New research finds that Marine Protected Areas can boost the recovery of globally important kelp forests following marine heatwaves. The findings are published in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology.

In the era of global climate change, personal thermoregulation has become critical to addressing the growing demands for thermoadaptability, comfort, health, and work efficiency in dynamic environments. Here, we introduce an innovative three-dimensional (3D) self-folding knitted fabric that achieves dual thermal regulation modes through architectural reconfiguration. In the warming mode, the fabric maintains its natural 3D structure, trapping still air with extremely low thermal conductivity to provide high thermal resistance (0.06 m² K W⁻¹), effectively minimizing heat loss. In the cooling mode, the fabric transitions to a 2D flat state via stretching, with titanium dioxide (TiO₂) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coatings that enhance solar reflectivity (89.5%) and infrared emissivity (93.5%), achieving a cooling effect of 4.3 °C under sunlight. The fabric demonstrates exceptional durability and washability, enduring over 1000 folding cycles, and is manufactured using scalable and cost-effective knitting techniques. Beyond thermoregulation, it exhibits excellent breathability, sweat management, and flexibility, ensuring wear comfort and tactile feel under diverse conditions. This study presents an innovative solution for next-generation adaptive textiles, addressing the limitations of static thermal fabrics and advancing personal thermal management with wide applications for wearable technology, extreme environments, and sustainable fashion.

A new study, led by University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa oceanographers, revealed that the ocean is acidifying even more rapidly below the surface in the open waters of the North Pacific near Hawai‘i. 

More trees will cool the climate and suppress fires, but mainly if planted in the tropics, according to a new UC Riverside study. 

Farmers in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, pay four to six times more for crop insurance than their counterparts in the upper Midwest, and Hunter Biram wanted to know why. The result of his research with colleagues in Kansas was published in late July in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics.