POTATO GENOME DECODED–More than 20 years after the first release of the human genome, scientists have for the first time deciphered the highly complex genome of the potato. Their impressive technical feat will accelerate efforts to breed superior varieties. READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON SCIENCEDAILY
A SOLAR ILLUSION: CORONAL LOOPS MAY NOT BE WHAT THEY SEEM–Many coronal loops — ropey strands of plasma that scientists have long thought existed in the sun’s atmosphere — may actually be optical illusions, according to a new paper that challenges prevailing assumptions of what we know, and don’t know, about the sun. READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON SCIENCEDAILY
SCALING LAWS IN ENZYMES MAY HELP PREDICT LIFE ‘AS WE DON’T KNOW IT’–A team of researchers is developing tools to predict the features of life as we don’t know it. READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON SCIENCEDAILY
NUMBER OF WILDFIRES TO RISE BY 50 PERCENT BY 2100 AND GOVERNMENTS ARE NOT PREPARED, UN EXPERTS WARN–Climate change and land-use change are projected to make wildfires more frequent and intense, with a global increase of extreme fires of up to 14 percent by 2030, 30 percent by the end of 2050 and 50 percent by the end of the century, warns a new UN report. It calls for radical change in government spending on wildfires, shifting from reaction and response to prevention and preparedness. READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON SCIENCEDAILY
LARGEST EVER HUMAN FAMILY TREE: 27 MILLION ANCESTORS–Researchers have taken a major step towards mapping the entirety of genetic relationships among humans: a single genealogy that traces the ancestry of all of us. READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON SCIENCEDAILY
U.S. COASTLINE TO SEE UP TO A FOOT OF SEA LEVEL RISE BY 2050–The United States is expected to experience as much sea level rise by the year 2050 as it witnessed in the previous hundred years. That’s according to a NOAA-led report updating sea level rise decision-support information for the U.S. released in partnership with half a dozen other U.S.federal agencies. READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON SCIENCEDAILY
