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An international research group, led by Macquarie University scientists, has developed a world-first optical fiber technology which can help detect a wide range of gases with unprecedented sensitivity, with potential applications ranging from breath analysis to air-quality monitoring. The discovery, which has been published in the journal Optica, outlines the development of an optical fiber device which encompasses an invisible infrared laser coupled to an ultra-broadband supercontinuum generator – two elements that researchers have never managed to combine to a single optical system before.

Natural deposits of helium gas – best known for its use in party balloons – could help aid the safe production of shale or coal gas, research suggests.

This past summer Canada has been plagued with huge forest fires that have spanned most of the provinces.  British Columbia has been particularly hard hit with large portions of the landscape being decimated by fire.  In these satellite images taken by the NASA'S Aqua satellite, both the natural color and false color burn scars of left by fires can be seen.  In the natural color image it is difficult to make out the burn scars.  The false color easily identifies areas where fire has left a scar showing a brownish-red color. Currently there are 745 wildfires larger than 0.01 hectares and all wildfires of note (active or out) in British Columbia as of today, Sept. 29. (Wildfire link updates daily).  NASA's Aqua satellite collected this natural-color image with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, MODIS, instrument on September 27, 2017. 

Tropical forests have long been considered one of the world’s most important tools in combating climate change, their fast-growing trees and rich soils sucking millions of tons of carbon out of the atmosphere every year. But a new study says these forests have switched from being carbon sinks to sources of carbon, releasing an estimated 425 million tons of CO2 each year, more than the annual emissions from U.S. cars and trucks combined.

NASA and NOAA satellite imagery show Hurricane Lee has been on a weakening trend as wind shear is battering the storm. The National Hurricane Center expects Lee to weaken quickly and its remnants to bring gusty winds to Ireland and the United Kingdom over the weekend of Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.