Environment News

Ancient Sumer’s Rise Was Driven by Interplay of Rivers and Tides, Archaeologists Say

The impression of a cylinder seal from the Uruk period, around 3100 BCE. Image credit: Louvre Museum.
Sep 2, 2025 by News Staff

New research introduces a paleoenvironmental model in which tidal dynamics influenced the earliest development of agriculture and sociopolitical complexity in Sumer. The impression of a cylinder seal from the Uruk period, around 3100 BCE. Image credit: Louvre Museum. The earliest network of city-states, closely knit by shared cultural traditions and economic interests, emerged around 5,000 years ago in southern Mesopotamia. Collectively referred to...

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Srinivasan et al. demonstrated that plant-based polysaccharides showed better microplastic removal efficiency than polyacrylamide, which is commercially used for water treatment. Image credit: Srinivasan et al., doi: 10.1021/acsomega.4c07476.

Fenugreek and Okra Extracts Remove Up To 90% of Microplastics from Water Sources, Study Shows

May 6, 2025 by News Staff

In a new study by Tarleton State University scientists, okra and/or fenugreek extracts attracted and removed up to 90% of microplastics from ocean water,...

Zoning of contaminated territory of Ukraine according to current and field study plot. Image credit: Smith et al., doi: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107698.

Vast Areas of Chornobyl-Affected Farmland in Ukraine Can Now Be Safely Farmed, Scientists Claim

May 5, 2025 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the United Kingdom and Ukraine has developed a new method for the safe reassessment of farmland abandoned after the Chornobyl...

Sohail et al. analyzed a high-resolution ocean and sea ice simulation of ocean currents, heat transport and other factors to diagnose the impact of changing temperature, saltiness and wind conditions. Image credit: Sohail et al., doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/adb31c.

Melting Ice Sheets are Slowing World’s Strongest Ocean Current, Study Shows

Mar 4, 2025 by News Staff

More than four times stronger than the Gulf Stream, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is the world’s strongest ocean current and plays a disproportionate...

Labrys portucalensis F11 can be potentially used for PFAS biodegradation in contaminated environments. Image credit: Wijayahena et al., doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.178348.

Rare Aerobic Bacterium Found to Break Down ‘Forever Chemicals’

Jan 27, 2025 by News Staff

Labrys portucalensis F11, a strain of aerobic bacterium from the Xanthobacteraceae family, can break down and transform at least three types of per- and...

An archaic hominin. Image credit: Ninara / CC BY 2.0.

Homo erectus Thrived in Steppe-Desert Landscapes One Million Years Ago, New Study Suggests

Jan 16, 2025 by News Staff

Homo erectus, an early member of the genus Homo, successfully navigated harsher and more arid terrains for longer in Eastern Africa than previously thought,...

Bronze and silver coins from the 4th century CE found in Lod, central Israel. Image credit: Israel Antiquities Authority.

Atmospheric Lead Pollution Caused Widespread Cognitive Decline in Roman-Era Europe, Study Finds

Jan 7, 2025 by News Staff

Researchers have examined three ice core records to identify lead pollution levels in the Arctic between 500 BCE through 600 CE. Lead isotopes allowed...

Aerial view of Site 201 north of the center of Timna Valley on the western outskirts of the Wadi Arabah, Israel. Image credit: Yagel et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-80939-5.

Study: Pre-Roman Copper Industry in Timna Valley Had No Polluting Impact on Environment

Dec 23, 2024 by News Staff

Scientists from Tel Aviv University have conducted geochemical surveys at two smelting camps — dating back to the 10th century BCE, the era of the...

Air pollution is increasing the severity of summertime thunderstorms. Image credit: ELG21.

Air Pollution Can Increase Severity of Summertime Thunderstorms, Study Says

Aug 20, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Scientists from James Madison University have performed a multi-variable investigation of thunderstorm environments in two distinct geographic regions:...

C-ELM uses Kamptonema animale cyanobacteria to extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Image credit: Prantar Tamuli.

New Building Biomaterial Draws Carbon Dioxide Out of Atmosphere, Scientists Say

Aug 12, 2024 by News Staff

A new biomaterial called C-ELM incorporates living cyanobacteria into translucent panels that can be mounted on to the interior walls of buildings. As...

Tomson et al. found that the interplay of macro and micromorphology in green wall plant species determines their particulate matter removal potential. Image credit: Tomson et al. 2024., doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170950.

Study: Green Walls Can Strip Pollution from Air, Some Plants Do It Better than Others

Mar 5, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Biologists at the University of Surrey have investigated inter-species variation in particulate matter accumulation, wash-off, and retention on ten broadleaf...

Hoekstra et al. analyzed the instantaneous flight response of birds across habitats and distances to the synchronized discharging of fireworks throughout the Netherlands on New Year’s Eve. Image credit: Nick.

Fireworks on New Year’s Eve Trigger Strong Flight Responses in Bird Communities, Study Says

Dec 12, 2023 by News Staff

Fireworks are important elements of celebrations globally, but little is known about their effects on wildlife. In new research, scientists at the University...

Global distribution of MSIs across 9,179 language varieties from the ASJP database. Color of dots represents the MSI of the language, with redder dots indicating higher and bluer dots indicating lower indices. The fill color of land areas represents the mean annual temperature. Image credit: Wang et al., doi: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad384.

Climate Plays Role in Shaping Evolution of Human Languages, New Study Reveals

Dec 5, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Sounds of human languages can be affected by various factors of the natural environment. One such factor is the mean annual temperature. In new research,...

The painted bunting (Passerina ciris) in Freeport, Texas, the United States. Image credit: Dan Pancamo / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Study: Resident Songbird Eye Size Varies with Urban Light Pollution Levels

Sep 20, 2023 by News Staff

Urbanization now exposes large portions of the Earth to sources of anthropogenic disturbance, driving rapid environmental change and producing novel environments....

Datta et al. developed a ‘living material’ that could offer a sustainable and eco-friendly solution to clean pollutants from water. Image credit: David Baillot / UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.

‘Engineered Living Material’ Offers New Way to Clean Contaminated Water

Sep 5, 2023 by News Staff

The novel photosynthetic biocomposite material is a 3D-printed structure made of a seaweed-based polymer combined with genetically engineered cyanobacteria...

Tracking changes among Environmental and Politics Twitter users: (A) the proportion of users that were active in each 15-day window; (B) the rate of change in the proportion of active users for both samples. In both plots, the points depict the observed data while the color band with a broken line shows the 99% confidence interval based on a bootstrap sample of the data. The broken vertical line corresponds to April 25, 2022, when the Twitter board accepted Musk’s initial purchase offer, and the heavier broken line corresponds to October 28, 2022, when Musk’s takeover was finalized. Image credit: Chang et al., doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2023.07.002.

Study: Twitter May Have Lost Half of Environmentally-Oriented Users Since Elon Musk Took Over

Aug 16, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

In a study sample of 380,000 environmentally oriented users, nearly 47.5% became inactive on Twitter (recently renamed X) after it was sold in October...

An artist’s illustration of hominins arriving in a multi-biome mosaic landscape. Image credit: Center for Climate Physics, Institute for Basic Science.

Early Humans Preferred Mosaic Landscapes, New Study Reveals

May 11, 2023 by News Staff

Early humans and their hominin relatives had to adapt to new environments to spread out of Africa. In a new study, paleoanthropologists from the Institute...

The carbon-negative, environmentally friendly concrete that is nearly as strong as regular concrete. Image credit: Washington State University.

Environmentally Friendly, Carbon-Negative Concrete Created

Apr 18, 2023 by News Staff

Researchers at Washington State University have demonstrated a new synergistic carbon-capture strategy, i.e., using concrete washout water and biochar...

Cantuaria et al. found positive associations between exposure to road traffic noise and risk of tinnitus; highest risk estimates were found for women, people without a hearing loss, people with high education and income, and people who had never been in a blue-collar job. Image credit: Pexels.

Residential Exposure to Road Traffic Noise Increases Risk of Tinnitus, New Study Suggests

Feb 6, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

In a nationwide cohort study, scientists in Denmark investigated the association between residential road traffic and railway noise exposure, measured...

Prototypes designed and built by Kay et al. contain several layers of channels, each of which contain fluids with various optical properties; by pumping the fluids in and out of the channels, the system can optimize the type, quantity and distribution of light passing through. Image credit: Raphael Kay / Adrian So.

Researchers Create Squid-Inspired ‘Liquid Windows’

Feb 1, 2023 by News Staff

A team of researchers at the University of Toronto has developed a multilayered fluidic system that can reduce the energy costs of heating, cooling and...

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