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Categories: Chemistry: General, Space: The Solar System

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Hydrogen spillover is exactly what it sounds like. Small metal nanoparticles anchored on a thermally stable oxide, like silica, comprise a major class of catalysts, which are substances used to accelerate chemical reactions without being consumed themselves. The catalytic reaction usually occurs on the reactive -- and expensive -- metal, but on some catalysts, hydrogen atom-like equivalents literally spill from the metal to the oxide. These hydrogen-on-oxide species are called 'hydrogen spillover.'

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A main crux of neuroscience is learning how our senses translate light into sight, sound into hearing, food into taste, and texture into touch. Smell is where these sensory relationships get more complex and perplexing. To address this question, a research team are investigating how airborne chemicals connect to odor perception in the brain. They discovered that a machine-learning model has achieved human-level proficiency at describing, in words, what chemicals smell like.

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Scientists have detected and validated two of the longest-period exoplanets found by TESS to date. These long period large exoplanets orbit a K dwarf star and belong to a class of planets known as warm Jupiters, which have orbital periods of 10-200 days and are at least six times Earth's radius. This recent discovery offers exciting research opportunities for the future of finding long-period planets that resemble those in our own solar system.

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By controlling the arrangement of multiple inorganic and organic layers within crystals using a novel technique, researchers have shown they can control the energy levels of electrons and holes (positive charge carriers) within a class of materials called perovskites. This tuning influences the materials' optoelectronic properties and their ability to emit light of specific energies, demonstrated by their ability to function as a source of lasers.

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A Neptune-sized planet denser than steel has been discovered by an international team of astronomers, who believe its composition could be the result of a giant planetary clash.

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Researchers have been able to substantially improve photoclick chemistry. They were able to boost the reactivity of the photoclick compound in the popular PQ-ERA reaction through strategic molecular substitution. They now report a superb photoreaction quantum yield, high reaction rates and notable oxygen tolerance.

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Machine learning model provides quick method for determining the composition of solid chemical mixtures using only photographs of the sample.

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In the atmosphere, gaseous sulfuric acid can form particles that influence the physical properties of clouds. Thus, the formation of sulfuric acid in the gas phase directly affects the radiative forcing and Earth's climate. In addition to the known formation from sulfur dioxide, researchers have now been able to demonstrate through experiments that there is another formation pathway that has been speculated about for decades. Sulfuric acid in the atmosphere can also be formed directly by the oxidation of organic sulfur compounds. This new production pathway can be responsible for up to half of the gaseous sulfuric acid formation over the oceans and is thus of high importance for climate projections -- especially over the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere.

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Researchers have developed a miniature battery that could be used to power tiny devices integrated into human tissues. The design uses an ionic gradient across a chain of droplets -- inspired by how electric eels generate electricity. The device was able to regulate the biological activity of human neurons. This could open the way to the development of tiny bio-integrated devices, with a range of applications in biology and medicine.

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Astronomers have uncovered a link between Neptune's shifting cloud abundance and the 11-year solar cycle, in which the waxing and waning of the Sun's entangled magnetic fields drives solar activity.

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Iron--sulfur (Fe--S) proteins, essential to all life forms, are difficult to synthesise due to the complicated molecular machinery involved and sensitivity of Fe--S clusters to oxygen. In a new study, a team of researchers devised an innovative protocol for synthesising mature Fe--S proteins, by bringing together a recombinant sulfur assimilation (SUF) system and an oxygen-scavenging system, thereby, paving the way for new technologies and a better understanding of the evolution of life.

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An organometallic capsule that can reversibly assemble and disassemble in response to chemical stimuli was recently developed by chemists. Comprising ferrocene-based bent amphiphiles, this new capsule can act as a host for various types of guest molecules, such as electron acceptors and dyes. Thanks to the controllable release of its cargo, the capsule would find applications in catalysis, medicine, and biotechnology.

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Methylcyclohexane is very promising as a hydrogen carrier that can safely and efficiently transport and store hydrogen. However, the dehydrogenation process using catalysts has issues due to its durability and large energy loss. Recently, researchers have succeeded in using solid oxide fuel cells to generate electricity directly from methylcyclohexane and recover toluene for reuse. This research is expected to not only reduce energy requirements but also explore new chemical synthesis by fuel cells.

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Could blending of crushed rock with arable soil lower global temperatures? Researchers study global warming events from 40 and 56 million years ago to find answers.

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Using ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have observed a large dark spot in Neptune's atmosphere, with an unexpected smaller bright spot adjacent to it. This is the first time a dark spot on the planet has ever been observed with a telescope on Earth. These occasional features in the blue background of Neptune's atmosphere are a mystery to astronomers, and the new results provide further clues as to their nature and origin.

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Megastorms regularly appear on Saturn, marring the relatively bland surface before disappearing. But radio observations show that the storms have long-lasting effects deeper in the atmosphere, in particular in the distribution of ammonia. Using NRAO's Very Large Array, astronomers see such impacts from storms that happened hundreds of years ago. The findings will help explain the differences between storms on the gas giants Saturn and Jupiter.

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With methods of so-called geoengineering, the climate could theoretically be artificially influenced and cooled. Researchers have now investigated whether it would be possible to prevent the melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet by artificially 'dimming the sun'. The results show that artificial influence does not work without decarbonization and entails high risks.

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On Aug. 12, 2023, NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft will pass between the Sun and Earth, marking the first Earth flyby of the nearly 17-year-old mission. The visit home brings a special chance for the spacecraft to collaborate with NASA missions near Earth and reveal new insights into our closest star.

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New observations of mud cracks made by the Curiosity Rover show that high-frequency, wet-dry cycling occurred in early Martian surface environments, indicating that the red planet may have once seen seasonal weather patterns or even flash floods.

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Concentrations of potentially harmful chemical compounds in dust collected from air filtration systems on the International Space Station (ISS) exceed those found in floor dust from many American homes, a new study reveals.