Severe droughts in the Amazon basin over the past two decades have caused low water level periods to last around a month longer than usual, triggering profound impacts on the local population. Severe droughts in the Amazon basin over the past two decades have caused low water level periods to last around a month longer than…
New Monash research has untangled the influence of regional climate drivers, including the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (El Niño), on the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Snow accumulation and surface melting are two important processes that are key to predicting how Antarctica will contribute to future sea level rise. New Monash research has…
Plant cold specialists like the spoonworts have adapted well to the cold climates of the Ice Ages. As cold and warm periods alternated, they developed a number of species that also resulted in a proliferation of the genome. Plant cold specialists like the spoonworts have adapted well to the cold climates of the Ice Ages. As…
Nathaniel Martin, Professor of biological chemistry, wondered what would happen if you took an antibiotic that has been known for 70 years and tried to improve it with the latest tools of modern chemistry. Turns out it can become up to a hundred times more potent and prevent the growth of some drug-resistant bacteria. His…
An international team of astronomers has used more than 500 images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope spanning two decades to detect seven fast-moving stars in the innermost region of Omega Centauri, the largest and brightest globular cluster in the sky. These stars provide compelling new evidence for the presence of an intermediate-mass black hole. An…
When it comes to inland surface water bodies, saline lakes are unique. They make up 44% of all lakes worldwide and are found on every continent including Antarctica. These lakes’ existence depends on a delicate balance between a river basin’s water input (precipitation and inflows) and output (evaporation and seepage). When it comes to inland surface…
Efforts to combat the increasing threat of drug-resistant bacteria are being assisted by a new approach for streamlining the search for antimicrobial drug candidates, pioneered by researchers at Hokkaido University, led by Assistant Professor Kazuki Yamamoto and Professor Satoshi Ichikawa of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Efforts to combat the increasing threat of drug-resistant bacteria are…
Scientists propose a new way of implementing a neural network with an optical system which could make machine learning more sustainable in the future. The researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light have published their new method in Nature Physics, demonstrating a method that is much simpler than previous approaches. Scientists propose…
In the world of social creatures, from humans to ants, the spread of behaviors through a group—known as social contagion—is a well-documented phenomenon. This process, driven by social imitation and pressure, causes individuals to adopt behaviors observed in their peers, often resulting in synchronized mass actions: Think of stampedes, or standing ovations. In the world of…
The retreat of high mountain glaciers has accelerated since the 1980s, resulting in increased glacier runoff. However, it remains uncertain whether melting mountain glaciers enhance or release greenhouse gases, and whether areas exposed to glacier retreat emit or absorb such gases. The retreat of high mountain glaciers has accelerated since the 1980s, resulting in increased glacier…