Good morning. It's Tuesday, June 2, and welcome to this week's Science & Technology newsletter. First time reading? Sign up here or click here to share with friends. |
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In recent weeks, scientists have raised the alarm about the growing likelihood of a "super" El Niño event, which could significantly impact global weather patterns and temperatures. To demystify these headlines, we're starting this week's newsletter with a look at the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Then we'll be exploring what makes water so special before breaking down how electric grids work.
Let us know what you think! Whether it's feedback on our email format, a comment on this week's topics, suggestions for future coverage, or something else, we're happy to hear from readers. You can get in touch by simply replying to this email.
—Marco Daniel Machado, 1440 Science & Technology Section Editor |
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What is the El Niño-Southern Oscillation?
The El Niño-Southern Oscillation is a climate pattern characterized by changes in sea surface temperatures and overhead winds in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. ENSO, which lasts two to seven years, cycles between phases of warming and weaker winds (El Niño), cooling and stronger winds (La Niña), and roughly average temperatures and winds (ENSO-neutral). By altering how thermal energy and moisture are redistributed across the world's largest ocean, ENSO shifts jet streams, affecting global temperatures and precipitation.
During ENSO-neutral and, to a greater extent, during La Niña, southeasterly trade winds drive warm water from the west coast of Peru and Ecuador to Indonesia. These waters, which are more likely to evaporate into clouds, bring stronger rainfall to the western equatorial Pacific. Simultaneously, colder, nutrient-rich water from deeper in the ocean rises to fill the gap off Western South America (see diagrams). These waters are beneficial to the fishing industry, but their cascading effects in the US contribute to droughts in the South and wetter, colder conditions in the Northwest.
During El Niño, the trade winds weaken or even reverse, producing opposite effects: heavy precipitation in western equatorial South America, potential droughts in Australasia, a warmer, drier northern US and Canada, and a southern US with a greater chance of flooding. El Niño typically suppresses hurricane formation in the Atlantic while strengthening it in the Pacific (learn more).
Learn even more by exploring all our findings on the El Niño-Southern Oscillation here.
Here's a sample of what we found ...
> See maps of how summer and winter change due to El Niño and La Niña. (View)
> How do scientists predict El Niño? (View)
> A "super" El Niño event in 1877 contributed to a global famine that killed more than 50 million people. (Read)
> Why is the warming phase of this climate cycle called El Niño? (Read) |
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What is the El Niño-Southern Oscillation?
The El Niño-Southern Oscillation is a climate pattern characterized by changes in sea surface temperatures and overhead winds in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. ENSO, which lasts two to seven years, cycles between phases of warming and weaker winds (El Niño), cooling and stronger winds (La Niña), and roughly average temperatures and winds (ENSO-neutral). By altering how thermal energy and moisture are redistributed across the world's largest ocean, ENSO shifts jet streams, affecting global temperatures and precipitation.
During ENSO-neutral and, to a greater extent, during La Niña, southeasterly trade winds drive warm water from the west coast of Peru and Ecuador to Indonesia. These waters, which are more likely to evaporate into clouds, bring stronger rainfall to the western equatorial Pacific. Simultaneously, colder, nutrient-rich water from deeper in the ocean rises to fill the gap off Western South America. These waters are beneficial to the fishing industry, but their cascading effects in the US contribute to droughts in the South and wetter, colder conditions in the Northwest.
During El Niño, the trade winds weaken or even reverse, producing opposite effects: heavy precipitation in western equatorial South America, potential droughts in Australasia, a warmer, drier northern US and Canada, and a southern US with a greater chance of flooding. El Niño typically suppresses hurricane formation in the Atlantic while strengthening it in the Pacific.
Learn even more by exploring all our findings on the El Niño-Southern Oscillation here.
Here's a sample of what we found ...
> How El Niño and La Niña each contribute to extreme weather. (Watch)
> Visualize how the El Niño-Southern Oscillation moves the jet stream. (Read)
> See maps of how summer and winter change due to El Niño and La Niña. (View)
> How do scientists predict El Niño? (View)
> A "super" El Niño event in 1877 contributed to a global famine that killed more than 50 million people. (Read)
> Why is the warming phase of this climate cycle called El Niño? (Read) |
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Water, 101
Water is a compound made of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms (H₂O). It is essential for life because it transports nutrients and waste products, helps regulate temperature, and, as the universal solvent, dissolves many molecules, facilitating their use in biochemical processes.
These characteristics result from water being a polar molecule, with the oxygen end slightly negative and the hydrogen ends slightly positive. Acting as tiny magnets, these charged ends can pull on and break apart oppositely charged regions in other polar molecules. The opposite ends of multiple water molecules can also link together, forming hydrogen bonds.
Hydrogen bonds act as thermal buffers, enabling water to absorb large amounts of energy before warming up and evaporating. This allows Earth's oceans to mitigate climate change by acting as heat sinks. The bonds also contribute to the formation of a less dense, spacious crystal structure when water freezes, allowing ice to float.
Water covers about 71% of Earth's surface, but only 3% of it is consumable freshwater, about two-thirds of which is trapped in glaciers (view breakdown). Although water is recycled via the hydrologic cycle, reservoirs of this resource are being depleted faster than they can be replenished amid its increasing use for agriculture, industry, energy production, and human consumption (learn more).
Learn even more by exploring all our findings on Water here.
Here's a sample of what we found ...
> Though you may have heard otherwise, water does not conduct electricity. (Watch)
> From alkaline to sparkling, a breakdown of what's in different types of water. (View)
> Is it true you should drink eight glasses of water a day? (Watch)
> Why it's easier to boil water in Colorado than in any other state. (View) |
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Water, 101
Water is a compound made of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms (H₂O). It is essential for life because it transports nutrients and waste products, helps regulate temperature, and, as the universal solvent, dissolves many molecules, facilitating their use in biochemical processes.
These characteristics result from water being a polar molecule, with the oxygen end slightly negative and the hydrogen ends slightly positive. Acting as tiny magnets, these charged ends can pull on and break apart oppositely charged regions in other polar molecules. The opposite ends of multiple water molecules can also link together, forming hydrogen bonds.
Hydrogen bonds act as thermal buffers, enabling water to absorb large amounts of energy before warming up and evaporating. This allows Earth's oceans to mitigate climate change by acting as heat sinks. The bonds also contribute to the formation of a less dense, spacious crystal structure when water freezes, allowing ice to float.
Water covers about 71% of Earth's surface, but only 3% of it is consumable freshwater, about two-thirds of which is trapped in glaciers. Although water is recycled via the hydrologic cycle, reservoirs of this resource are being depleted faster than they can be replenished amid its increasing use for agriculture, industry, energy production, and human consumption.
Learn even more by exploring all our findings on Water here.
Here's a sample of what we found ...
> Though you may have heard otherwise, water does not conduct electricity. (Watch)
> ... but it can climb stairs and hover through mazes. (Watch)
> From alkaline to sparkling, a breakdown of what's in different types of water. (View)
> Is it true you should drink eight glasses of water a day? (Watch)
> Why it's easier to boil water in Colorado than in any other state. (View)
> The object in the solar system with 15 times more water than Earth. (View) |
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What It Takes to Turn On a Lightbulb |
Electric Grids, explained
Electric grids are the infrastructure that delivers electricity to consumers. Grids began as isolated systems connecting a single power source to one location, such as a Niagara Falls hydroelectric plant to Buffalo, New York. The need to meet dynamic, growing energy demands more efficiently and to increase reliability led to these systems being interconnected into today's synchronized networks, with many spanning multiple countries (history of the US grid).
Each grid consists of three main segments: generation, transmission, and distribution. Generation occurs in power plants, solar farms, and other facilities that convert resources into electricity. Transmission carries this energy over long-range power lines to distribution systems, which deliver the electricity to local customers. Between these segments, transformers at substations increase voltage to minimize power losses while electricity is transmitted or decrease voltage to make electricity safer for use.
Electric grids have been designed to continuously monitor demand and provide a matching supply of electricity for immediate use (learn how). For this reason, integrating intermittent renewable energy sources, such as wind power, has been challenging, particularly when generation sites are far from population centers. Large-scale battery and smart grid technologies may facilitate these integrations and improve grid efficiency, but the latter opens the door to cyberattacks.
Learn even more by exploring all our findings on electric grids here.
Here's a sample of what we found ...
> Why does Texas run its own electric grid? (Watch)
> A gallery of transmission tower beautification around the world. (View)
> Why some renewable energy systems reduce the grid's resilience. (Watch)
> ... and why swapping fossil fuels for renewables in today's grid is virtually impossible. (Watch) |
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What It Takes to Turn On a Lightbulb |
Electric Grids, explained
Electric grids are the infrastructure that delivers electricity to consumers. Grids began as isolated systems connecting a single power source to one location, such as a Niagara Falls hydroelectric plant to Buffalo, New York. The need to meet dynamic, growing energy demands more efficiently and to increase reliability led to these systems being interconnected into today's synchronized networks, many of which span multiple countries.
Each grid consists of three main segments: generation, transmission, and distribution. Generation occurs in power plants, solar farms, and other facilities that convert resources into electricity. Transmission carries this energy over long-range power lines to distribution systems, which deliver the electricity to local customers. Between these segments, transformers at substations increase voltage to minimize power losses while electricity is transmitted or decrease voltage to make electricity safer for use.
Electric grids have been designed to continuously monitor demand and provide a matching supply of electricity for immediate use. For this reason, integrating intermittent renewable energy sources, such as wind power, has been challenging, particularly when generation sites are far from population centers. Large-scale battery and smart grid technologies may facilitate these integrations and improve grid efficiency, but the latter opens the door to cyberattacks.
Learn even more by exploring all our findings on electric grids here.
Here's a sample of what we found ...
> Why does Texas run its own electric grid? (Watch)
> A gallery of transmission tower beautification around the world. (View)
> Why some renewable energy systems reduce the grid's resilience. (Watch)
> ... and why swapping fossil fuels for renewables in today's grid is virtually impossible. (Watch)
> What would happen in the US if the electric grid permanently went down? (Watch)
> How does the electric grid perfectly balance supply and demand at all times? (Watch) |
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Like all great scientists, we love spending time researching the latest scientific breakthroughs, tech releases, engaging explainers, and the connections between science and society that are making headlines. Here's what we found this week.
> Scientist invents a fake disease to show AI can fall for medical misinformation
Psychology Today | Susan A. Nolan and Michael Kimball. Earlier this year, some AI chatbots suggested that individuals with sore, itchy eyes may be suffering from bixonimania, a fictional disease detailed in two non-peer-reviewed papers. While the papers contained clues that would signal to professionals that they were fake, they still appeared in peer-reviewed journal articles, suggesting that some researchers are relying on AI without verifying sources. (Read | How do LLMs make this possible?)
> Deep-sea fish use crystals on their bodies to redirect their bioluminescent light
AIP Publishing | Masakazu Iwasaka. Layers of guanine platelets—specialized crystal structures—act like prisms and scatter light made by slender fangjaws, which are primarily found in the northwest Pacific Ocean. Resembling the effects of photonic crystals—nanostructures that manipulate the flow of light—the layered structures may inspire new designs for implanted biomedical devices. (Read | How do an estimated 75% of marine organisms produce their own light?)
> A network of ultrafast molecular reactions protects DNA from UV radiation
University of Surrey | Staff. Using advanced quantum chemistry computer simulations, researchers uncovered a system that funnels energy from ultraviolet light absorbed by DNA into competing ultrafast relaxation pathways. This complex network returns the molecule to a stable state before the extra energy can trigger potential mutations that lead to cancer. (Read | What else can trigger cancer?)
> Transforming saltwater into freshwater while harvesting materials for batteries
University of Rochester | Luke Auburn. The solar-powered system uses a laser-etched, self-cleaning metal that is extremely attractive to water to distill it without the use of harmful chemicals. Unlike other desalination methods that produce brine waste, the new method pulls salts in solid form, from which precious minerals like lithium can be extracted. (Read | Why is lithium so critical to battery production?)
> Water: How much is used to produce cotton, beer, and various foods? (Explore) |
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In partnership with Incogni |
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Unknown Number Calling? It’s Not Random |
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Once your data is out there, it’s not just calls. It’s phishing, impersonation, and identity theft. That’s why we recommend Incogni: They delete your info from the web, monitor and follow up automatically, and continue to erase data as new risks appear. Try Incogni here and get 55% off your subscription with code 1440DAILY. |
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We curate hundreds of resources into 1440 Topics each week. Here are some of our favorites from the world of science and technology.
Read:
> The strange journey taken by Einstein's brain after his death, including how some pieces ended up in a mayonnaise jar.
> Around since at least 1536, how was the @ sign used before the internet?
> Is there a limit to how many times you can clone a clone?
> What causes certain stars to twinkle?
> What to expect from 6G when it succeeds 5G technology around 2030. (w/video)
Listen:
> The secret history and science behind everyday kitchen appliances, from an "ice king" to defrosting hamsters with wartime technology.
> Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, a look at how Pokémon inspires scientists.
Watch:
> Scientists used sounds from healthy underwater habitats to revive coral reefs.
> Breaking down the nothingness in the universe's voids and supervoids.
> Research-backed tips for wrinkle-free clothing.
Thank you to our readers for inspiring us with their questions! Curious about something in science and technology? Tell us here.
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"If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water." |
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