Jan 19, 2022

Urban parks in desert areas often use copious amounts of water for maintaining grass and trees. In Phoenix, Arizona, two primary irrigation methods are used: sprinklers and flooding. A new study in Ecohydrology led by Mercedes Kindler compares the benefits and drawbacks of these methods. They also analyze the impact of using […]

Jan 5, 2022

On-farm reservoirs play a critical role in crop irrigation. They store water during the wet season for subsequent use for crop irrigation during the dry season. In the U.S. alone, there are an estimated 2.6 million such reservoirs. However, storing this water has poorly understood impacts on downstream hydrology and ecosystems. The […]

Dec 1, 2021

Satellite imagery can provide geologic context for scientific discoveries on the ground, such as sample location mapping for fossil discoveries. A new study led out of McGill University by Cortés et al. (2021) details the discovery of fossils in central Colombia that represent a new genus of ichthyosaur—large, long-extinct marine reptiles. Dubbed […]

Nov 24, 2021

Illegal sand mining is running rampant in the world due to the need for river sand as a binder in making concrete. Desert sand isn’t suitable for this purpose due to its shape. This illegal activity had led to the deaths of journalists, farmers, miners, and more, as well as causing ecological […]

Nov 16, 2021

Multiple studies have found that exposure to “greenspace” such as parks and forests has benefits to early childhood development. Some of these benefits include fewer behavioral problems, improved memory, and even better academic performance. However, the root explanations as to why these benefits happen are still not entirely clear. A new study […]