Providing evidence for possible oil-type occurrences on Mars means providing an indication for the past life on Mars. We do this via analysis of the combed (aligned) gravity strike angles, one of the gravity (gravitational) aspects (descriptors) derived from one of the recent gravitational field models of Mars, currently having the highest accessible precision and resolution. After intensive testing for features on the Earth and the Moon, the gravity aspects are applied for Mars. We detect candidates for the groundwater/hydrocarbon/mud/petroleum-bearing sites in the largest areas with as many as possible combed gravity strike angles, uniformly ordered into ‘plates’. They appear mainly but not only in the hypothetical northern Martian palaeo-ocean (the northern lowlands). It turns out that the combed strike angles are sensitive not only to uniformly ordered sediments of the basins, but also to supposed lahars.

Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in ocean water is a major sink of fossil fuel derived CO2. Carbon isotopes in DIC serve as tracers for oceanic water masses, biogeochemical processes, and air-sea gas exchange. We present a timeseries of surface DIC δ13C and Δ14C values from 2011 to 2022 from Newport Beach, California. This is a continuation of previous timeseries (Hinger et al. 2010; Santos et al. 2011) that together provide an 18-year record. These data show that DIC Δ14C values have declined by 42‰ and that DIC δ13C values have declined by 0.4‰ since 2004. By 2020, DIC Δ14C values were within analytical error of nearby clean atmospheric CO2 Δ14C values. These long-term trends are likely the result of significant fossil fuel derived CO2 in surface DIC from air-sea gas exchange. Seasonally, Δ14C values varied by 3.4‰ between 2011 and 2022, where seasonal δ13C values varied by 0.7‰. The seasonal variation in Δ14C values is likely driven by variations in upwelling, surface eddies, and mixed layer depth. The variation in δ13C values appears to be driven by isotopic fractionation from marine primary producers. The DIC δ13C and Δ14C values record the influence of the drought that began in 2012, and a major upwelling event in 2016.

This review examines key economic concepts in relation to the price and value of water for the supply and demand of household water. It responds to a series of questions about water and how it is used. These include (1) Why water is (or is not) priced and valued (or not)?; (2) What are the key economic concepts for pricing water?; (3) How is water priced and how are water supply assets valued for full cost recovery?; (4) Who bears the costs and enjoys the benefits of water use?; and (5) When is the price of water expected to change? Examples are provided to demonstrate the universality of the economic concepts while highlighting how their application must be bespoke and account for different socio-economic contexts and bio-physical conditions where water is supplied and demanded.

This article examines the origins of national electrification in Chile, situating its technocratic promoters within a broad trend – unfolding across Latin America – toward the ‘rational’ management and conservation of natural resources by the state. It surveys the early history of Chilean electrification (1890s–1940s) to show how conservationist thinking flowed through discussions and debates among engineers about the proper uses of the country's waters. These ideas eventually shaped the 1943 national electrification plan, which focused on hydropower. The article sheds new light on the history of Chile's technocracy, the relationship between perceptions of the environment and development planning, and the political and economic debates over national electrification. It also shows how the conservationist dilemma of using versus preserving natural resources operated within a utilitarian and highly technical framework for thinking about nature's bounty. The article thus contributes to recent historical scholarship on conservation and environmental technocrats in Latin America.

This response to Dockside Reading: Hydrocolonialism and the Custom House reflects on the book’s significant contributions to the interdisciplinary study of law and literature.

Water is the lifeblood of human beings and society, but threats to water, such as the pollution of rivers, cyber crimes, and attacks against water infrastructure, are increasing. In green criminology, scholars have relied on domestic criminal law to develop the concept of crimes against water. This paper argues that international law could provide several frameworks for addressing these crimes. A number of international treaties and customary rules deal directly or indirectly with crimes against water, and the United Nations Security Council has also dealt with crimes against water committed by terrorist groups and parties to armed conflict. Crimes against water may represent violations not only of domestic criminal laws but also of international humanitarian law and human rights law.

The aim of this study was to assess smallholder farmer awareness in terms of good pig management and to identify serious management issues that should be readily changeable despite resources being limited in a rural setting. Methodology was a combination of questionnaire and observational surveys performed at pig-keeping households practising either confinement or a free-range system. Households were identified using the snowball method. A total of 120 pig-keeping households were included, of which 32 practised free-range systems and 88 confined their pigs. The observational survey included management practices and welfare assessment based on one pig from each of the 120 households. The results indicated that farmers were not aware of the basic requirements of pigs regardless of the production system practised. Water was often neglected and provided less frequently among those practising free-range. Pigs kept free-range also received treatment less frequently compared to those kept confined. Pigs were generally kept in poor conditions with risk of injury and without shelter from wind, rain, cold, heat, and sun. Welfare issues exist within both production systems, but issues within the confinement system could be easily eliminated with proper management. More knowledge on basic pig husbandry is required in the region and is essential for improving production. Educating farmers on the basic requirements for water and feed, alone, could vastly improve smallholder pig production. Education on pig management should therefore be a cornerstone in any research activity involving smallholder farmers in rural areas.

There is a worldwide and increasing shortage of potable fresh water. Modern water reclamation technologies can alleviate much of the problem by converting wastewater directly into drinking water, but there is public resistance to these approaches that has its basis largely in psychology. A psychological problem is encapsulated in the saying of those opposing recycled water: “toilet to tap.” We report the results of two surveys, one on a sample of over 2,000 Americans from five metropolitan areas and the second on a smaller sample of American undergraduates, both assessing attitudes to water and water purification. Approximately 13% of our adult American sample definitely refuses to try recycled water, while 49% are willing to try it, with 38% uncertain. Both disgust and contamination sensitivity predict resistance to consumption of recycled water. For a minority of individuals, no overt treatment of wastewater will make it acceptable for drinking (“spiritual contagion”), even if the resultant water is purer than drinking or bottled water. Tap water is reliably rated as significantly more desirable than wastewater that has undergone substantially greater purification than occurs with normal tap water. Framing and contagion are two basic psychological processes that influence recycled water rejection.

Studies suggest the inter-rater reliability of judges at wine competitions is higher than what would be expected by random chance, but lower than what is observed when experts in other fields make judgments specific to their expertise. To further contextualize the (un-) reliability of wine judging while also extending the study of fine water, we examine the inter-rater reliability of judges at an annual international competition for bottled waters. We find that the inter-rater reliability of water judging is generally better than chance and, at best, about the same as the inter-rater reliability of wine judging at some wine competitions. These results suggest that perceptible differences between fine waters exist but are less pronounced than those between fine wines and, also, that aesthetic standards with respect to fine waters exist but are currently less established than those for fine wines.