Here the authors sought to understand the effects of different variables that may be tied to pollution and climate change on genetic variation of Pacific white-sided dolphins, a species that is currently threatened by water pollution. Based on environmental data collected alongside a genetic distance matrix, they found that ocean currents had the most significant impact on the genetic diversity of Pacific white-sided dolphins along the Japanese coast.
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Environmental, social, and governance ratings and firm performance: Evidence from the Chinese stock market
Large corporations often are known for their financial power, but what social and environmental power and conscious do they have? The more responsible corporations are in relation to environmental, social, and governance criteria the better they do fiscally.
Read More...What is the optimal fuel for space flight? Efficiency, cost, and environmental impact
Here, the authors sought to investigate the efficiency, cost, and environmental impact of several possible propellants that are or could be used for space flight. By deriving three novel equations, they identified harm, energy, and cost scores for each fuel, suggesting that considering each factor will be essential to the ongoing growth of the space industry.
Read More...Low environmental pH inhibits phagosome formation and motility of Tetrahymena pyriformis
In this study, the authors look into some of the implications of rising carbon dioxide levels by studying the effects of acidic pH on the ability of T. pyriformis to feed by quantifying phagosome formation and motility.
Read More...Role of Environmental Conditions on Drying of Paint
Reducing paint drying time is an important step in improving production efficiency and reducing costs. The authors hypothesized that decreased humidity would lead to faster drying, ultraviolet (UV) light exposure would not affect the paint colors differently, white light exposure would allow for longer wavelength colors to dry at a faster rate than shorter wavelength colors, and substrates with higher roughness would dry slower. Experiments showed that trials under high humidity dried slightly faster than trials under low humidity, contrary to the hypothesis. Overall, the paint drying process is very much dependent on its surrounding environment, and optimizing the drying process requires a thorough understanding of the environmental factors and their interactive effects with the paint constituents.
Read More...Effects of Various Environmental Factors on Stomatal Density, Area, and Potential Conductance Index
In this study, the authors investigate the combinatorial effects of CO2 plus other environmental factors including salinity, temperature, acidity, and drought on how effectively plants can transport water and carbon through their stomata.
Read More...Simulating natural selection via autonomous agents: Environmental factors create unstable equilibria
Natural selection shapes the evolution of all organisms, and one question of interest is whether natural selection will reach a "stopping point": a stable, ideal, value for any particular trait. Madhan and Kanagavel tackle this question by building a computer simulation of trait evolution in organisms.
Read More...A novel deep learning model for visibility correction of environmental factors in autonomous vehicles
Intelligent vehicles utilize a combination of video-enabled object detection and radar data to traverse safely through surrounding environments. However, since the most momentary missteps in these systems can cause devastating collisions, the margin of error in the software for these systems is small. In this paper, we hypothesized that a novel object detection system that improves detection accuracy and speed of detection during adverse weather conditions would outperform industry alternatives in an average comparison.
Read More...Behaviors and attitudes concerning disposable masks and the environment: A D.C. high school case study
The authors looked at student behaviors around disposal of face masks. The goal of the study was to bring awareness to improper mask disposal and how the resulting litter contributes to overall environmental pollution.
Read More...Flight paths over greenspace in major United States airports
Greenspaces (urban and wetland areas that contain vegetation) are beneficial to reducing pollution, while airplanes are a highly-polluting method of transportation. The authors examine the intersection of these two environmental factors by processing satellite images to reveal what percentage of flight paths go over greenspaces at major US airports.
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