Chemistry: General Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Fossil Fuels Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Switching to hydrogen fuel could prolong the methane problem      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Hydrogen is often heralded as the clean fuel of the future, but new research suggests that leaky hydrogen infrastructure could end up increasing atmospheric methane levels, which would cause decades-long climate consequences.

Biology: Marine Ecology: Nature Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Researchers find decaying biomass in Arctic rivers fuels more carbon export than previously thought      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study found that plants and small organisms in Arctic rivers could be responsible for more than half the particulate organic matter flowing to the Arctic Ocean. That's a significantly greater proportion than previously estimated, and it has implications for how much carbon gets sequestered in the ocean and how much moves into the atmosphere.

Biology: Zoology Ecology: Nature Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology
Published

Changing landscapes alter disease-scapes      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study has?highlighted?how and when?changes to the environment result in?animal-borne disease?thresholds?being breeched, allowing for?a?better understanding and?increased?capacity to?predict?the?risk of?transmissions.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Batteries Energy: Technology Engineering: Graphene Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: General
Published

3D internal structure of rechargeable batteries revealed      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have pioneered a technique to observe the 3D internal structure of rechargeable batteries. This opens up a wide range of areas for the new technique from energy storage and chemical engineering to biomedical applications.

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

Thermal conductivity of metal organic frameworks      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Metal organic frameworks, or MOFs, are kind of like plastic building block toys. The pieces are simple to connect, yet they're capable of building highly sophisticated structures.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Scientists identify substance that may have sparked life on Earth      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A team of scientists dedicated to pinpointing the primordial origins of metabolism -- a set of core chemical reactions that first powered life on Earth -- has identified part of a protein that could provide scientists clues to detecting planets on the verge of producing life.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Existential threats to the iconic Nile River Delta      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Decades of poor environmental and water management turned the Nile River Delta from a unique ecological habitat in the Sahara to one of the largest polluted areas on the planet, with tens of millions of people and migrating birds at risk of exposure to water-borne contaminants.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Ozone pollution is linked with increased hospitalizations for cardiovascular disease      (via sciencedaily.com) 

New evidence shows that exceeding the World Health Organization (WHO) ozone limit is associated with substantial increases in hospital admissions for heart attack, heart failure and stroke. Even ozone levels below the WHO maximum were linked with worsened health.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

Customizing catalysts for solid-state reactions      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A newly developed molecular catalyst specifically tailored for mechanochemical reaction conditions enables high-efficiency transformations at near room temperature.

Biology: Marine Chemistry: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Assessing the potential risks of ocean-based climate intervention technologies on deep-sea ecosystems      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An international team of experts convened remotely as part of the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative's Climate Working Group to consider the deep-sea impacts of ocean-based climate intervention (OBCI). A research team has analyzed the proposed approaches to assess their potential impacts on deep-sea ecosystems and biodiversity. Their findings raise substantial concern on the potential impacts of these technologies on deep-sea ecosystems and call for the need for an integrated research effort to carefully assess the cost and benefits of each intervention.

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

Researchers find access to new fluorescent materials      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Fluorescence is a fascinating natural phenomenon. It is based on the fact that certain materials can absorb light of a certain wavelength and then emit light of a different wavelength. Fluorescent materials play an important role in our everyday lives, for example in modern screens. Due to the high demand for applications, science is constantly striving to produce new and easily accessible molecules with high fluorescence efficiency.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Engineering: Graphene Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Microscopy: Highest resolution in three dimensions      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed a super-resolution microscopy method for the rapid differentiation of molecular structures in 3D.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Deconstructing tough, woody lignin      (via sciencedaily.com) 

It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it. In this case, the 'job' is the breakdown of lignin, the structural biopolymer that gives stems, bark and branches their signature woodiness. One of the most abundant terrestrial polymers on Earth, lignin surrounds valuable plant fibers and other molecules that could be converted into biofuels and other commodity chemicals -- if we could only get past that rigid plant cell wall.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
Published

Diverse approach key to carbon removal      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers find that 10 gigatons of carbon dioxide may need to be pulled from Earth's atmosphere and oceans annually to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. A diverse suite of carbon dioxide removal methods will be key.

Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

The world's atmospheric rivers now have an intensity ranking like hurricanes      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Atmospheric rivers, which are long, narrow bands of water vapor, are becoming more intense and frequent with climate change. A new study demonstrates that a recently developed scale for atmospheric river intensity (akin to the hurricane scale) can be used to rank atmospheric rivers and identify hotspots of the most intense atmospheric rivers not only along the U.S. West Coast but also worldwide.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Life in the smoke of underwater volcanoes      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Disconnected from the energy of the sun, the permanently ice-covered Arctic deep sea receives miniscule amounts of organic matter that sustains life. Bacteria which can harvest the energy released from submarine hydrothermal sources could thus have an advantage. Scientists found bacteria uniquely adapted to this geo-energy floating in deep-sea waters. They describe the role of these bacteria for biogeochemical cycling in the ocean.

Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Microbiology Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

New biosensor reveals activity of elusive metal that's essential for life      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new biosensor offers scientists the first dynamic glimpses of manganese, an elusive metal ion that is essential for life.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels
Published

A safe synthesis of hydrogen peroxide inspired by nature      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists report the safe synthesis of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), an oxidizing agent used in multiple industries including semiconductors, using a new rhodium-based catalyst. The catalyst is based on natural enzymes found in extremophile microorganisms, and the reaction meets three chemical ideals for H2O2 production: safe, use of a single vessel, and direct synthesis.

Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Long-term exposure to nitrate in drinking water may be a risk factor for prostate cancer      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The nitrate ingested over the course of a person's adult lifetime through the consumption of tap water and bottled water could be a risk factor for prostate cancer, particularly in the case of aggressive tumors and in younger men.

Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
Published

Smoke particles from wildfires can erode the ozone layer      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study finds that smoke particles in the stratosphere can trigger chemical reactions that erode the ozone layer -- and that smoke particles from Australian wildfires widened the ozone hole by 10 percent in 2020.