Green economy could generate 3.3m jobs across Africa by 2030 - report
26 July 2024 - A greener economy could bring millions of jobs to some of the largest countries in Africa, according to a new report. Research by the development agency FSD Africa and the impact advisory firm Shortlist predicts that 3.3 million jobs could be generated across the continent by 2030. (more)

Northern Scotland's Flow Country becomes World Heritage site
26 July 2024 - The Flow Country, a vast and unspoiled blanket bog that carpets the far north of Scotland, has been made a World Heritage site by UNESCO. The planet's largest blanket bog, the Flow Country covers about 1,500 sq miles of Caithness and Sutherland, and is the first peatland in the world to be designated by UNESCO, after a 40-year campaign by environmentalists. (more)

Florida grasshopper sparrow: scientists hail resurgence of endangered bird
25 July 2024 - Scientists in Florida are hailing the landmark release this week of a tiny bird only 5 inch tall as an oversized success in their fight to save a critically endangered species. ...While scientists say the sparrow population is not yet stable enough to declare the species saved, the thriving program has restored hope that one of Florida's most beloved birds is at least no longer critically imperiled. (more)

Tree bark plays vital role in removing methane from atmosphere, study finds
24 July 2024 - Microbes in the bark of trees play a vital role in removing methane from the atmosphere, scientists have discovered. ...The team behind the study by the University of Birmingham, published in the journal Nature and led by Prof Vincent Gauci, investigated methane absorption levels in upland tropical forests in the Amazon and Panama; temperate broadleaf trees in Wytham Woods in Oxfordshire in the UK; and boreal coniferous forest trees in Sweden. (more)

The beauty and the charm of the Higgs boson
24 July 2024 - The Higgs field permeates the Universe, giving rise to the masses of most known fundamental particles. The ATLAS Collaboration has just released the world's most precise study of the Higgs boson's interaction with bottom quarks and charm quarks. (more)

ATLAS dives deeper into di-Higgs
23 July 2024 - By combining multiple Higgs boson pair studies, physicists are closer to finding out how the particle interacts with itself, providing clues to the stability of the Universe. Remember how difficult it was to find one Higgs boson? Try finding two at the same place at the same time. Known as di-Higgs production, this fascinating process can tell scientists about the Higgs boson self-interaction. By studying it, physicists can measure the strength of the Higgs boson's 'self-coupling', which is a fundamental aspect of the Standard Model that connects the Higgs mechanism and the stability of our Universe. (more)

Biologists discover male elephants use infrasonic rumbles to signal 'let's go'
22 July 2024 - Bull elephants gather in the evening coolness to drink. After a spell, a senior male lifts his head and turns from the waterhole. With ears flapping gently, he lets out a deep, resonant rumble. One by one, the others respond, their voices overlapping in a sonorous, infrasonic chorus that whispers across the savanna. This elephant barbershop quartet conveys a clear message: It's time to move on. ...The findings, detailed in the open-access journal PeerJ, are surprising because this behavior was previously thought to be exclusive to female elephants in family groups. (more)

Male elephants harmonize like a barbershop quartet to say 'let's go'
22 July 2024 - A fascinating new insight into elephant communication has been uncovered, with researchers finding that a group of males will harmonize a rumbling sound, from one to the next, to signal that it's time for everyone to move on. They liken it to the way a barbershop quartet builds a chorus from one voice to the next. (more)

Metallic minerals on the deep-ocean floor split water to generate 'dark oxygen,' new study finds
22 July 2024 - An international team of researchers, including a Northwestern University chemist, has discovered that metallic minerals on the deep-ocean floor produce oxygen -- 13,000 feet below the surface. The surprising discovery challenges long-held assumptions that only photosynthetic organisms, such as plants and algae, generate Earth's oxygen. But the new finding shows there might be another way. It appears oxygen also can be produced at the seafloor -- where no light can penetrate -- to support the oxygen-breathing (aerobic) sea life living in complete darkness. (more)

Physicist, 98, honored with doctorate 75 years after groundbreaking discovery
22 July 2024 - A trailblazing physicist who gave up her PhD 75 years ago to have a family has received an honorary doctorate from her former university. Rosemary Fowler, 98, discovered the kaon particle during her doctoral research under Cecil Powell at the University of Bristol in 1948, which contributed to his Nobel Prize for physics in 1950. Fowler's discovery helped lead to a revolution in the theory of particle physics, and it continues to be proven correct -- predicting particles such as the Higgs boson, discovered at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. (more)

What's so special about the Higgs boson?
22 July 2024 - What is the Higgs boson? To answer this question needs an exploration into the quantum world and how particles interact... The particle that we now call the Higgs boson first appeared in a scientific paper written by Peter Higgs in 1964. At that time, physicists were working on describing the weak force -- one of the four fundamental forces of Nature -- using a framework called quantum field theory. (more)

LHCb investigates the properties of one of physics' most puzzling particles
21 July 2024 - The particle, known as xc1(3872), has fascinated physicists for years. Now, the LHCb [Large Hadron Collider beauty] collaboration is closer to finding out what it is made up of. (more)

NASA marks moon landing anniversary by dedicating building to 'women of Apollo'
20 July 2024 - NASA is honoring a 'hidden figure' and all of the women who contributed to the Apollo program with the naming of a building in Houston, where at the time of the moon missions it was part of the 'Manned' Spacecraft Center. The agency's Johnson Space Center (renamed for the President in 1973) marked the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission [20 July 1969] the Moon by dedicating one of its original buildings as the 'Dorothy Vaughan Center in Honor of the Women of Apollo' on Friday (19 July). (more)

The Apollo 11 moon landing, in photos
20 July 2024 - Fifty-five years ago, Neil Armstrong and Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin made history when they became the first humans to set foot on the moon. ...More than half a billion people are estimated to have watched on television as Armstrong climbed down the ladder of the Eagle lunar lander and proclaimed, 'That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.' (more)

UK: Spoonbills return to Cambridgeshire for first time since 17th century
18 July 2024 - Driven out by hunting and habitat loss, the birds are now nesting and breeding in a few pockets in England. With their long, spoon-shaped beaks, it is perhaps little surprise that the RSPB [Royal Society for the Protection of Birds] has nicknamed the offspring of a spoonbill a 'teaspoon'. It has been a bumper year for the snow-white wading birds, which have been found nesting and breeding in Cambridgeshire for the first time since the 17th century. (more)

North Atlantic right whale seen off Ireland for first time in 114 years
17 July 2024 - There are fewer than 400 of the critically endangered species left and sighting gives 'glimmer of hope'. A critically endangered North Atlantic right whale has been spotted off the coast of Ireland for the first time in more than a century. It is the first sighting of a North Atlantic right whale off Ireland in 114 years, said Conor Ryan, honorary research fellow at the Scottish Association for Marine Science. (more)

Solar power is largest source of new US energy capacity for ninth straight month
16 July 2024 - For the ninth month in a row, solar was the largest source of new capacity and is on track to become the nation's second-largest source of capacity - behind only natural gas - within three years. ...The new solar capacity added from January through May this year was more than double the solar capacity added during the same period last year. YTD, solar accounted for 73.91 percent of all new generation placed into service in the first five months of 2024. (more)

Annual Solar Car Challenge takes off as highschoolers race solar-powered cars at Texas Motor Speedway July 14
14 July 2024 - The sunny days ahead in Fort Worth signal the beginning of the 31st Annual Solar Car Challenge, where 32 teams of high schoolers across the nation will race their solar-powered cars at Texas Motor Speedway. ... Race founder Dr. Lehman Marks established the Solar Car Challenge in 1993 to help motivate students in fields of science, technology, and alternative energy. (more)

India, Taiwan pact to facilitate trade of organic agri goods comes into force
14 July 2024 - An agreement between India and Taiwan to facilitate trade in organically-produced goods, including tea and medicinal plants, has come into force from July 8, the commerce ministry said on Wednesday [July 10]. (more)

University students designed gloves that translate sign language into speech
13 July 2024 - In an effort to bridge the communication gap between sign language users and non-users, two University of Washington undergraduates designed gloves called SignAloud that translate hand gestures into text or speech. Their innovative invention earned them a $10,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize in 2017, and the idea remains groundbreaking today. (more)

US Department of Agriculture expands insurance options for specialty and organic growers 
12 July 2024 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expanding crop insurance options for specialty and organic growers beginning with the 2025 crop year. USDA's Risk Management Agency is expanding coverage options by allowing enterprise units by organic farming practice, adding enterprise unit eligibility for several crops, and making additional policy updates. (more)

Deforestation in Colombia reached 23-year low in 2023
11 July 2024 - Deforestation in Colombia continues to decline, with levels falling to a 23-year low in 2023. According to figures released by the government, there has been a 36 percent drop in environmental destruction. As one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, Colombia's environmental victory is a victory for the entire planet. (more)

US: Indiana's largest solar power plant about to come online
10 July 2024 - Doral Renewables announced that the first segment of its Mammoth Solar project is about to achieve operations. The plant will be the largest operating solar installation in Indiana and is expected to provide enough electricity to power 75,000 homes a year. ...Mammoth North is an agrivoltaics installation with more than 1,500 sheep already grazing the land. (more)

US: Solar-powered car stops in Wheeling, continues on epic New York to LA journey
10 July 2024 - A solar car made a stop in Wheeling [West Virginia] as part of a trip from New York to LA on Wednesday [10 July]. The Cannonball Sun is a group of five friends with the passion to complete the 3,100-mile journey. 'We're already super excited to have made it this far,' University of Michigan student Will Jones said. 'We've done 2 days of driving now and a little less than 500 miles. It's been two good challenging days through the rolling hills and mountains of Appalachia here.' (more)