Machine learning (ML) models are successful with weather forecasting and have shown progress in climate simulations, yet leveraging them for useful climate predictions needs exploration. Here we show this feasibility using Neural General Circulation Model (NeuralGCM), a hybrid ML-physics atmospheric model developed by Google, for seasonal predictions of large-scale atmospheric variability and Northern Hemisphere tropical cyclone (TC) activity. Inspired by physical model studies, we simplify boundary conditions, assuming sea surface temperature (SST) and sea ice follow their climatological cycle but persist anomalies present at the initialization time. With such forcings, NeuralGCM can generate 100 simulation days in ~8 minutes with a single Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), while simulating realistic atmospheric circulation and TC climatology patterns. This configuration yields useful seasonal predictions (July to November) for the tropical atmosphere and various TC activity metrics. Notably, the predicted and observed TC frequency in the North Atlantic and East Pacific basins are significantly correlated during 1990 to 2023 (r=~0.7), suggesting prediction skill comparable to existing physical GCMs. Despite challenges associated with model resolution and simplified boundary forcings, the model-predicted interannual variations demonstrate significant correlations with the observation, including the sub-basin TC tracks (p<0.1) and basin-wide accumulated cyclone energy (p<0.01) of the North Atlantic and North Pacific basins. These findings highlight the promise of leveraging ML models with physical insights to model TC risks and deliver seamless weather-climate predictions.

It's an idea that sounds straight from the latest science fiction blockbuster. But scientists at the University of Miami have warned that the world's oceans are teeming with'giant viruses', also known as giruses. Most viruses are less than 0.5 per cent the width of a human hair – too small to be seen with the naked human eye. In contrast, the researchers say that the giant viruses are five times bigger, rivaling bacteria in terms of size. Concerningly, all 230 giant viruses are previously unknown to science.

That may have been science fiction but scientists say the terrifying prophecy could soon become a reality. That's because new research warns that the Atlantic Ocean current which drives the Gulf Stream could collapse at'any time' from 2025 thanks to climate change. Known formally as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the current is the driving force which brings warm water from the Gulf of Mexico up to the UK and is responsible for mild winters in Western Europe. If it collapsed, however, the impact would be devastating. Europe would be plunged into a deep freeze, while most of Africa, the Caribbean, and South American countries such as Colombia, Peru and Bolivia would experience rocketing temperatures.

Operational guidance is provided in the form of selection of speeds and headings, and is generally based on accessing ship motions response predictions from a pre-computed database or lookup table for a given condition. Operational guidance is an important consideration in the survival of a ship and has been the focus of many International Maritime Organization (IMO) publications, IMO (1995), IMO (2007), IMO (2020). Recommendations for ship-specific operational guidance has been developed and discussed in the interim guidelines of the Second Generation Intact Stability by IMO, IMO (2020). While these guidelines are certainly useful in design and at sea, they are not comprehensive. The ocean environment is random and complex.

Both houses of the U.S. Congress now have significant legislation designed specifically to rein in AI created by contractors for use by the federal government. The news arrives as an influential non-governmental research institute has issued a major critique of the European Commission's proposed AI Act, citing problems and suggested solutions. A House of Representatives bill would create new rules for how the federal government buys artificial intelligence, presumably including biometric applications. The Senate already is deliberating its version of the legislation. Both bodies have to agree on bills for them to be sent to the president for a signature.

Fewer than 400 North Atlantic right whales remain in the wild, and not even 100 of them are breeding females. Their biggest survival threats are boat strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. Protecting these whales, such as by diverting boats from dangerous encounters, requires locating them more reliably--and new technology, described in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, could help make that possible. To listen for marine life, researchers often deploy underwater microphones called hydrophones on buoys and robotic gliders. The recorded audio is converted into spectrograms: visual representations of sound used to pinpoint, for instance, specific whale species' calls.

One of the world's most endangered whales was spotted swimming with a newborn in the waters off South Carolina's Hilton Head island. A drone camera captured footage of a 50-ton North Atlantic right whale and her calf frolicking about four miles from shore. According to the boat captain who spotted the pair on Friday, the mother was 50 feet long and the calf was close to 15 feet. The North Atlantic right whale is among the rarest of marine mammals, with less than 400 left in the world. Collisions with boats and entanglement in lobster nets are the main reason they are critically endangered.

… the findings from the photo mosaic maps will be extrapolated to the regions covered by the echo-sounder mapping by means of machine learning.”.

Drone helped capture a stunning view of ice across the North Atlantic. The close-up drone video was taken by Andre Beyzaei, the climate hobbyist. "Usually you see a bit of sea-ice along the coasts and if you happen to fly the drone far enough, you may capture some icebergs much further away," says Beyzaei. "It's counterintuitive to most people, because it means you can have an increase in local ice hazards because of changing climate in high Arctic," said David Barber, Lead Author and University of Manitoba climate change scientist. The footage captured across the North Atlantic recorded the mesmerizing view of accumulating sea ice over Brighton, Newfoundland, but according to researchers, also serves as stark reminder of the impact of climate change.

Four4Four Science: 'Titanic iceberg' photo; doctors' hologram house calls, canine DNA, insect naming rights It was famously described as unsinkable, but in April 1912 the mighty Titanic struck an iceberg and disappeared beneath the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. It was many decades until it would be discovered in 1985, and even longer before we knew the true story behind what led to its discovery. Filmmaker James Cameron's epic Titanic blockbuster was released 20 years ago this year, but at the time it was scarcely known that RMS Titanic's discovery was largely the result of a secret Cold War military expedition. Details of the story had trickled out, but it wasn't until the past decade that the United States navy became comfortable to reveal the finer details of the search, according to Robert Ballard, the oceanographer who discovered RMS Titanic. He met with the navy in 1982 to request funding to develop the robotic submersible technology he needed to find the sunken vessel, National Geographic reported.