A new study by scientists and graduates at the University of Plymouth has investigated one aspect of how the future environmental conditions created by the changing global climate might affect earliest development within Christmas Island’s red crab population

As climate change and population growth increase pressure on global food production, regional-scale crop growth and associated process (CROP-AP) models have become essential tools for understanding and predicting agricultural productivity. A new review, published in Science China Earth Sciences, categorizes these models into four types—statistical models, crop growth models, hydrology-crop coupling models, and ecosystem models. The study explores their main functions from five aspects: crop yield prediction, crop water consumption, agricultural non-point source pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and climate change impact and responses, and identifies key future research directions, including model validation and calibration, the ability to simulate the coupling of crop physiology and human activities, enhancing model scalability, multi-model ensembles, data and code sharing, and the integration of artificial intelligence.

Quaise Energy reports new insights into designing superhot geothermal plants in two recent papers. The geothermal plants of today work at relatively low temperatures, most ranging from about 100 to 250^oC. Less is known about designing plants for tapping into the heat in superhot rock over 375^oC, which could offer significant benefits. Daniel Dichter of Quaise is working to understand more, and presented his most recent results at two recent conferences.