April 2, 2020 – In California, a changing climate has made autumn feel more like summer, with hotter, drier weather that increases the risk of longer, more dangerous wildfire seasons, according to a new Stanford-led study. The paper, published in Environmental Research Letters, provides insights that could inform more effective risk mitigation, land management and […]
Stanford University
Posted inRegional
Stanford researchers explain what to expect from wildfire season this year and in the future
June 14, 2019 – The recipe for disaster is simple. Throughout Western North America, millions of people live in high-risk wildfire zones thanks to increasingly dry, hot summers and abundant organic fuel in nearby wildlands. This year, the National Interagency Fire Center is predicting a heavy wildfire season for areas along the West Coast from […]
Posted inEnviro
Stanford experts discuss challenges and opportunities in disposing of waste
April 24, 2019 – Waste ain’t what it used to be. Since China largely closed the door to imported garbage last year, recycling costs have increased considerably and programs have disappeared or scaled back in communities across the United States. The shift creates an opportunity for reassessing how we create and dispose of waste. The […]
Posted inWorld
Climate change has worsened global economic inequality
April 24, 2019 – A new Stanford University study shows global warming has increased economic inequality since the 1960s. Temperature changes caused by growing concentrations of greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere have enriched cool countries like Norway and Sweden, while dragging down economic growth in warm countries such as India and Nigeria. “Our results show […]
Posted inLife
Nils Nilsson, pioneer in robotics and artificial intelligence, dies at 86
April 24, 2019 – J. Nilsson, the Kumagai Professor of Engineering, emeritus, in the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University, died April 23, 2019, at his home in Medford, OR, after a brief stay in hospice. He was 86. Nilsson is best known for his foundational work in robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning […]
Posted inCalifornia
Stanford study offers a way to map where flooded fields best replenish groundwater
April 10, 2019 – In California, the amount of water exiting aquifers under the state’s most productive farming region far surpasses the amount of water trickling back in. That rampant overdraft has caused land across much of the region to sink like a squeezed out sponge, permanently depleting groundwater storage capacity and damaging infrastructure. The […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Stanford researchers find rising seas can hurt local economies
February 15, 2019 – Impacts from climate change are not always easy to see. But for many local businesses in coastal communities across the United States, the evidence is right outside their doors – or in their parking lots. That evidence isn’t just present in the form of more frequent flooding. According to a new […]
Posted inLife
Trouble with decluttering? Being dependent on stuff is part of being human, Stanford scholar says
Feb. 5, 2019 – Decluttering, spring cleaning or watching an episode of a home makeover television show often leads to the question: Why do we have so much junk? According to Stanford archaeologist Ian Hodder, our love for stuff dates back to our ancestors. Hodder argues that when people picked up their first tool 2.5 […]
Posted inWorld
France’s yellow vest movement has morphed far beyond a carbon tax protest, Stanford economist says
Jan. 23, 2019 – The yellow vest movement in France, which began as a protest against increased fuel taxes, has taken on a much broader agenda, according to a Stanford economist who recently taught in Paris. The movement stems from frustrations over high unemployment and an economy that has stagnated, despite a decade of global […]
Posted inCalifornia
Droughts boost emissions as hydropower dries up
December 26, 2018 – When hydropower runs low in a drought, western states tend to ramp up power generation – and emissions – from fossil fuels. According to a new study from Stanford University, droughts caused about 10 percent of the average annual carbon dioxide emissions from power generation in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington between 2001 […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Stanford scientists locate nearly all U.S. solar panels by applying machine learning to a billion satellite images
Dec. 19, 2018 – Knowing which Americans have installed solar panels on their roofs and why they did so would be enormously useful for managing the changing U.S. electricity system and to understanding the barriers to greater use of renewable resources. But until now, all that has been available are essentially estimates. To get accurate […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Stanford researchers uncover startling insights into how human-generated carbon dioxide could reshape oceans
December 11, 2018 – Something peculiar is happening in the azure waters off the rocky cliffs of Ischia, Italy. There, streams of gas-filled volcanic bubbles rising up to the surface are radically changing life around them by making seawater acidic. Stanford researchers studying species living near these gassy vents have learned what it takes to […]
Posted inSci/Tech
U.S. must start from scratch with a new nuclear waste strategy, a Stanford-led panel says
Dec. 10, 2018 – The U.S. government has worked for decades and spent tens of billions of dollars in search of a permanent resting place for the nation’s nuclear waste. Some 80,000 tons of highly radioactive spent fuel from commercial nuclear power plants and millions of gallons of high-level nuclear waste from defense programs are […]
Posted inUS
Economists find high cost and low benefit to border wall for U.S. workers
Nov. 15, 2018 – From 2007 to 2010, the United States built an additional 548 miles of fencing across the U.S.-Mexico border. The fence came at a high cost to American taxpayers and only minimally reduced unauthorized Mexican migration, according to new research by economists at Stanford and Dartmouth. The new working paper – co-authored […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Stanford engineers develop tiny light detectors that work like gecko ears
October 29, 2018 – Geckos and many other animals have heads that are too small to triangulate the location of noises the way we do, with widely spaced ears. Instead, they have a tiny tunnel through their heads that measures the way incoming sound waves bounce around to figure out which direction they came from. […]
Posted inLife
New Stanford research reexamines the story of the U.S. Constitution’s creation
Oct. 22, 2018 – How to interpret and apply the U.S. Constitution – a frequently debated issue – didn’t begin after the document’s framers were no longer alive to clarify their work. In fact, debates over what the Constitution means erupted immediately after it was created, shaping the way Americans view it today, according to […]
Posted inEnviro
Climate change, overharvesting may doom a pricey parasite, Stanford researchers find
October 22, 2018 – A parasitic fungus that grows wild throughout the Himalayas and sells for more than its weight in gold could vanish if current harvesting and climate trends continue, according to new research from Stanford University. The fungus, Ophiocordyceps sinensis, survives by preying on ghost moth caterpillars in some of the highest reaches […]
Posted inLife
Americans are not financially prepared for living longer lives, Stanford study finds
October 22, 2018 – Americans are living longer than past generations, and for many that means working longer, too. While for some this might be a choice, for many it is a financial necessity, according to a new report published Oct. 22 by the Stanford Center on Longevity. Over the past century, Americans have added […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Stanford shows that breast cancers punch tunnels into neighboring tissue
October 8, 2018 – Cancers pose the greatest danger when they become invasive and then spread from their originating tissues throughout the body. Although scientists have long known that cells have a chemical means of breaking free, Stanford researchers have discovered that breast cancer cells can also physically push their way out of their normal […]
Posted inWorld
When refugees are barred from working, long-term integration suffers
Sept. 19, 2018 – As refugee flows have increased around the world, many governments are grappling with acute political pressure along with the logistical challenges of supporting refugees and processing asylum applications. Perhaps most notably in Europe, where populist and other opposition parties have seized on the refugee crisis, leaders are pulled in two different […]