Earth

The Suomi NPP satellite captured an image of newly formed Tropical Depression 4E in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

On July 6, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA-DOD's Suomi NPP satellite captured a visible light image of Tropical Depression 4E (TD4E) soon after it formed at 5 p.m. EDT about 570 miles (915 km) southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico. The storm appeared somewhat elongated because it was being affected by vertical wind shear.

El Niño exerted powerful effects around the globe in the last year, eroding California beaches; driving drought in northern South America, Africa and Asia; and bringing record rain to the U.S. Pacific Northwest and southern South America. In the Pacific Ocean off the West Coast, however, the California Current Ecosystem was already unsettled by an unusual pattern of warming popularly known as "The Blob."

A volcano erupting on a small island in the Sub Antarctic is depositing ash over one of the world's largest penguin colonies.

Zavodovski Island is a small island in the South Sandwich archipelago and its volcano Mt Curry has been erupting since March 2016. The island is home to over one million chinstrap penguins -- the largest colony for this species in the world.

A recent drought completely shut down the Amazon Basin's carbon sink, by killing trees and slowing their growth, a ground-breaking study led by researchers at the Universities of Exeter and Leeds has found. Previous research has suggested that the Amazon -the most extensive tropical forest on Earth and one of the "green lungs" of the planet -- may be gradually losing its capacity to take carbon from the atmosphere.

For decades nuclear physicists have tried to learn more about which elements, or their various isotopes, are "magic."

This is not to say that they display supernatural powers. Magic atomic nuclei are composed of "magic" numbers of protons and neutrons--collectively called nucleons--such as 2, 8, 20, and 28. These specific numbers of nucleons define shells inside the nucleus, which, when closed, make it far more strongly bound, and stable, than other nuclei.

Air pollutants interact with and break down plant-emitted scent molecules, which insect pollinators use to locate needed food, according to a team of researchers led by Penn State. The pollution-modified plant odors can confuse bees and, as a result, bees' foraging time increases and pollination efficiency decreases. This happens because the chemical interactions decrease both the scent molecules' life spans and the distances they travel.

Everything, from the food we eat to the clothes we wear to cars we drive, has global implications, requiring resources from distant places and generating pollution far from our homes. But while these impacts have been known for a long time, our understanding of the complex ripple effect throughout the global economy and on natural and social systems remains rudimentary.

A new study carried out on the floor of Pacific Ocean provides the most detailed view yet of how the earth's mantle flows beneath the ocean's tectonic plates. The findings, published in the journal Nature, appear to upend a common belief that the strongest deformation in the mantle is controlled by large-scale movement of the plates. Instead, the highest resolution imaging yet reveals smaller-scale processes at work that have more powerful effects.

Russian scientists have identified the components of the oldest bitumen sample to be found in an ancient vase and made an accurate estimate of its age.

Satellites eyeing powerful Hurricane Blas in the Eastern Pacific Ocean revealed a large eye as the powerful storm continued to move over open waters.

On July 4 at 20:50 UTC (4:50 p.m. EDT) the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA-DOD's Suomi NPP satellite captured a visible light image of Hurricane Blas that showed a developing, and cloud-filled eye.

University of Florida geochemist Andrea Dutton and colleagues at the University of Michigan have utilized a new technique of analysis to reconstruct Antarctic ocean temperatures that support the idea that the combined impacts of volcanic eruptions and an asteroid impact brought about one of Earth's biggest mass extinctions 66 million years ago.

ANN ARBOR -- A new reconstruction of Antarctic ocean temperatures around the time the dinosaurs disappeared 66 million years ago supports the idea that one of the planet's biggest mass extinctions was due to the combined effects of volcanic eruptions and an asteroid impact.

Mexico's household consumption of energy-dense food declines following 2014 nonessential food tax

Nagoya, Japan - Chiral molecules possess asymmetry; like left and right hands, their mirror images cannot be superposed. Molecules with identical chemical makeup but different chirality can display different activity. Therefore, chirality is an important factor in areas such as biology, chemistry, and pharmacology. Synthesis of molecules with specific chirality can be difficult; however, it is an important target of many chemists as they seek to obtain desired materials.

Coconuts are renowned for their hard shells, which are vital to ensure their seeds successfully germinate. But the specialised structure of coconut walls could help to design buildings that can withstand earthquakes and other natural disasters.