Cosmic lockdown: How the environment can isolate quantum fields
A simplified cosmological model suggests that decoherence can suppress quantum tunneling, effectively locking fields into the vacuum state they have reached.
A simplified cosmological model suggests that decoherence can suppress quantum tunneling, effectively locking fields into the vacuum state they have reached.
The flora of the Alps is changing: Species are moving to higher elevations, new plants are appearing and others are disappearing.
The age-adjusted suicide rate increased from 2014 to 2017 and then did not change significantly from 2017 through 2024, according to a September data brief published by the National Center for Health Statistics.
In the world of carnivorous plants, Venus flytraps—with their showy, snapping reflexes—have long hogged the limelight. But plants have many creative bug-capture strategies, from slippery waxes to vibrating lids to bizarrely textured fluids.
VUB researcher Robbe Neyns has developed artificial intelligence capable of identifying trees down to the species level in satellite and aerial imagery. The technology can help cities better map their trees and biodiversity, making the urban environment as livable as possible, particularly in the face of a warming climate.
Europe could turn more of its scientific discoveries into new technologies, products and businesses by changing the way it funds innovation and supports researchers, according to a new Policy Forum published in Science.
During the heat wave of 2018, meadows and pastures also suffered from drought. Are grasslands in diverse landscapes more resilient to yield losses than those in monotonous regions? Researchers at the University of Bonn, led by Marco Ferro and Dr. Jan Börner from the Institute for Food and Resource Economics (ILR), investigated the influence of landscape diversity on the drought tolerance of grasslands as part of Collaborative Research Center 1502 DETECT. The work is published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics.
The Beast from the East ravaged much of the U.K. and Europe in February and March 2018, bringing severe storms, snow showers and bitter winds. But as the climate changes, rising average temperatures will affect the severity of extremely cold weather like this.
Wildfires can spread fastest when they tear through areas of dry vegetation. In contrast, vegetation that contains a lot of moisture can slow a wildfire's advance and give firefighting crews precious time to contain the blaze.
Forests provide timber as well as many other ecosystem services. An important question is how measures to conserve biodiversity affect the profitability of forest operations focused on wood production. Researchers from Wageningen University & Research and the University of Freiburg reviewed studies worldwide that compared forest management with biodiversity conservation measures against business-as-usual management without those measures. The work is published in the journal Current Forestry Reports.