July 16, 2025 Hawaiian coral reefs may face unprecedented ocean acidification within 30 years, driven by carbon emissions. A new study by University of Hawai‘i researchers shows that even under conservative climate scenarios, nearshore waters will change more drastically than reefs have experienced in thousands of years. Some coral species may adapt, offering a glimmer of hope, but others may face critical ...
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July 11, 2025 Blue sharks possess a secret hidden in their skin: a sophisticated arrangement of microscopic crystals and pigments that create their brilliant blue appearance — and may allow them to change color. Scientists have discovered that these nanostructures, found inside tooth-like skin scales, act like nature’s version of layered mirrors and light filters. What's more, changes in the spacing of ...
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July 8, 2025 Feral water buffalo now roam Hong Kong s South Lantau marshes, and a 657-person survey shows they ignite nostalgia, wonder, and worry in equal measure. Many residents embrace them as living links to a fading rural past and potential conservation icons, yet others fear road blockages, safety hazards, and ecosystem impacts. Attitudes skew more positive among younger locals familiar with wildlife, ...
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July 6, 2025 Immersing stressed volunteers in a 360° virtual Douglas-fir forest complete with sights, sounds and scents boosted their mood, sharpened short-term memory and deepened their feeling of nature-connectedness—especially when all three senses were engaged. Researchers suggest such multisensory VR “forest baths” could brighten clinics, waiting rooms and dense city spaces, offering a potent ...
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July 16, 2025 Twenty-five years after first warning that oil spills would wane while invasive species and climate impacts would surge, an international team revisits its coastal forecasts and finds many bull's-eyes, alongside surprising misses. Plastic pollution, ocean acidification, and sensory pollution have risen faster than imagined, even as strong treaties curbed chemicals like TBT. The scientists argue ...
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July 12, 2025 Even in a warming climate, brutal cold snaps still hammer parts of the U.S., and a new study uncovers why. High above the Arctic, two distinct polar vortex patterns — both distorted and displaced — play a major role in steering icy air toward different regions. One sends it plunging into the Northwest, while the other aims it at the Central and Eastern U.S. Since 2015, the westward version ...
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July 7, 2025 Long-lost 1960s aerial photos let Copenhagen researchers watch Antarctica’s Wordie Ice Shelf crumble in slow motion. By fusing film with satellites, they discovered warm ocean water, not surface ponds, drives the destruction, and mapped “pinning points” that reveal how far a collapse has progressed. The work shows these break-ups unfold more gradually than feared, yet once the ice ...
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July 5, 2025 For decades, scientists believed the Arctic Ocean was sealed under a massive slab of ice during the coldest ice ages — but new research proves otherwise. Sediment samples from the seafloor, paired with cutting-edge climate simulations, show that the Arctic actually remained partially open, with seasonal sea ice allowing life to survive in the harshest climates. Traces of ancient algae, thriving ...
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June 3, 2025 Collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could be triggered with very little ocean warming above present-day, leading to a devastating four meters of global sea level rise to play out over hundreds of years according to a new study. However, the authors emphasize that immediate actions to reduce emissions could still avoid a catastrophic ...
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June 3, 2025 A new study has finally confirmed the theory that the cause of extraordinary global tremors in September -- October 2023 was indeed two mega tsunamis in Greenland that became trapped standing waves. Using a brand-new type of satellite altimetry, the researchers provide the first observations to confirm the existence of these waves whose behavior is entirely ...
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June 2, 2025 New research adds to our understanding of how rapidly rising sea levels due to climate change foreshadow the end of the Great Barrier Reef as we know it. The findings suggest the reef can withstand rising sea levels in isolation but is vulnerable to associated environmental stressors arising from global climate ...
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June 2, 2025 Researchers have recreated the world's oldest synthetic pigment, called Egyptian blue, which was used in ancient Egypt about 5,000 years ...
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