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For cattle fattened in fields instead of feedlots, the grass may be greener, but the carbon emissions are not.

A study out Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that even in the most optimistic scenarios, grass-fed beef produces no less planet-warming than industrial beef. The finding calls into question the frequent promotion of grass-fed beef as a more environmentally friendly option. Still, other scientists say grass-fed beef wins out on other factors like or local environmental pollution, complicating the choice for conscientious consumers.

“I think that there is a large portion of the population who really do wish their purchasing decisions will reflect their values,” said Gidon Eshel, a research professor of environmental physics at Bard College and one of the study’s authors. “But they are being misled, essentially, by the wrong information.”

Imagine a world where you can have private conversations in public spaces without headphones! Researchers at Penn State have developed a way to use ultrasonic beams and 3D-printed metasurfaces to create pockets of sound that are inaudible to others.

S the vision behind a new audio technology that creates “audible enclaves” using ultrasonic beams. ‘ + s how it works: Traditional sound waves, especially low-frequency ones, tend to spread out and can t just a neat trick. The technology covers a wide range of sounds, from deep bass tones (125 Hz) to higher frequencies (up to 4 kHz), ensuring clear audio across six octave bands. It s a futuristic approach to making sound personal, targeted, and unobtrusive.”

Could lumpy metallic rocks in the deepest, darkest reaches of the ocean be making oxygen in the absence of sunlight?

Some scientists think so, but others have challenged the claim that so-called “dark oxygen” is being produced in the lightless abyss of the seabed.

The discovery—detailed last July in the journal Nature Geoscience —called into question long-held assumptions about the origins of life on Earth, and sparked intense scientific debate.