Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Physics: General Physics: Optics
Published

Mirror, mirror on the wall... Now we know there are chiral phonons for sure      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New findings settle the dispute: phonons can be chiral. This fundamental concept, discovered using circular X-ray light, sees phonons twisting like a corkscrew through quartz.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Chemistry: Thermodynamics
Published

Sustainable technique to manufacture chemicals      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A newly published study details a novel mechanochemistry method that can produce chemicals using less energy and without the use of solvents that produce toxic waste.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Offbeat: General Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Breakthrough: Scientists develop artificial molecules that behave like real ones      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have developed synthetic molecules that resemble real organic molecules. A collaboration of researcher can now simulate the behavior of real molecules by using artificial molecules.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Volcanoes Paleontology: Fossils
Published

South Africa, India and Australia shared similar volcanic activity 3.5 billion years ago      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The Daitari greenstone belt shares a similar geologic make-up when compared to the greenstones exposed in the Barberton and Nondweni areas of South Africa and those from the Pilbara Craton of north-western Australia.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Aviation turbulence strengthened as the world warmed      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research shows that clear-air turbulence increased in various regions around the world from 1979 -- 2020.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Physics: General Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Physicists discover an exotic material made of bosons      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Take a lattice -- a flat section of a grid of uniform cells, like a window screen or a honeycomb -- and lay another, similar lattice above it. But instead of trying to line up the edges or the cells of both lattices, give the top grid a twist so that you can see portions of the lower one through it. This new, third pattern is a moiré, and it's between this type of overlapping arrangement of lattices of tungsten diselenide and tungsten disulfide where physicists found some interesting material behaviors.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Energy: Nuclear Physics: General Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Calculation shows why heavy quarks get caught up in the flow      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Theorists have calculated how quickly a melted soup of quarks and gluons -- the building blocks of protons and neutrons -- transfers its momentum to heavy quarks. The calculation will help explain experimental results showing heavy quarks getting caught up in the flow of matter generated in heavy ion collisions.

Biology: Biochemistry Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Measuring greenhouse gas from ponds improves climate predictions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Shallow lakes and ponds emit significant amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but emissions from these systems vary considerably and are not well understood.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

More complex than expected: Catalysis under the microscope      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Usually, catalytic reactions are analyzed by checking which chemicals go into a chemical reactor and which come out. But as it turns out, in order to properly understand and optimize catalysts, much more information is necessary. Scientists developed methods to watch catalytic reactions with micrometer resolution under the microscope -- and the process is much more complex than previously thought.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Physics: General
Published

The problems with coal ash start smaller than anyone thought      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Burning coal doesn't only pollute the air. The resulting ash can leach toxic chemicals into the local environments where it's kept. New research shows that the toxicity of various ash stockpiles relies heavily on its nanoscale structures, which vary widely between sources. The results will help researchers predict which coal ash is most environmentally dangerous.

Biology: Marine Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Whales not to be counted on as 'climate savers'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Do whales increase the removal of carbon from the atmosphere? Despite some hope that this would be the case, a new study has found the amount of potential carbon capture by whales is too little to meaningfully alter the course of climate change. The team found the amount potentially sequestered by the whales was too minimal to make significant impact on the trajectory of climate change.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Water Geoscience: Geography
Published

River diversions may cause microplastics to remain longer on land and in streams before reaching oceans      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Diverting streams and rivers to irrigate crops or provide drinking water may significantly extend the time microplastics spend in river catchments before they flow into our oceans, a new study reveals.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology Offbeat: General Physics: Optics
Published

Buckle up! A new class of materials is here      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Would you rather run into a brick wall or into a mattress? For most people, the choice is not difficult. A brick wall is stiff and does not absorb shocks or vibrations well; a mattress is soft and is a good shock absorber. Sometimes, in designing materials, both of these properties are needed. Materials should be good at absorbing vibrations, but should be stiff enough to not collapse under pressure. A team of researchers from the UvA Institute of Physics has now found a way to design materials that manage to do both these things.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology
Published

Below the surface: Researchers uncover reasons to rethink how mountains are built      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A study suggests that the answers to how and why mountains form are buried deeper than once thought. Clues in the landscape of southern Italy allowed researchers to produce a long-term, continuous record of rock uplift, the longest and most complete record of its kind.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology
Published

Researchers cultivate archaea that break down crude oil in novel ways      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The seafloor is home to around one-third of all the microorganisms on the Earth and is inhabited even at a depth of several kilometers. Only when it becomes too hot does the abundance of microorganisms appear to decline. But how, and from what, do microorganisms in the deep seafloor live? How do their metabolic cycles work and how do the individual members of these buried communities interact? Researchers have now been able to demonstrate in laboratory cultures how small, liquid components of crude oil are broken down through a new mechanism by a group of microorganisms called archaea.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Little-known microbes could help predict climate tipping points      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Rising temperatures could push ocean plankton and other single-celled creatures toward a carbon tipping point that fuels more warming. The carbon-eaters could become carbon-emitters. But new research shows it's also possible to detect early distress signals before they get there.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Mathematics: Modeling Physics: General Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Finally solved! The great mystery of quantized vortex motion      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists investigated numerically the interaction between a quantized vortex and a normal-fluid. Based on the experimental results, researchers decided the most consistent of several theoretical models. They found that a model that accounts for changes in the normal-fluid and incorporates more theoretically accurate mutual friction is the most compatible with the experimental results.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Physics: Optics
Published

Flat fullerene fragments attractive to electrons      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have gained new insights into the unique chemical properties of spherical molecules composed entirely of carbon atoms, called fullerenes. They did it by making flat fragments of the molecules, which surprisingly retained and even enhanced some key chemical properties.