The ‘love hormone’ oxytocin may rise and fall in tandem in cats and the people who live with them, according to a new study published in the journal iScience.
The post Cat Hormones and Owner Moods Appear to Move Together: Study appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
As of June 2026, El Niño has officially arrived. This naturally recurring phenomenon is characterized by warmer-than-normal water temperatures in parts of the equatorial Pacific along with changes to atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns. Its regional effects range from desert floods to delayed monsoons to shifts in where tropical cyclones are more likely to form.
NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center expects the current El Niño to continue to strengthen through the end of 2026, with a 97 percent chance of lasting through early Northern Hemisphere spring 2027. Even during El Niño’s early stages, satellites have observed characteristic changes along the equatorial Pacific, such as warmer-than-normal sea surface temperatures and higher-than-normal sea surface height.
Among the first ecological downstream effects are changes to the marine food web. The maps above show chlorophyll-a concentrations—the pigment present in most phytoplankton—as observed by the OCI (Ocean Color Instrument) on NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) satellite. In June 2025 (left), conditions were neutral, while in June 2026 (right), El Niño was strengthening.
The most noticeable difference appears in the central Pacific, around the equator due north of New Zealand: chlorophyll concentrations, an indication of phytoplankton abundance, are substantially lower in 2026. This change is expected, said Matthew Kehrli and Graham Trolley, oceanographers in the Ocean Ecology Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. That’s because during an El Niño, easterly equatorial trade winds weaken, the warm surface layer of the ocean extends deeper, and the upwelling of cool, nutrient-rich water that typically fuels phytoplankton growth is suppressed.
As the El Niño progresses, the scientists anticipate the differences in the central Pacific will become more pronounced. “This may manifest as a greater difference in values across the current region, as a broadening region of reduced surface chlorophyll-a concentration, or both, depending on the behavior of the equatorial trade winds,” they said.
Reductions in phytoplankton have ripple effects through the marine food web, including in coastal regions. Less food is available for zooplankton, as well as for fish, seabirds, and marine mammals. Peru’s anchovy fisheries have seen profound declines in catch during past El Niños, driven similarly by warmer surface waters, reduced upwelling, and lower phytoplankton abundance. In 2026, Peru’s Ministry of Production repeatedly suspended the fishery to safeguard the country’s main fishing resource. Pelicans have been seen venturing into Peruvian ports and urban areas in search of food.
Although the disruptions to marine life can be severe, a post-El Niño “chlorophyll rebound,” with higher-than-normal concentrations in the equatorial Pacific, can occur. Research suggests that higher iron concentrations delivered in ocean currents, as well as dust arriving from drier land in parts of Central and South America, help fuel the resurgence—a rebound that doesn’t require a follow-on La Niña. La Niña, which often follows El Niño events, can also produce elevated chlorophyll concentrations. A strong La Niña in 1998–1999 set off a large phytoplankton bloom in the eastern Pacific and a dramatic increase in fish populations.
Scientists have new tools available for studying this sort of variability. The PACE mission launched in February 2024, making this the first complete El Niño event for which the satellite will gather global, near-daily hyperspectral measurements. “The scientific community will be able to observe the 2026 El Niño with data across more wavelengths of light than ever before,” Kehrli and Trolley said.
To better understand effects on life in the ocean, researchers hope to use PACE data to gauge the responses of specific phytoplankton communities to El Niño. And the possibilities extend beyond the marine realm, the scientists note. PACE’s sensors can measure plant pigment composition on land and clouds and aerosols in the atmosphere, all of which are influenced by El Niño.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using PACE data from the NASA Ocean Biology Distributed Active Archive Center OB.DAAC and processed by Matthew Kehrli. Story by Lindsey Doermann.
Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet.
Satellite observations of sea surface height indicated that the 2026 event continued to strengthen in early June.
Something is brewing in shallow waters offshore of Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia.
Seaweed composing the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt hit near-record levels in June 2026, with the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of…
Subscribe to the Earth Observatory and get the Earth in your inbox.
NASA’s Earth Observatory brings you the Earth, every day, with in-depth stories and stunning imagery.
Explore Earth Science
Open access to NASA’s archive of Earth science data
Quem estiver em Portugal nesta quarta-feira, 12 de agosto, terá a oportunidade de testemunhar o primeiro eclipse solar total desde 1912, com previsão de repetição do feito somente daqui a 118 anos, em 2144.
A sua raridade, além da sazonalidade, está especialmente no percentual de visibilidade do fenômeno em todo o país, que varia de 92% a 100%. Para quem quiser ver o eclipse em sua totalidade, será necessário visitar o Parque Natural de Montesinho, no concelho de Bragança.
Caso também seja do seu interesse registrar esse momento histórico, existem algumas coisas importantes a se observar e algumas alternativas, a depender do que você pretende fotografar exatamente.
Antes de qualquer dica tecnológica, é importante se certificar de que a sua visão estará protegida: recomenda-se o uso de óculos de eclipse com certificação ISO 12312-2, que serão distribuídos gratuitamente pela ZEISS em parceria com a rede de óticas Club da Visão, mediante cadastro e enquanto durarem os estoques (que, aparentemente, já esgotaram-se).
Depois, vale observar as janelas de horário do eclipse:
Caso você opte por fotografar o evento, existem duas opções de mais fácil acesso: uma câmera digital ou o seu iPhone. Em ambos os casos, há uma série de poréns.
Sobre DSLRs e mirrorless, vale adquirir um filtro solar para a sua lente, considerando a sensibilidade do sensor à exposição ao sol, que pode acarretar uma danificação irreversível — dada a quantidade de entrada de luz. Recomenda-se fixar a abertura entre ƒ/8 e ƒ/16, com a velocidade do obturador ajustada entre 1/1000 e 1/4, de acordo com as especificações da sua câmera.
Já o iPhone, dado o tamanho do seu sensor e outras limitações técnicas, terá dificuldade de registrar o eclipse naturalmente. Claro, ainda é possível obter muitos resultados legais em relação à sombra e aos seus efeitos, ou até mesmo capturar a atmosfera do momento com um time-lapse utilizando um tripé ou outro equipamento estabilizador.
No entanto, para quem quiser de fato registrar o sol de maneira direta, será necessário adquirir acessórios:
Quanto ao software, embora existam boas opções de apps de terceiros, como o Project Indigo ou o Halide, o próprio aplicativo Câmera (Camera) nativo do iPhone deverá dar conta.
Cada escolha (ou ausência) poderá impactar o registro do fenômeno, mas nada será tão determinante quanto a prática de quem fotografa. Independentemente da escolha, vale conhecer o equipamento que você tem em mãos antes do tão esperado dia, testar o comportamento da câmera sob o sol e pensar qual será o enquadramento do registro no dia do eclipse.
via AppleInsider, Lisboa Secreta
Da organização das tarefas ao acompanhamento dos treinos, passando por resumos de livros e uma proposta para ajudar a gerir a exposição solar, a equipa do TEK Notícias reuniu um novo conjunto de apps para Android e iOS, todas com opções gratuitas.
The post Organização, exercício e leituras de verão entre as melhores apps da semana para experimentar no smartphone appeared first on Tek Notícias.
Olhos no céu no final da tarde de 12 de agosto. Enquanto a Lua tapa quase por completo o Sol, dezenas de localidades portuguesas preparam observações, experiências e atividades para acompanhar um dos fenómenos astronómicos mais marcantes dos últimos anos.
The post De Norte a Sul: Portugal prepara centenas de eventos para “viver” o eclipse de 12 de agosto appeared first on Tek Notícias.
Login
