Troy Oakes

Drought Losses in China Will Soar With Continuing Global Warming

Economic losses caused by drought losses in China may double if the global temperature rises by 1.5°C to 2.0°C above pre-industrial levels, with increasing drought intensity and areal coverage across China, a new economic assessment study by Chinese scientists found. The study, which was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences based on 30 ...

Troy Oakes

Desolation in the desert.

The Hidden Costs of Cobalt Mining in DR Congo

Cobalt mining comes at a great cost to public health in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. New research reveals that children are particularly vulnerable — their urine and blood samples contain high concentrations of cobalt and other metals. In past years, the demand for cobalt has been on the increase due to its many applications. ...

Troy Oakes

Why Earth’s Oceanic Plates Suddenly Stop

In a study published in Nature Geoscience, the team explored the physics of “stagnant slabs.” These geophysical oddities form when huge chunks of Earth’s oceanic plates are forced deep underground at the edges of certain continental plates. The chunks sink down into the planet’s interior for hundreds of miles until they suddenly — and for reasons ...

Troy Oakes

Aboriginals Lived in Western Desert in Australia 50,000 Years Ago

Archaeologists from the University of Western Australia working with Traditional Custodians from the Birriliburru Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) have recovered evidence that aboriginals lived in the Australian arid zone 50,000 years ago. This is 10,000 years earlier than previously understood for the interior deserts of Australia, and among some of the earliest known evidence of ...

Troy Oakes

Ancient Aboriginal desert sites.

An Unexpected ‘Deep Creep’ Found Near San Andreas, San Jacinto Faults

A new analysis of thousands of very small earthquakes that have occurred in the San Bernardino basin near the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults suggests that the unusual deformation of some — they move in a different way than expected — may be due to “deep creep” 10 km below the Earth’s surface, say ...

Troy Oakes

Slick Water and Black Shale in Fracking Producing Radioactive Waste

The interaction between a chemical slurry and ancient shale during hydraulic fracking is producing radioactive waste, according to Dartmouth College research. The study, detailed in twin papers appearing in Chemical Geology, is the first research that characterizes the phenomenon of radium transfer in the widely-used method to extract oil and gas. The findings add to ...

Troy Oakes

Permian Mass Extinction in South China Was Instantaneous in Geological Time

The most severe mass extinction in Earth’s history occurred with almost no early warning signs, according to a new study by scientists at MIT, China, and elsewhere. The end-Permian mass extinction, which took place 251.9 million years ago, killed off more than 96 percent of the planet’s marine species and 70 percent of its terrestrial ...

Troy Oakes

China’s Shift From Coal to Natural Gas May Not End Well

Committed to addressing the country’s severe air pollution, China is attempting a shift from coal to natural gas and is considering a variety of sources, including domestic and imported gas options, as well as creating its own synthetic gas from coal. A team of researchers led by Princeton University investigated the environmental impacts of transitioning ...

Troy Oakes

China's coal to natural gas.

Wearable Patch to Monitor Blood Pressure Deep Inside Your Body

A new ultrasound wearable patch to monitor blood pressure in arteries deep beneath the skin could help people detect cardiovascular problems earlier on and with greater precision. In tests, the patch performed as well as some clinical methods to measure blood pressure. Applications include real-time, continuous monitoring of blood pressure changes in patients with heart ...

Troy Oakes

Is Pluto A Planet? New Research Suggests Yes

The reason Pluto lost its planet status is not valid, according to new research from the University of Central Florida. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union, a global group of astronomy experts, established a definition of a planet that required it to “clear” its orbit, or in other words, be the largest gravitational force in ...

Troy Oakes

The planet Pluto.