WHO: Climate Crisis Poses Serious Risks for Mental Health
Climate change has a detrimental impact on mental health worldwide, making it critical for countries to include psychological support in their climate response plans, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated. As the climate crisis becomes more severe — causing extreme heat episodes, floods and wildfires as well as ecosystem changes leading to food or water […]
Will climate change increase the risk of aflatoxin in U.S. corn?
As climate change continues to alter weather patterns around the planet including the Midwest, researchers at Michigan State University are modeling the impact on crops such as corn. “The United States is the largest exporter and donor of field corn around the world,” said Felicia Wu, a John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor and an international […]
Biden Administration Proposes Obamacare Tweak That Could Help 1.2 Million
The Biden administration is proposing a major policy change that it believes will help 200,000 uninsured Americans get comprehensive health plans while making coverage cheaper for an additional 1 million people. And it’s something the Biden administration can do on its own, without congressional action. Advertisement On Tuesday, the Biden administration is formally proposing new […]
New research shows what it takes to make society change for the better
Many people try to make society change for the better. The real challenge is how to get good solutions to scale up for major change. New research suggests that social change may depend on the relationship between beneficial behaviors and policies. The research, conducted by the University of Maine, University of Maine at Augusta, University […]
The circadian clock in heart failure
Disrupting circadian rhythms, which change naturally on a 24-hour cycle, has been implicated in heart disease, but it is unclear how it leads to the condition. A research team at Baylor College of Medicine and collaborating institutions investigated the function of the protein Rev-erbα/β, a key component of the circadian clock, on heart disease development […]
Coastal ecosystem being destabilized by climate change
Ecological communities on the Oregon coast are being subtly destabilized by the pressures of climate change despite giving an appearance of stress resistance, new research by Oregon State University shows. The findings are important because assessing and understanding how plants, animals and other life forms respond to a warming planet is critical to human welfare, […]
Trees on the move: Researchers reveal how wildfire accelerates forest changes
Refugees are on the move in forests across the western U.S. As climate conditions change, the ranges of tree species are shifting, especially toward cooler or wetter sites. A new Stanford analysis provides some of the first empirical evidence that wildfire is accelerating this process, likely by reducing competition from established species. The study, published […]
A personalized exosuit for real-world walking: Ultrasound measurements of muscle dynamics provide customized, activity-specific assistance
People rarely walk at a constant speed and a single incline. We change speed when rushing to the next appointment, catching a crosswalk signal, or going for a casual stroll in the park. Slopes change all the time too, whether we’re going for a hike or up a ramp into a building. In addition to […]
Climate change tipping points: back to the drawing board
We regularly hear warnings that climate change may lead to ‘tipping points’: irreversible situations where savanna can quickly change into desert, or the warm gulf stream current can simply stop flowing. These cautions often refer to spatial patterns as early-warning signals of tipping points. An international team of ecologists and mathematicians has studied these patterns […]
Bird communities threatened by urbanization
Urbanization is one of the most drastic forms of land-use change, and its negative consequences on biodiversity have been studied extensively in temperate countries such as Germany. However, less research has been conducted in tropical regions from the Global South, where most of the ongoing and future urbanization hotspots are located, and little is known […]