How do intermittent events like hurricanes impact natural selection? A University of Rhode Island professor and colleagues are studying natural selection in the Anolis lizard to see how the species has weathered hurricanes in the southeastern U.S. Their research shows hurricanes are a source of natural selection, favoring traits that enhance the lizard’s clinging ability in strong winds.

For the first time, researchers have analyzed outdoor PM₁₀ from Milano Linate Airport and determined concentrations of Benzothiazoles (BTHs), tire-related additives. Not only concentrations were much higher than that of highly trafficked cities, but specific additives were proven to derive mostly from the airport area. Two of them were strongly correlated, suggesting a close link to the airport activities. The ecotoxicological assessment showed a low potential risk of occupational exposure to BTHs at Linate Airport.

Harvard atmospheric scientists directly sampled 5-day old wildfire smoke in the upper troposphere and found large particles that are not reflected in current climate models.

A death toll of more than 1,100 is expected to rise significantly after a rare convergence of heavy rains and multiple cyclones that devastated multiple countries in south and southeast Asia. Cyclones — rotating storms with high winds in the Pacific Ocean — don’t normally manifest near the Earth’s equator, but last week’s extreme weather saw three such storms form in the area. As the frequency and intensity of cyclones ramp up, a team of researchers is calling for better forecasting with the development of intelligent observation networks.

Photocatalytic seawater splitting is an attractive way for producing green hydrogen. Significant progresses have been made recently in catalytic efficiencies, but the activity of catalysts can only maintain stable for about 10 h. Here, we develop a vacancy-engineered Ag₃PO₄/CdS porous microreactor chip photocatalyst, operating in seawater with a performance stability exceeding 300 h. This is achieved by the establishment of both catalytic selectivity for impurity ions and tailored interactions between vacancies and sulfur species. Efficient transport of carriers with strong redox ability is ensured by forming a heterojunction within a space charge region, where the visualization of potential distribution confirms the key design concept of our chip. Moreover, the separation of oxidation and reduction reactions in space inhibits the reverse recombination, making the chip capable of working at atmospheric pressure. Consequently, in the presence of Pt co-catalysts, a high solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 0.81% can be achieved in the whole durability test. When using a fully solar-driven 256 cm² hydrogen production prototype, a H₂ evolution rate of 68.01 mmol h⁻¹ m⁻² can be achieved under outdoor insolation. Our findings provide a novel approach to achieve high selectivity, and demonstrate an efficient and scalable prototype suitable for practical solar H₂ production.

With natural disasters striking communities across the U.S. at an accelerating pace, the question of how to build homes that can endure them has never been more critical. New research spanning political science and civil engineering shows that the answer could lie at the intersection of smarter regulatory systems and stronger structures. University of Notre Dame political scientist Susan Ostermann and her team have identified the building code features that have the biggest impact on hazard resilience and translated those features into tangible, practical building solutions.

A new University of Maryland study of campus air samples revealed that chemical compounds from Canada’s historic 2023 fires lingered in the air, forming an ‘atmospheric soup.’