Warming of 2 C would release billions of tons of soil carbon

Global warming of 2°C would lead to about 230 billion tons of carbon being released from the world's soil, new research suggests.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-billions-tons-soil-carbon.html

Japan carbon pledge boosts hopes of ammonia backers

Japan's pledge to become carbon-neutral by 2050 is offering hope to industry heavyweights pushing ammonia as the fuel of the future—but critics say the corrosive gas is still far from a clear-cut clean energy.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-japan-carbon-pledge-boosts-ammonia.html

Ambitious but controversial: Japan's new hydrogen project

Japan's new 2050 deadline for carbon neutrality has thrown a spotlight on its efforts to find new, greener fuel options, including an ambitious but controversial liquid hydrogen venture.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-11-ambitious-controversial-japan-hydrogen.html

16 dead after Typhoon Goni batters Philippines

The most powerful typhoon to hit the Philippines this year destroyed tens of thousands of homes and killed at least 16 people, officials said Monday, as communications to the worst-hit areas remained cut off.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-dead-typhoon-goni-batters-philippines.html

Record fires ravage Brazil's Amazon and Pantanal regions

A record high number of fires scorched Brazil's Amazon and Pantanal wetlands last month, official data showed on Sunday, as deforestation and climate change wreaked havoc on some of the planet's most valuable ecosystems.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-ravage-brazil-amazon-pantanal-regions.html

New research reports discovery of 5-million-year-old honey badger-like animal

Five million years ago, dangerous carnivores—such as giant wolverines and otters, bears, sabertooth cats, and large hyaenids—prowled the West Coast of South Africa. Today we can confirm that, among them, fearlessly roamed a smaller relative of the living honey badger.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-discovery-million-year-old-honey-badger-like-animal.html

Starting kindergarten on the right foot

Everything you ever really needed to know you learned back in kindergarten—that old saying gets some scientific support in a new study by researchers at Canada's Université de Montréal and Université Sainte-Anne.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-kindergarten-foot.html

More Republicans follow COVID guidelines when they're told it will protect themselves

For decades, scientists have predicted that a deadly pandemic would sweep the globe—but what they didn't expect was that basic public health measures such as mask wearing and social distancing would become political flashpoints, especially in the United States.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-11-republicans-covid-guidelines-theyre-told.html

Abnormal blood pressure levels while sleeping increase risk of heart disease, stroke

People who experience high blood pressure while sleeping are more likely to experience future cardiovascular disease especially heart failure, even when their daytime blood pressure is within normal ranges, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association's flagship journal Circulation.

Europe imposes new virus curbs as exasperation, anger grows

Germany on Monday led a further tightening of coronavirus restrictions in Europe that have triggered anger and frustration across the continent, while the COVID-19 crisis in the United States deepened.

Ambitious but controversial: Japan's new hydrogen project

Japan's new 2050 deadline for carbon neutrality has thrown a spotlight on its efforts to find new, greener fuel options, including an ambitious but controversial liquid hydrogen venture.

Global coronavirus death toll tops 1.2 million

More than 1.2 million people have died of coronavirus around the globe, according to an AFP tally from official sources at 0745 GMT on Monday.

Biomarker combination predicts kidney injury in critically ill children

Researchers at the University of Liverpool have identified a unique method of identifying the early signs of a potentially serious condition known as Acute Kidney Injury (AKI).

Canada should approve HIV self-testing

Canada should integrate self-testing for HIV into the health system to help reduce the burden of the disease, argues a commentary published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal.