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Categories: Environmental: General, Space: Structures and Features
Published Dry-cleaning fluid becomes a synthetic chemist's treasure
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The widely used dry-cleaning and degreasing solvent perc can be converted to useful chemicals by a new clean, safe and inexpensive procedure. The discovery using on-demand UV activation may open the path to upcycling perc and thus contribute to a more sustainable society.
Published New findings regarding the high efficiency of perovskite solar cells
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Free charge carriers in perovskite solar cells likely have a special form of protection from recombination, researchers have discovered. This may be key to the high efficiency of this cell type, which has been increased to over 25 % within a decade.
Published PFAS flow equally between Arctic Ocean and Atlantic Ocean
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The frigid Arctic Ocean is far removed from the places most people live, but even so, 'forever chemicals' reach this remote landscape. Now, research suggests that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) won't stay there indefinitely. Instead, they are transported in a feedback loop, with the Arctic Ocean potentially exporting as many PFAS to the North Atlantic Ocean as it receives, circulating the compounds around the world.
Published Only 18% of the global land area that is needed for human well-being and biodiversity is currently protected
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international group of researchers finds that conserving about half of global land area could maintain nearly all of nature's contributions to people and still meet biodiversity targets for tens of thousands of species. But the same priority areas are at risk of conflict with human development with only 18% of that land area protected.
Published Climate change behind sharp drop in snowpack since 1980s
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study confirms that spring snowpacks across the Northern Hemisphere have shrunk significantly over the past 40 years due to human-driven climate change, putting hundreds of millions of people worldwide at risk of a water crisis. The Southwestern and Northeastern U.S. saw among the steepest declines, with more than 10% of the spring snowpack lost per decade, which the researchers expect will accelerate with further warming. Many heavily populated snow-dependent watersheds are dangerously near what they call a 'snow-loss cliff,' wherein once average winter temperatures exceed 17 degrees Fahrenheit, snow loss accelerates even with only modest increases in temperature.
Published Scientists name the most common tropical tree species
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have found almost identical patterns of tree diversity across the world's tropical forests. The study of over one million trees across 1,568 locations found that just 2.2% of tree species make up 50% of the total number of trees in tropical forests across Africa, the Amazon, and Southeast Asia. Each continent consists of the same proportion of a few common species and many rare species.
Published Acidity of Antarctic waters could double by century's end, threatening biodiversity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Without drastically reducing global emissions, the Antarctic Ocean could become too acidic for hundreds of species living there, many already endangered by rising temperatures and sea ice loss.
Published NASA's Webb finds signs of possible aurorae on isolated brown dwarf
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Astronomers have found a brown dwarf (an object more massive than Jupiter but smaller than a star) with infrared emission from methane, likely due to energy in its upper atmosphere. This is an unexpected discovery because the brown dwarf, W1935, is cold and lacks a host star; therefore, there is no obvious source for the upper atmosphere energy. The team speculates that the methane emission may be due to processes generating aurorae.
Published Unlocking the secrets of a 'Hot Saturn' and its spotted star
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A team of astronomers has unraveled the enigmatic atmosphere of the exoplanet HAT-P-18 b, shedding light on its intriguing blend of gases, clouds, and even the effects of its star's activity.
Published Green wheels, bright skies: Analysis unveils the connection between electric vehicles and photovoltaics
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source People who own electric vehicles (EVs) are more likely to go a step further and add solar panels to their home, according to an analysis of a behavioral study. Conversely, the impact of owning solar panels also has a bearing on whether a homeowner buys an electric vehicle but not as strongly.
Published 'Blob-like' home of farthest-known fast radio burst is collection of seven galaxies
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In summer 2022, astronomers detected the most powerful and most distant fast radio burst (FRB) ever observed. Now, astronomers have pinpointed the extraordinary object's birthplace -- and it's rather curious, indeed. Using images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the researchers traced the FRB back to not one galaxy but a group of at least seven galaxies.
Published With only the pawprints, researchers study elusive bobcat
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source With DNA recovered from animal tracks, scientists revealed information about the ancestry and microbial community of bobcats without having to sample the animal directly.
Published Green ammonia could decarbonize 60% of global shipping when offered at just 10 regional fuel ports
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study has found that green ammonia could be used to fulfill the fuel demands of over 60% of global shipping by targeting just the top 10 regional fuel ports. Researchers looked at the production costs of ammonia which are similar to very low sulphur fuels, and concluded that the fuel could be a viable option to help decarbonize international shipping by 2050.
Published Meteorite analysis shows Earth's building blocks contained water
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Analysis of iron meteorites from the earliest years of the solar system indicate that the planetary 'seeds' that ultimately formed Earth contained water.
Published The rock that creates clouds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Felspar dust in the air can create clouds. The feldspar particles act as nucleation sites to which water molecules can attach extremely efficiently. Why this is the case has remained a mystery for a long time. Scientists have now studied feldspar using a special atoimic force microscope and managed to explain this remarkable property of feldspar on an atomic level. The atomic structure is just right to create a layer of OH-groups which in turn can connect to water molecules perfectly.
Published Nine new snail species discovered in Papua New Guinea, a biodiversity hot spot at risk
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study describes nine new species of carnivorous land snails, all of which are so small they could fit together on a U.S. nickel. They present a rare opportunity to study a group that in many other places is disappearing fast. Worldwide, mollusks account for more than 50% of all recorded extinctions since the year 1500, and many of these were land snails from Pacific islands.
Published Scientists outline a bold solution to climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international team of scientists has used a novel 500-year dataset to frame a 'restorative' pathway through which humanity can avoid the worst ecological and social outcomes of climate change.
Published Is natural spa water a fossil of water? Uncover the real ultra-deep water cycles
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have made a groundbreaking discovery regarding the origins of non-meteoric water in natural spa waters located in central Japan. Based on numerical modeling, their results suggest that this water has been confined within the lithosphere for an extensive period of 1.5-5 million years. They identified three primary sources for this ancient water: the Philippine Sea Plate, the Pacific Plate, and ancient seafloor sediments, particularly in the Niigata and southwest Gunma regions.
Published Coastal populations set to age sharply in the face of climate migration
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source As climate change fuels sea level rise, younger people will migrate inland, leaving aging coastal populations -- and a host of consequences -- in their wake, a study finds. While destination cities will work to sustainably accommodate swelling populations, aging coastal communities will confront stark new challenges, including an outflow of vital human infrastructure such as health care workers.
Published Final supernova results from Dark Energy Survey offer unique insights into the expansion of the universe
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In the culmination of a decade's worth of effort, scientists analyzed an unprecedented sample of more than 1,500 supernovae classified using machine learning. They placed the strongest constraints on the expansion of the universe ever obtained with the DES supernova survey. While consistent with the current standard cosmological model, the results do not rule out a more complex theory that the density of dark energy in the universe could have varied over time.