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Satellites show Arctic sea ice is melting even faster than scientists realized

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A new study based on NASA and ESA satellite data shows that Arctic sea ice is thinning at a “frightening rate.” Measuring the ice via satellites each month from 2018 to 2021, polar scientists Sahra Kacimi of the California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Ron Kwok of the University of Washington’s Applied Physics … Read more

AI Helps Small City Pull Toxic Lead Water Service Lines from the Ground Faster

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Benton Harbor, Mich.—This is a city in crisis. “You can’t drink the water. You can’t brush your teeth with the water. You can’t cook with the water…. You can’t make baby formula with the water,” says Reverend Edward Pinkney, president of the Benton Harbor Community Water Council. The community’s water is not safe to drink … Read more

A Single Genetic Test Can Accurately Diagnose 25 Rare Diseases Faster Than Ever

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Scientists have developed a quick genetic test that can diagnose a large range of rare muscle and nerve diseases with near perfect accuracy. Tandem repeat disorders are a family of over 50 inherited diseases, including Huntington’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), that seem to occur when short DNA sequences are repeated too many times. … Read more

Amazon Rainforest Nearing Tipping Point Faster Than Predicted, Scientists Warn

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Hammered by climate change and relentless deforestation, the Amazon rainforest is losing its capacity to recover and could irretrievably transition into savannah, with dire consequences for the region and the world, according to a study published Monday.   Researchers warned that the results mean the Amazon could be approaching a so-called “tipping point” faster than … Read more

Ukrainian entrepreneur calls for faster, better satellite data to help fight Russian invasion

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A Maxar satellite image shows Russian airborne forces in Zdvyzhivka, Ukraine, on Feb. 28, 2022. (Image credit: Maxar Technologies) Private Earth observation companies have been sharing satellite images of Ukraine and its bordering countries amid Russia’s military invasion, but these efforts are not actually helping resistance fighters on the ground, Ukrainian entrepreneur Max Polyakov said … Read more

A Faster Way to Find Good Medical Treatments Is Gaining Ground

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A huge amount of money, skill and organizational complexity goes into testing a single new therapy in a randomized controlled trial—the “gold standard” type of study that forms the bedrock of modern medicine. Among the steps: devising a valid statistical design, determining dosages and measures of efficacy, passing ethical reviews, training collaborators in the study’s … Read more

Three Fixes to Build Energy Projects Cleaner and Faster

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Reducing carbon emissions in the U.S. to net zero is achievable. It’s economically sustainable, environmentally essential, technologically feasible and, with some work, even politically viable. But to have a good chance of reaching net zero, we must change the way we regulate the construction of clean energy projects. We have all of the building blocks: … Read more

Greenland: Base of the ice sheet is melting faster than we thought

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As meltwater trickles down through the Greenland ice sheet, it heats up – which means that some areas at the base of the ice sheet are melting 100 times faster than we thought Environment 21 February 2022 By Alex Wilkins Water flowing down to the bed of Store glacier, Greenland Poul Christoffersen A new source … Read more

Antarctica: Soot from burning fossil fuels is making snow melt faster

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Vehicles and power generators in Antarctica produce black carbon pollution that settles on the snow, causing more of it to melt in the summer Environment 22 February 2022 By Chen Ly Esperanza Base, an Argentinian research station on the Antarctic Peninsula Mike Scharer / Alamy Pollution from increasing human activity in Antarctica is darkening the … Read more