Steppe

A large area of flat unforested grassland in southeastern Europe or Siberia.

In physical geography, a steppe is an Eco region, in the montane grasslands and shrub lands and
temperate grasslands, savannas and shrub lands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees
apart from those near rivers and lakes.

A steppe may be semi-arid or covered with grass or shrubs or both, depending on the season
and latitude. The term is also used to denote the climate encountered in regions too dry to support a
forest but not dry enough to be a desert.

Steppe In Ukraine Steppe In Russia Steppe In Mongolia

Prairie

Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and
shrub lands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a
composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type.
Temperate grassland regions include the Pampas of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, and the
steppe of Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. Lands typically referred to as "prairie" tend to be in
North America. The term encompasses the area referred to as the Interior Lowlands of Canada,
the United States, and Mexico, which includes all of the Great Plains as well as the wetter, hillier
land to the east.

Prairie, Badlands National Park, South Dakota, US, is in the mixed grasslands region containing
some species of tall grass, and some of short grass
Savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland grassland ecosystem characterized by the
trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy
allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting
primarily of grasses.

Savannas maintain an open canopy despite a high tree density. It is often believed that
savannas feature widely spaced, scattered trees. However, in many savannas, tree densities are
higher and trees are more regularly spaced than in forests. The South American savanna types
cerrado sensu stricto and cerrado dense typically have densities of trees similar to or higher
than that found in South American tropical forests, with savanna ranging from 800–3300 trees
per hectare (trees/ha) and adjacent forests with 800–2000 trees/ha. Similarly Guinean savanna
has 129 trees/ha, compared to 103 for riparian forest, while Eastern Australian sclerophyll
forests have average tree densities of approximately 100 per hectare, comparable to savannas
in the same region.

Savannas are also characterized by seasonal water availability, with the majority of
rainfall confined to one season; they are associated with several types of biomes, and are
frequently in a transitional zone between forest and desert or grassland. Savanna covers
approximately 20% of the Earth's land area.

Mediterranean savanna in Oak savanna United Taita Hills Wildlife

Alentejo region States Acacia Sanctuary, Kenya
Portugal
savanna
 Taiga
The sometimes swampy coniferous forest of high northern latitudes, especially that
between the tundra and steppes of Siberia and North America.

A moist subarctic forest dominated by conifers (such as spruce and fir) that begins where
the tundra ends.

Taiga relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America
as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly
of pines, spruces, and larches.

The taiga or boreal forest is the world's largest land biome. In North America, it covers
most of inland Canada, Alaska, and parts of the northern contiguous United States. In Eurasia, it
covers most of Sweden, Finland, much of Norway and Estonia, some of the Scottish Highlands,
some lowland/coastal areas of Iceland, much of Russia from Karelia in the west to the Pacific
Ocean (including much of Siberia), and areas of northern Kazakhstan, northern Mongolia, and
northern Japan (on the island of Hokkaidō). However, the main tree species, the length of the
growing season and summer temperatures vary. For example, the taiga of North America mostly
consists of spruces; Scandinavian and Finnish taiga consists of a mix of spruce, pines and birch;
Russian taiga has spruces, pines and larches depending on the region, while the Eastern Siberian
taiga is a vast larch forest.

The taiga in the White spruce taiga Jack London Lake

river valley near in the Alaska Range, in Kolyma, Russia.
Verkhoyansk, Russia. Alaska, United States.
Tundra
 In physical geography, tundra is a type of biome where the tree growth is hindered by
low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра
(tûndra) from the Kildin Sami word тӯндар (tūndâr) meaning "uplands", "treeless mountain
tract". Tundra vegetation is composed of dwarf shrubs, sedges and grasses, mosses, and lichens.
Scattered trees grow in some tundra regions. The ecotone (or ecological boundary region)
between the tundra and the forest is known as the tree line or timberline.

A level or rolling treeless plain that is characteristic of arctic and subarctic regions,
consists of black mucky soil with a permanently frozen subsoil, and has a dominant vegetation
of mosses, lichens, herbs, and dwarf shrubs.

Tundra in Greenland Tundra on the Kerguelen Islands Tundra in Siberia

Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with annual rainfall in the case of
tropical rainforests between 250 and 450 centimetres (98 and 177 in), and definitions varying by
region for temperate rainforests. The monsoon trough, alternatively known as the intertropical
convergence zone, plays a significant role in creating the climatic conditions necessary for the
Earth's tropical rainforests.

Around 40% to 75% of all biotic species are indigenous to the rainforests. There may be
many millions of species of plants, insects and microorganisms still undiscovered in tropical
rainforests. Tropical rainforests have been called the "jewels of the Earth" and the "world's
largest pharmacy", because over one quarter of natural medicines have been discovered there.
Rainforests are also responsible for 28% of the world's oxygen turnover, sometimes misnamed
oxygen production, processing it through photosynthesis from carbon dioxide and consuming it
through respiration.

Aerial view of the Amazon rainforest, taken from a plane, Rainforests in Pacific Rim National
Park Reserve and Rainforest in the Blue Mountains, Australia.

First-ever successful mind-controlled robotic arm without brain implants

Date: June 19, 2019

Source: College of Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

Summary:

Researchers have made a breakthrough in the field of noninvasive robotic device control. Using
a noninvasive brain-computer interface (BCI), researchers have developed the first-ever
successful mind-controlled robotic arm exhibiting the ability to continuously track and follow a
computer cursor.

Discovery of a 'holy grail' with the invention of universal computer memory

Date: June 20, 2019

Source: Lancaster University

Summary:

A new type of computer memory to solve the digital technology energy crisis has been invented
and patented by scientists. The device is the realization of the decades long search for a
'Universal Memory' to replace the $100 billion market for Dynamic Random Access Memory
(DRAM) and flash drives. It promises to transform daily life with its ultra-low energy
consumption, allowing computers which do not need to boot up and which could sleep
between key strokes.

Melting of Himalayan glaciers has doubled in recent years

Fast-paced warming is consistently affecting huge region, says new study

Date: June 19, 2019

Source: Earth Institute at Columbia University

Summary:

A newly comprehensive study shows that melting of Himalayan glaciers caused by rising
temperatures has accelerated dramatically since the start of the 21st century.

New research shows an iceless Greenland may be in our future

Date: June 19, 2019

Source: University of Alaska Fairbanks

Summary:

New research shows that Greenland may be ice-free by the year 3000. This research uses new
data on the landscape under the ice to make breakthroughs in modeling the island's future. The
findings show if greenhouse gas concentrations remain on their current path, the melting ice
from Greenland alone could contribute as much as 24 feet to global sea level rise by the time it
disappears.

New evidence links ultra-processed foods with a range of health risks

Policies that limit ultra-processed food intake are urgently needed, say researchers

Date: May 29, 2019

Source: BMJ

Summary:

Two large European studies find positive associations between consumption of highly processed
('ultra-processed') foods and risk of cardiovascular disease and death.

Artificial photosynthesis transforms carbon dioxide into liquefiable fuels

Date: May 22, 2019

Source: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau

Summary:

Chemists have successfully produced fuels using water, carbon dioxide and visible light through
artificial photosynthesis. By converting carbon dioxide into more complex molecules like
propane, green energy technology is now one step closer to using excess carbon dioxide to
store solar energy -- in the form of chemical bonds -- for use when the sun is not shining and in
times of peak demand.

New material could unlock potential for hydrogen powered vehicle revolution
Date: May 15, 2019

Source: Lancaster University

Summary:

An international team of researchers has discovered a new material made from manganese
hydride that would be used to make molecular sieves within fuel tanks - which store the
hydrogen and work alongside fuel cells in a hydrogen powered 'system'. The material would
enable the design of tanks that are far smaller, cheaper, more convenient and energy dense
than existing hydrogen fuel technologies, and significantly out-perform battery-powered
vehicles.