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Categories: Chemistry: Organic Chemistry, Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published Nanoscale material offers new way to control fire
(via sciencedaily.com) High-temperature flames are used to create a wide variety of materials -- but once you start a fire, it can be difficult to control how the flame interacts with the material you are trying to process. Researchers have now developed a technique that utilizes a molecule-thin protective layer to control how the flame's heat interacts with the material -- taming the fire and allowing users to finely tune the characteristics of the processed material.
Published Chromium replaces rare and expensive noble metals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Expensive noble metals often play a vital role in illuminating screens or converting solar energy into fuels. Now, chemists have succeeded in replacing these rare elements with a significantly cheaper metal. In terms of their properties, the new materials are very similar to those used in the past.
Published Arrays of quantum rods could enhance TVs or virtual reality devices
(via sciencedaily.com) Using scaffolds of folded DNA, engineers assembled arrays of quantum rods with desirable photonic properties that could enable them to be used as highly efficient micro-LEDs for televisions or virtual reality devices.
Published Researchers 'film' novel catalyst at work
(via sciencedaily.com) A novel catalysis scheme enables chemical reactions that were previously virtually impossible. The method is also environmentally friendly and does not require rare and precious metals. The researchers recorded the exact course of the catalysis in a kind of high-speed film. They did this using special lasers that can make processes visible that last only fractions of a billionth of a second. The results allow them to further optimize the catalyst.
Published Making molecules dance to our tune reveals what drives their first movements
(via sciencedaily.com) Bringing ultrafast physics to structural biology has revealed the dance of molecular 'coherence' in unprecedented clarity.
Published Materials research: biocatalytic foams of tremendous stability and activity
(via sciencedaily.com) Industrial biocatalysis with enzymes is deemed to be a 'game changer' in the development of a sustainable chemical industry. Enzymes can be used to synthesize an impressive range of complex molecules, including pharmaceutical substances, under environmentally compatible conditions. Researchers have now developed a new class of materials by producing enzyme foams of tremendous stability and activity.
Published Human scent receptors could help 'sniff out' nerve gases in new sensor
(via sciencedaily.com) By some estimates, the human nose can detect up to a trillion different smells with its hundreds of scent receptors. But even just catching a quick whiff of certain chemicals known as nerve agents can be lethal, even in tiny amounts. Researchers have now developed a sensitive and selective nerve gas sensor using these human scent receptors. It reliably detected a substitute for deadly sarin gas in simulated tests.
Published AuNi alloy on Au electrodes for hydrogen evolution reaction: Towards a cleaner tomorrow
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Gold (Au)-based electrocatalysts used for hydrogen production via water electrolysis exhibit high chemical stability but low hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity. Alloying them with nickel (Ni) can improve their HER activity. A recent study investigated the HER activity and surface properties of AuNi alloy prepared on single crystal Au surfaces, revealing the atomic structural changes and surface sites responsible for enhanced HER activity of AuNi/Au catalyst during electrolysis.
Published Discovery in nanomachines within living organisms -- cytochromes P450 (CYP450s) unleashed as living soft robots
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study suggests that Cytochromes P450 (CYP450s) enzymes can sense and respond to stimuli, acting like soft robots in living systems.
Published How urea may have been the gateway to life
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Urea reacts extremely quickly under the conditions that existed when our planet was newly formed. This new insight furthers our understanding of how life on Earth might have begun.
Published There may be good news about the oceans in a globally warmed world
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An analysis of oxygen levels in Earth's oceans may provide some rare, good news about the health of the seas in a future, globally warmed world. A study analyzing ocean sediment shows that ocean oxygen levels in a key area were higher during the Miocene warm period, some 16 million years ago when the Earth's temperature was hotter than it is today.
Published Research in a place where geological processes happen before your eyes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Taiwan experiences some of the world's fastest rates of mountain building -- they are growing at a faster rate than our fingernails grow in a year. The mountains also see frequent and significant earthquakes, the region experiences about four typhoons per year on average, and in some places, it receives upwards of several meters of rain annually.
Published Don't wait, desalinate: A new approach to water purification
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A water purification system separates out salt and other unnecessary particles with an electrified version of dialysis. Successfully applied to wastewater with planned expansion into rivers and seas, the method saves money and saps 90% less energy than its counterparts.
Published Act now to prevent uncontrolled rise in carbon footprint of computational science
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have set out principles for how computational science -- which powers discoveries from unveiling the mysteries of the universe to developing treatments to fight cancer to improving our understanding of the human genome, but can have a substantial carbon footprint -- can be made more environmentally sustainable.
Published Study of Earth's stratosphere reduces uncertainty in future climate change
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research reduces uncertainty in future climate change linked to the stratosphere, with important implications for life on Earth. A significant source of uncertainty relates to future changes to water vapor in the stratosphere, an extremely dry region of the atmosphere 15--50 km above the Earth's surface. Future increases in water vapor here risk amplifying climate change and slowing down the recovery of the ozone layer, which protects life on Earth from harmful solar ultraviolet radiation.
Published Study of deep-sea corals reveals ocean currents have not fuelled rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Pioneering analysis of deep-sea corals has overturned the idea that ocean currents contributed to increasing global levels of carbon dioxide in the air over the past 11,000 years.
Published First detection of crucial carbon molecule
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists detect a new carbon compound in space for the first time. Known as methyl cation (pronounced cat-eye-on) (CH3+), the molecule is important because it aids the formation of more complex carbon-based molecules. Methyl cation was detected in a young star system, with a protoplanetary disk, known as d203-506, which is located about 1,350 light-years away in the Orion Nebula.
Published Investing in nature improves equity, boosts economy
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study shows that current trends in environmental degradation will lead to large economic losses in the coming decades, hitting the poorest countries hardest. But there is hope: investing in nature can turn those losses into gains.
Published Effect of volcanic eruptions significantly underestimated in climate projections
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have found that the cooling effect that volcanic eruptions have on Earth's surface temperature is likely underestimated by a factor of two, and potentially as much as a factor of four, in standard climate projections.
Published Are viruses keeping sea lice at bay in wild salmon?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source More than 30 previously unknown RNA viruses in sea lice have been identified. Sea lice are parasitic copepods (small crustaceans) found in many fresh and saltwater habitats, and have been implicated in the decline of wild salmon populations. The research sheds greater light on the types of viruses being carried by sea lice, and how the viruses and host are interacting.