Day: January 8, 2018

Climate change, Data science

Microsoft “AI For Earth” Project Will Democratize Access To Climate Change Data

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Read the full story at Clean Technica.

Information is power. Until recently, information about the condition of the earth’s environment has been accessible only to a limited number of people — climate scientists, researchers, and government officials among them. On December 11 — the two-year anniversary of the Paris climate accords — Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer of Microsoft, announced his company will invest $50 million over the next 5 years to democratize access to the data available about the environment available from the thousands of land, sea, and atmospheric sensors in place around the world using AI or artificial intelligence.

Pollinators

Flowers Have Hidden Heat Signals That Attract Pollinating Bees

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Read the full story at e360.

It is well understood how flowers use complex color patterns and smells to attract pollinating bees. But now, scientists have discovered that flowers also emit heat to advertise themselves to insects — creating temperature arrays that mimic the color designs of petals.

Emerging contaminants, Environmental health, Pharmaceuticals and personal care products

A Question for Women’s Health: Chemicals in Feminine Hygiene Products and Personal Lubricants

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Read the full story in Environmental Health Perspectives.

When it comes to reproductive health, research on contraceptives and STIs continues to garner interest worldwide. But a related area—chemical exposures from feminine hygiene products and personal lubricants—has received much less attention. In the United States alone, women spend well over $2 billion per year on feminine hygiene products, including tampons, pads, feminine washes, sprays, powders, and personal wipes. But until recently, scant research existed on how chemicals in these products may affect women’s health. As scattered findings emerge, several scientists and interest groups are calling for more research to fill in the gaps.

Climate change

How Climate Change Deniers Rise to the Top in Google Searches

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Read the full story in the New York Times.

Groups that reject established climate science can use the search
engine’s advertising business to their advantage, gaming the
system to find a mass platform for false or misleading claims.

Natural resources

How a Guy From a Montana Trailer Park Overturned 150 Years of Biology

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Read the full story in the Atlantic.

Biology textbooks tell us that lichens are alliances between two organisms—a fungus and an alga. They are wrong.

Biodiversity

Habitat on the Edges: Making Room for Wildlife in an Urbanized World

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Read the full story at e360.

Efforts to protect biodiversity are now focusing less on preserving pristine areas and more on finding room for wildlife on the margins of human development. As urban areas keep expanding, it is increasingly the only way to allow species to survive.

Art, Plastics

A Look at an Installation in Madrid, Spain, that Addresses the World’s Plastic Waste Problem

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Read the full story at Waste360.

Continuing to raise awareness about the threat of plastic waste, Luzinterruptus, the anonymous Spanish art collective, created a large installation made from 60,000 recycled bottles collected from companies, small businesses, recycling plants and official organisms for the Luna de Octubre festival held in Madrid, Spain, last year.

Energy, Water

Aquapod© water treatment studied for water conservation at power plants

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Read the full story from the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center.

A low-energy water treatment system developed at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) has been selected for development by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as an improved technology for water conservation in power plants.

Statistics/Data sets, Weather

WARM provides farmers vital weather stats

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Read the full story at Farm Week Now.

Wind speed, precipitation, soil temperatures and pest degree days. Farmers can get those vital statistics and more from WARM.

For 28 years, the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) has provided the Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program (WARM) for farmers, governmental agencies, industry and academics. More than 150,000 visitors regularly check the website at isws.illinois.edu/warm.

Calls for Papers/Presentations, Emerging contaminants

2018 Emerging Contaminants in the Aquatic Environment Conference call for abstracts is now open

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Call for abstracts is open! The conference organizers – the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois – are requesting abstract submissions for oral and poster presentations at the Emerging Contaminants in the Aquatic Environment Conference (ECAEC18) to be held on June 5-6, 2018, at the I-Hotel in Champaign, IL.

Presentations will be accepted on the latest in emerging contaminant research, policies, outreach, and education. A special session will focus on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), which includes perfluorooctyl sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).

Researchers, educators, businesses, government officials, regulatory agencies, policy makers, outreach and extension professionals, environmental groups, members of the general public, and medical, veterinary, and public health professionals are encouraged to submit abstracts.

Oral presentation abstracts are due on March 12, 2018.

Poster presentation abstracts are due on April 16, 2018.

For more information, visit the abstract submission page on the conference website.

For questions, please contact the conference coordinator: Elizabeth Meschewski.

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