Sat.Jul 03, 2021 - Fri.Jul 09, 2021

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Once a Rich Desert River, the Gila Struggles to Keep Flowing

Yale E360

The Gila was once a vibrant desert river, providing a lifeline for the riparian habitat and wildlife that depended on it in the U.S. Southwest. But population growth, agricultural withdrawals, and, increasingly, climate change have badly diminished the river and threaten its future. Read more on E360 ?.

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Constant, Compounding Disasters Are Exhausting Emergency Response

Circle of Blue

Fires, droughts, floods, power outages. The interval between disasters is shortening, or in some cases disappearing altogether. New homes rise from the post-fire rubble in Talent, Oregon. The Alameda Fire destroyed thousands of homes in Talent and nearby Phoenix in early September 2020. Photo © Brett Walton/Circle of Blue. By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue — July 6, 2021.

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Ask a Scientist: Defending the Right to Vote

Union of Concerned Scientists

Talking to Taryn MacKinney, an investigative researcher with our Center for Science and Democracy, about how science is intertwined with democracy and the prospects for voting reform bills on Capitol Hill.

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Jefferson’s Bridge

Legal Planet

Today being the Fourth of July, it seems appropriate to think about how the author of the Declaration of Independence felt about nature. A revealing example involves some land Jefferson owned between Lexington and Roanoke, which he sought to preserve. Two years before the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson purchased 157 acres of land from the King.

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How to Drive Cost Savings, Efficiency Gains, and Sustainability Wins with MES

Speaker: Nikhil Joshi, Founder & President of Snic Solutions

Is your manufacturing operation reaching its efficiency potential? A Manufacturing Execution System (MES) could be the game-changer, helping you reduce waste, cut costs, and lower your carbon footprint. Join Nikhil Joshi, Founder & President of Snic Solutions, in this value-packed webinar as he breaks down how MES can drive operational excellence and sustainability.

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With Growth of Arctic Shipping, Canada Must Prepare for Major Oil Spills, Study Says

Yale E360

Melting sea ice is spurring a shipping boom in the Northwest Passage, raising the specter of oil spills in the Arctic. A new study evaluates the impact of such a disaster in Canada's Rankin Inlet and finds an oil spill there would be uniquely devastating, owing to the challenge of mounting a cleanup in such a harsh environment. Read more on E360 ?.

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Dealing With The Soup of Chemicals That Can Get Into Your Drinking Water

Circle of Blue

Chemical Valley in Sarnia, Ontario sits on the St. Clair River upstream of drinking water intakes for several Detroit metropolitan municipalities. Photo Lester Graham. All the things that go down the drain and end up at the waste water treatment plant are not removed there. It’s a soup of chemicals. Chemicals in water can mix. While that’s well known by scientists, they don’t have the research facilities and money necessary to study what the complex mixtures of chemicals do to human health

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Elemental forms of metals discovered in brains of Alzheimer’s patients

Physics World

Approximately 10 metals occur in the human body naturally as chemical compounds that are stored and used by tissues. Copper and iron oxides, in particular, are required for cellular activities throughout the body. When the body mishandles or incorrectly processes these copper and iron oxides, however, tissue damage – especially in the brain – can occur.

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Ice Dam Bursts Threaten to Increase Sunny Day Floods as Hotter Temperatures Melt Glaciers

Inside Climate News

Scientists say meltwater flooding will increase as the ice continues to retreat, but will eventually stop—when all the ice is melted and the glaciers are no more. By Haley Dunleavy As residents of southeast Alaska welcomed the return of sunny, warm weather this week after two months of heavy rains, they probably did not expect floods to be in the forecast.

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The Stream, July 8, 2021: Dams in California Hurt Ability of Streamside Trees to Adapt to Climate Change

Circle of Blue

YOUR GLOBAL RUNDOWN. Intensively managed dams and canals in California are weakening streamside trees’ ability to adapt to a changing climate. Saudi Arabia supports Egypt and Sudan amid negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. A federal appeals court refuses to intervene in the Flint drinking water crisis case after groups accused the presiding judge of bias.

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We’re in a Climate Crisis. Congress Must Go Big on Climate Action Now.

Union of Concerned Scientists

Top priorities for Congressional action on climate change.

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The Key to Sustainable Energy Optimization: A Data-Driven Approach for Manufacturing

Speaker: Kevin Kai Wong, President of Emergent Energy Solutions

In today's industrial landscape, the pursuit of sustainable energy optimization and decarbonization has become paramount. ♻️ Manufacturing corporations across the U.S. are facing the urgent need to align with decarbonization goals while enhancing efficiency and productivity. Unfortunately, the lack of comprehensive energy data poses a significant challenge for manufacturing managers striving to meet their targets. 📊 Join us for a practical webinar hosted by Kevin Kai Wong of Emergent Ene

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High-resolution microscope is made from LEGO bricks

Physics World

Simple design: the LEGO microscope (left) and a technical drawing of the instrument. The black eyepiece is at the top, and also visible is the black wheel that is used to adjust the position of the objective lens. (Courtesy: Timo Betz). A fully functional modular microscope has been built using LEGO bricks and low-cost smartphone lenses. Designed by researchers, teachers and schoolchildren in Germany, the instrument is easy to build, yet it can resolve micrometre-sized objects such as individual

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Traded wild animals carry 75 per cent of diseases humans can catch

New Scientist

More than a quarter of mammals bought and sold in the wildlife trade play host to three quarters of infectious diseases capable of spilling over from animals to humans

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The Stream, July 6, 2021: Tropical Storm Elsa Moves Through Caribbean

Circle of Blue

YOUR GLOBAL RUNDOWN. Tropical Storm Elsa tears through parts of the Caribbean, including Cuba. A cold front is moving over parts of Australia after a weekend of heavy rain. A company cancels its plans to build an oil pipeline through parts of Tennessee and Mississippi , directly over a major aquifer. Heavy rains pummel parts of Japan , causing landslides.

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Fighting Climate Change Might Have Just Gotten Easier

Union of Concerned Scientists

A court in The Netherlands has ruled that Royal Dutch Shell must reduce its carbon emissions—and more.

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Implementing D.E.J.I. Strategies in Energy, Environment, and Transportation

Speaker: Antoine M. Thompson, Executive Director of the Greater Washington Region Clean Cities Coalition

Diversity, Equity, Justice, and Inclusion (DEJI) policies, programs, and initiatives are critically important as we move forward with public and private sector climate and sustainability goals and plans. Underserved and socially, economically, and racially disadvantaged communities bear the burden of pollution, higher energy costs, limited resources, and limited investments in the clean energy and transportation sectors.

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The NFL's Racist 'Race Norming' Is an Afterlife of Slavery

Scientific American

A statistical manipulation that underpaid Black players in concussion settlements exemplifies American football’s immersion in the legacy of slavery. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com.

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Can a robot ever be conscious and how would we know if it were?

New Scientist

Some people think we could easily build and identify a conscious robot, while others insist that it’s impossible – it all depends on what you think consciousness is.

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Porsche Demands 1,300 Suppliers Use Renewable Energy

Environmental Leader

Bolstering its efforts to achieve ambitious emissions reduction goals, Porsche is requiring its nearly 1,300 suppliers to use renewable energy to manufacture its vehicle components. Porsche aims to be carbon neutral in its supply chain by 2030. Companies are increasingly doubling down on their supply chain sustainability efforts. For instance, Read more ».

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How One Science Nerd Became Involved in Movement Building

Union of Concerned Scientists

Figuring out your path as a science advocate doesn’t happen overnight.

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Shaping a Resilient Future: Climate Impact on Vulnerable Populations

Speaker: Laurie Schoeman Director, Climate & Sustainability, Capital

As households and communities across the nation face challenges such as hurricanes, wildfires, drought, extreme heat and cold, and thawing permafrost and flooding, we are increasingly searching for ways to mitigate and prevent climate impacts. During this event, national climate and housing expert Laurie Schoeman will discuss topics including: The two paths for climate action: decarbonization and adaptation.

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Quantum computer is smallest ever, claim physicists

Physics World

The smallest quantum computer to date has been claimed by a team of researchers in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany. Using strings of trapped ions that are addressed using laser pulses, Ivan Pogorelov at the University of Innsbruck and colleagues created a system that contains 24 fully-entangled quantum bits (qubits) and is housed in two industry-standard server racks.

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New kind of ice is so bendy it can curl and uncurl without breaking

New Scientist

A single ice crystal formed into a thin strand can bend almost into a circle and then snap back into its original shape, making it the most elastic form of water ice ever made

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Denial of Evolution Is a Form of White Supremacy

Scientific American

As museums reopen let’s introduce ourselves, and our children, to the original Black ancestors of all human beings. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com.

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Forests of the Living Dead

Inside Climate News

The highly engineered rivers that sustain California cities and farms upset streamside woodlands’ relationship with groundwater, a new study finds, jeopardizing their future in a changing climate. By Liza Gross California’s perennially drought-parched Central Valley bears little resemblance to the vibrant landscape of the pre-Gold Rush days, when wild rivers sustained lush woodlands and floodplains teeming with life.

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Sustainability at Retail

Sustainability impacts every nation, company, and person around the world. So much so that, in 2015, the United Nations (UN) issued a call for action by all countries to work toward sustainable development. In response to this and as part of a global Sustainability at Retail initiative, Shop! worked collaboratively with its global affiliates to address these critical issues in this white paper.

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Is the quantum Internet finally here?

Physics World

If you’ve ever attended the premiere of a film or an event where a new type of car is presented, you’ll know that there’s a slight buzz of excitement that comes from not knowing what to expect. I’ve been feeling that buzz for the past two weeks, leading up to an event that promised a “world premiere live demonstration of the next step in quantum cryptography”.

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3 Things to Know About Working in Marine Conservation

Ocean Conservancy

If you want to work in the field of marine conservation, it can be difficult to know where to start. Fortunately, there are lots of ways to get involved, from conducting hands-on research to managing grant funds to meeting with policy makers. Here are three things to keep in mind as you dive into marine conservation. Just a note—these are based on my own experiences and advice from incredible colleagues in the non-profit and academic space.

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Mix-and-Match COVID Vaccines: The Case Is Growing, but Questions Remain

Scientific American

Studies suggest mixing vaccines provokes potent immune responses, but scientists want answers on real-world efficacy and rare side effects. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com.

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Ag & Food Law Daily Update: July 9, 2021

National Law Center

A comprehensive summary of today’s judicial, legislative, and regulatory developments in agriculture and food. Email important additions HERE. REGULATORY: FSIS. The post Ag & Food Law Daily Update: July 9, 2021 appeared first on National Agricultural Law Center.

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Optimal size for wind farms is revealed by computational study

Physics World

Optimizing the placement of turbines within a wind farm can significantly increase energy extraction – but only until the installation reaches a certain size, researchers in the US conclude. This is just one finding of a computational study on wind turbines’ effects on the airflow around them, and consequently the ability of nearby turbines – and even nearby wind farms – to extract energy from that airflow.

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Celebrating 10 million views of kid-friendly science!

Frontiers

Frontiers for Young Minds has achieved a super exciting milestone in recent weeks – our articles have been viewed over 10 million times! The journal has reached a huge global audience with its freely-available scientific articles, all written for – and edited by – young people. — By Jenny Lycett. Small Beginnings. As the saying goes, ‘great oaks grow from small acorns’.

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The Time May Finally Be Ripe for a National Climate Service

Scientific American

This umbrella service could make it easier for communities to find information on climate risks, from drought to floods. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com.

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Ag & Food Law Daily Update: July 7, 2021

National Law Center

A comprehensive summary of today’s judicial, legislative, and regulatory developments in agriculture and food. Email important additions HERE. REGULATORY: AMS, The post Ag & Food Law Daily Update: July 7, 2021 appeared first on National Agricultural Law Center.

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Mapping microbubble distribution in the brain

Physics World

Left: MR image showing a glioblastoma lesion; the yellow rectangle corresponds to the ultrasound images on the right. Centre: standard ultrasound image. Right: contrast-enhanced ultrasound image showing the microbubble density in three regions-of-interest: artery (blue outline); tumour (green outline); and white matter (red outline). (Courtesy: CC BY 4.0/ Sci.

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Study is first to show that air pollutants increase risk of painful periods for women

Frontiers

By Mischa Dijkstra, science writer. Image credit: GBALLGIGGSPHOTO / Shutterstock.com. Image credit: GBALLGIGGSPHOTO / Shutterstock.com. Dysmenorrhea, painful and severe periods, is a common gynecological disorder with major impacts on quality of life and economic productivity. A new epidemiological study by the open access publisher Frontiers is the first to show that the risk of developing dysmenorrhea increases by more than 30 times for women and girls who are exposed long-term to air pollutan