring technology and Global Forest Change data sets on forest loss, this new deforestation detection tool is 20-25 percent more accurate than those used previously.

Making wind farms more efficient

With energy demands rising, researches at Penn state Behrend and University of Tabriz have completed an algorithm or approach to design more efficient wind farms, helping to generate more revenue for builders and more renewable energy for their customers.

Most complete study on Europe's greatest Hadrosaur site published

The Basturs Poble site is the most important site in Europe when it comes to hadrosaur remains. It has yielded over 1000 fossils, probably pertaining to the same species. Palaenotologists have now published the most complete study of fossils recovered from the site and reveals the presence of many young individuals.

Rainforest destruction from gold mining hits all-time high in Peru

Small scale gold mining has destroyed more than 170000 acres of primary rain forest in the Peruvian Amazon int the past five years, according to a new analysis.

Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument home to rich bee diversity

Researchers say one out of every four bee species in the United Sates is found in Utah and the arid, western state in home to more bee species than most states in the nation. About half of those species dwell within the original boundaries of the newly reduced Grand Staircase Escalante National Mounment.

Transforming carbon dioxide into industrial fuels

One day in the not too distant future, the gases coming from power plants and heavy industry, rather than spewing into the atmosphere, could be captured and chemically transformed from greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide into industrial fuels or chemicals thanks to a new system that can use renewable electricity to reduce carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide a key commodity used in a number of industrial process.