Earth

Stock exchanges that remove constraints on their minimum lot size or Minimum Trading Unit (MTU) increase retail trader participation and reduce transaction costs, according to new research from the University of Bath's School of Management.

Whilst most European stock exchanges now have a MTU of one share, a number of important stock exchanges, including the NYSE, the NASDAQ and the Tokyo Stock Exchange, still set higher MTUs, which are decided at the discretion of the exchanges or, in some instances, by the issuing companies.

What differentiates complex fluids from mere fluids? What makes them unique is that they are neither solid nor liquid. Among such complex fluids are foams. They are used as a model to understand the mechanisms underlying complex fluids flow. Now, a team of French physicists has gained new insights into predicting how complex fluids react under stretching conditions due to the interplay between elasticity, plasticity and flow. These findings were recently published in EPJ E by Benjamin Dollet and Claire Bocher from the Rennes Institute of Physics, in Brittany, France.

Massive volcanic eruptions could cause localised warming that might destabilise some of the world's biggest ice sheets, according to new research from Durham University.

Scientists investigated links between very large volcanic eruptions and polar temperatures during the last Ice Age.

Their findings suggest that some periods of Antarctic warming between 30,000 to 80,000 years ago were triggered by huge volcanic eruptions in the Northern Hemisphere that caused a shift in the world's weather patterns.

A team of local scientists have wound back the clock by 1000 years to reconstruct wildlife populations across Africa to help us better understand how they have shaped the world we live in.

This is important, because to understand the ecology of Africa, and much of the rest of the globe, you have to include animals - and now we have the means to do so, says lead researcher Dr Gareth Hempson, postdoctoral researcher at School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences at Wits University.

Hurricane Sandra broke a record in the hurricane history books as the latest major hurricane on record in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. On November 26, 2015 at 0706 UTC (2:06 a.m. EST). Sandra had winds of 125 knots (144 mph) at that time making it a category three on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. On Nov. 27 NOAA's GOES-West satellite captured an image of Sandra, although now a Category 2 hurricane continues its approach to landfall in Western Mexico.

A NASA animation of satellite imagery from NOAA's GOES-West satellite showed Tropical Storm Sandra has become decoupled by strong wind shear as it was approaching landfall in western Mexico on the morning of Nov. 28.

At 4 a.m. EST (0900 UTC) on Saturday, Nov. 28 the center of Tropical Storm Sandra was located near latitude 21.4 North, longitude 109.2 West. Sandra was 115 miles (180 km) south--southeast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. There are no coastal watches or warning in effect.

While Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Paris hammering out the details of the global fight against climate change, a new study out of the University of Montreal and the Trottier Energy Institute shows that Canadian attitudes are somewhat ambivalent. The report, entitled, "Feeling the Heat? The Paradox of Public Opinion and Climate Change Policy in Canada: Toward a New Research Agenda" examines public perceptions of this complex policy problem.

"For us in the social sciences, it is very important to highlight that there is no simple link between climate change and migration", says Dr. Angela Oels, a visiting professor at the Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS). "In fact, multiple factors influence the decision to migrate."

Explaining the complex structure of tropical forests is one of the great challenges in ecology. An issue of special interest is the distribution of different sizes of trees, something which is of particular relevance for biomass estimates. A team of modellers from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), working together with research partners, has now developed a new method which can be used to explain the tree size distribution in natural forests.

Regional climate projections for the two coming decades (2021-2040) suggest enhanced probability of heatwaves anywhere in Europe, which would be comparable or greater than the Russian heatwave in 2010 - the worst since 1950 - according to a JRC-led article published today in Environmental Research Letters. Using an improved heatwave index, the article also ranks the 10 record-breaking heatwaves that have struck the continent in the last 65 years.

On the occasion of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21), the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina has published a short statement on the co-benefits of actions on climate change and public health. The full paper follows and can be downloaded at http://www.leopoldina.org/en/climate-and-health. We will gladly arrange interviews on the topic. Please do not hesitate to contact us.

The Co-Benefits of Actions on Climate Change and Public Health

At the Weizmann Institute of Science, researchers have managed to 'pluck' a single photon -- one particle of light -- out of a pulse of light. The findings of this research, which appeared this week in Nature Photonics, bear both fundamental and practical significance: Light is the workhorse of today's communication systems, and single photons are likely to be the backbone of future quantum communication systems. In addition, say the scientists, the apparatus they have devised will spur further research into the fundamental particle nature of light.

SAINT PAUL, Minn. (Nov. 30, 2015): Scientists with the USDA Forest Service have developed a new approach to forest carbon accounting that will result in a more accurate picture of how much carbon is sequestered in forests - the planet's greatest terrestrial carbon sink - and the ramifications of changes in land use, wildfire and invasive insects on carbon sequestration.

HOUSTON - (Nov. 30, 2015) - Nanoscale octopods that do double duty as catalysts and plasmonic sensors are lighting a path toward more efficient industrial processes, according to a Rice University scientist.

A new study from the University of Exeter, published in the journal Ecology Letters, found that phytoplankton - microscopic water-borne plants - can rapidly evolve tolerance to elevated water temperatures. Globally, phytoplankton absorb as much carbon dioxide as tropical rainforests and so understanding the way they respond to a warming climate is crucial.