The tough job of calculating the carbon stocks and fluxes of a forest

The tough job of calculating the carbon stocks and fluxes of a forest

by Nicolas Barbier, Bonaventure Sonké, Le Bienfaiteur Sagang, Pierre Ploton and Stéphane Momo Takoudjou, The Conversation Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain “Green lungs” is the term often used to describe rainforests due to their ability to use photosynthesis to capture CO2, the planet’s primary greenhouse gas. That makes them a key component of global climate regulation, … Read more

New 1.5-billion-pixel image shows Running Chicken Nebula in unprecedented detail

New 1.5-billion-pixel image shows Running Chicken Nebula in unprecedented detail

The Running Chicken Nebula comprises several clouds, all of which we can see in this vast image from the VLT Survey Telescope (VST), hosted at ESO’s Paranal site. This 1.5-billion-pixel image spans an area in the sky of about 25 full Moons. The clouds shown in wispy pink plumes are full of gas and dust, … Read more

How AI alters middle managers’ work

How AI alters middle managers’ work

Credit: Journal of Service Research (2023). DOI: 10.1177/10946705231220462 The introduction of artificial intelligence is a significant part of the digital transformation bringing challenges and changes to the job descriptions among management. A study conducted at the University of Eastern Finland shows that integrating artificial intelligence systems into service teams increases demands imposed on middle management … Read more

Wildflowers increasingly doing without insect pollinators

Wildflowers increasingly doing without insect pollinators

Field pansies from a ‘resurrected’ lineage monitored during this study. Credit: © Samson Acoca-Pidolle Scientists at the CNRS and the University of Montpellier have discovered that flowering plants growing in farmland are increasingly doing without insect pollinators. As reproduction becomes more difficult for them in an environment depleted of pollinating insects, the plants are evolving … Read more

Why string theory requires extra dimensions

Why string theory requires extra dimensions

Superstrings may exist in 11 dimensions at once. Credit: National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli String theory found its origins in an attempt to understand the nascent experiments revealing the strong nuclear force. Eventually another theory, one based on particles called quarks and force carriers called gluons, would supplant it, but in the deep mathematical bones … Read more

Australia’s ‘carbon budget’ assessment reveals astonishing boom and bust cycles

Australia’s ‘carbon budget’ assessment reveals astonishing boom and bust cycles

by Yohanna Villalobos, Benjamin Smith, Pep Canadell and Peter Briggs, The Conversation Australia’s Carbon Budget 2010-2019. A product of the National Environmental Science Program – Climate Systems Hub; and a contribution to the Global Carbon Project – Regional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes-2. Credit: NESP-2 If you really want to know how much Australia contributes … Read more