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NASA Study Finds Tropical Forests’ Ability to Absorb Carbon Dioxide Is Weakening

Arial photograph of a river winding through the Amazon rainforest
The Amazon rainforest is often called “the lungs of the world.” It produces oxygen and stores billions of tons of carbon every year. The Amazon rainforest covers more than 60% of the landmass of Peru. Credit: USDA Forest Service photo by Diego Perez

JPL.NASA.gov

The finding comes out of an effort to map where vegetation is emitting and soaking up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Earth’s trees and plants pull vast amounts of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere during photosynthesis, incorporating some of that carbon into structures like wood. Areas that absorb more carbon than they emit are called carbon sinks. But plants can also emit the greenhouse gas during processes like respiration, when dead plants decay, or during combustion in the case of fires. Researchers are particularly interested in whether – and how – plants at the scale of an ecosystem like a forest act as sources or sinks in an increasingly warming world.

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A pediatrician explains a spike in ear infections after Covid restrictions were lifted

Photograph of a doctor examining a childs ear.
With a beam of light, an otoscope allows a clinician to examine the ear canal and eardrum. SolStock/E+ via Getty Images

Abigail Kumral, University of Virginia

As a pediatrician, I see children in my clinic daily for ear infections. Because these are associated with viral upper respiratory infections, we typically see most ear infections in the fall and winter, when influenza and cold viruses are prevalent. However, with near-universal mask-wearing due to COVID-19 last winter and many children out of school, the number of viral upper respiratory infections dropped drastically. As a result, we saw very few ear infections in our clinic.

This summer, with the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, we have seen a return of many respiratory viruses, and with them, middle ear infections.

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Environmental DNA: ecologists powerful new tool

Photograph of a stream running through a forest
Environmental DNA is a promising tool for tracking species in freshwater ecosystems like Oregon’s Elkhorn Creek. Greg Shine, BLM/Flickr, CC BY

Scientists at work: We use environmental DNA to monitor how human activities affect life in rivers and streams

Marie Simonin, Inrae and Emily S. Bernhardt, Duke University

Rivers, lakes and wetlands cover just 1% of the Earth’s surface but are home to nearly 10% of all species, including fish, mammals, birds, insects and crustaceans. But these rich, diverse ecosystems are in free fall. Worldwide, species are declining faster now than at any other time in human history, and fresh waters are losing more species than land or ocean ecosystems.

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Hormone links exercise with cognitive benefits

Photo of running shoes and weights
Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay

Brian Doctrow, Ph.D. – U.S. National Institutes of Health

At a Glance
  • Researchers found that irisin, an exercise-induced hormone, improves cognitive performance in mice.
  • The hormone, which is identical in people, could potentially be used to treat cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.
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Exposure to toxic dust causing chronic health conditions for 9/11 survivors

Photo of dust-covered firefighter on 09/11
Toxic dust hung in the air around ground zero for more than three months following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Anthony Correia/Getty Images

9/11 survivors’ exposure to toxic dust and the chronic health conditions that followed offer lessons that are still too often unheeded

Roberto Lucchini, Florida International University

The 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York resulted in the loss of 2,753 people in the Twin Towers and surrounding area. After the attack, more than 100,000 responders and recovery workers from every U.S. state – along with some 400,000 residents and other workers around ground zero – were exposed to a toxic cloud of dust that fell as a ghostly, thick layer of ash and then hung in the air for more than three months.

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How Arctic warming can trigger extreme cold waves like the Texas freeze

Photo of Texas residents wearing winter coats
Temperatures in normally warm Texas plunged into the teens in February 2021, knocking out power for a population unaccustomed to cold, with deadly consequences. Thomas Shea / AFP via Getty Images

A new study makes the connection between Arctic warming and extreme cold waves like the Texas freeze –

Mathew Barlow, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Judah Cohen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

In February 2021, in the midst of rapidly warming global temperatures, an exceptionally severe cold wave hit large parts of North America, from Canada to Northern Mexico. It left 10 million people without power. The impact was particularly severe in Texas, which alone had more than 125 deaths associated with the event.

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How hurricane Ida turned into a monster

Computer animation of ocean currents
A computer animation reflects the temperature change as eddies spin off from the Loop Current and Gulf Stream along the U.S. Coast.

Hurricane Ida turned into a monster thanks to a giant warm patch in the Gulf of Mexico – here’s what happened

Nick Shay, University of Miami

As Hurricane Ida headed into the Gulf of Mexico, a team of scientists was closely watching a giant, slowly swirling pool of warm water directly ahead in its path.

That warm pool, an eddy, was a warning sign. It was around 125 miles (200 kilometers) across. And it was about to give Ida the power boost that in the span of less than 24 hours would turn it from a weak hurricane into the dangerous Category 4 storm that slammed into Louisiana just outside New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2021.

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An Accidental Discovery Hints at a Hidden Population of Cosmic Objects

Photo of the Edge-on view of the Milkyway.
This mosaic shows the entire sky imaged by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Infrared light refers to wavelengths that are longer than those visible to the human eye. Many cosmic objects radiate infrared, including gas and dust clouds where stars form, and brown dwarfs. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA Full Image Details.

JPL.NASA.Gov

Brown dwarfs aren’t quite stars and aren’t quite planets, and a new study suggests there might be more of them lurking in our galaxy than scientists previously thought.

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How fructose may contribute to obesity and cancer

Photo of sugary cookies
Image by Angelica Vaihel from Pixabay

—Brian Doctrow, Ph.D., U.S. National Institutes of Health

At a Glance

  • Researchers found that high levels of dietary fructose alter the gut to increase nutrient absorption in mice.
  • The results suggest a link between high fructose consumption, obesity, and certain cancers.
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Do I need a booster shot if I got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine?

Photo of vaccine
ORLANDO, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES - 2021/04/10: Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vial and box seen at a vaccination site. Doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are being administered throughout the state of Florida despite a small number of patients who have experienced adverse reactions, including blood clots. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Do I need a booster shot if I got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine? A virologist answers 5 questions

Maureen Ferran, Rochester Institute of Technology

For people who received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, the past few months have been a bit of a bumpy ride with news of side effects, pauses and restarts and now boosters. Maureen Ferran is a virologist at the Rochester Institute of Technology and has been keeping tabs on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Six months after the vaccine first received emergency use authorization, Ferran explains the latest research regarding its effectiveness, boosters and waning immunity against the delta variant.

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