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Categories: Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry, Environmental: Biodiversity
Published Side effects of wide scale forestation could reduce carbon removal benefits by up to a third



The side effects of large-scale forestation initiatives could reduce the CO2 removal benefits by up to a third, a pioneering study has found.
Published Chemists synthesize unique anticancer molecules using novel approach



Nearly 30 years ago, scientists discovered a unique class of anticancer molecules in a family of bryozoans, a phylum of marine invertebrates found in tropical waters. The chemical structures of these molecules, which consist of a dense, highly complex knot of oxidized rings and nitrogen atoms, has attracted the interest of organic chemists worldwide, who aimed to recreate these structures from scratch in the laboratory. However, despite considerable effort, it has remained an elusive task. Until now, that is. A team of chemists has succeeded in synthesizing eight of the compounds for the first time using an approach that combines inventive chemical strategy with the latest technology in small molecule structure determination.
Published A new vibrant blue pottery pigment with less cobalt



Whether ultramarine, cerulean, Egyptian or cobalt, blue pigments have colored artworks for centuries. Now, seemingly out of the blue, scientists have discovered a new blue pigment that uses less cobalt but still maintains a brilliant shine. Though something like this might only happen once in a blue moon, the cobalt-doped barium aluminosilicate colorant withstands the high temperatures found in a kiln and provides a bright color to glazed tiles.
Published Graphene research: Numerous products, no acute dangers found by study



Graphene is an enormously promising material. It consists of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb pattern and has extraordinary properties: exceptional mechanical strength, flexibility, transparency and outstanding thermal and electrical conductivity. If the already two-dimensional material is spatially restricted even more, for example into a narrow ribbon, controllable quantum effects can be created. This could enable a wide range of applications, from vehicle construction and energy storage to quantum computing.
Published Increasingly similar or different? Centuries-long analysis suggests biodiversity is differentiating and homogenizing to a comparable extent



The tendency of communities and the species within them to become more similar or more distinct across landscapes -- biotic homogenization and differentiation -- are approximately balanced, according to a new study. This analysis is the first of its kind to provide a comprehensive assessment of how local and regional biodiversity changes combine across landscapes over centuries.
Published New evidence shows UK solar parks can provide for bees and butterflies



A new study shows that UK solar parks, if managed correctly, can provide vital resources to help stem the decline in the nation's bees and butterflies. The new research provides peer-reviewed field data of insect pollinators at solar parks in the UK, covering 15 sites.
Published Converting rainforest to plantation impacts food webs and biodiversity



Every day, new areas of rainforests are converted into plantations, drastically changing tropical biodiversity and the way the ecosystem functions. Yet, the current understanding of the consequences is fragmentary: previous studies tended to examine either biodiversity or the ecosystem. An international research team brings these threads together in this study. They analyzed organisms ranging from microscopic mites and earthworms in the soil, to beetles and birds in tree canopies, comparing tropical rainforest with rubber and oil palm plantations in Sumatra, Indonesia.
Published An environmentally friendly way to turn seafood waste into value-added products



Reduce, reuse, recycle, and repurpose: These are all ways we can live more sustainably. One tricky aspect of recycling, though, is that sometimes the recycling process is chemically intensive, and this is the case for recycling one of the world's most abundant materials -- chitin. Researchers have tackled this problem and found a way to sustainably recover chitin from seafood waste.
Published Revolutionary breakthrough in solar energy: Most efficient QD solar cells



A research team has unveiled a novel ligand exchange technique that enables the synthesis of organic cation-based perovskite quantum dots (PQDs), ensuring exceptional stability while suppressing internal defects in the photoactive layer of solar cells.
Published 'The future is fungal': New research finds that fungi that live in healthy plants are sensitive to climate change



Findings more than a decade in the making reveal a rich diversity of beneficial fungi living in boreal forest trees, with implications for the health of forests.
Published It's the spin that makes the difference



Biomolecules such as amino acids and sugars occur in two mirror-image forms -- in all living organisms, however, only one is ever found. Why this is the case is still unclear. Researchers have now found evidence that the interplay between electric and magnetic fields could be at the origin of this phenomenon.
Published Physicists develop more efficient solar cell



Physicists have used complex computer simulations to develop a new design for significantly more efficient solar cells than previously available. A thin layer of organic material, known as tetracene, is responsible for the increase in efficiency.
Published Accelerating the discovery of single-molecule magnets with deep learning



Single-molecule magnets (SMMs) are exciting materials. In a recent breakthrough, researchers have used deep learning to predict SMMs from 20,000 metal complexes. The predictions were made solely based on the crystal structures of these metal complexes, thus eliminating the need for time-consuming experiments and complex simulations. As a result, this method is expected to accelerate the development of functional materials, especially for high-density memory and quantum computing devices.
Published Plastic recycling with a protein anchor



Polystyrene is a widespread plastic that is essentially not recyclable when mixed with other materials and is not biodegradable. A research team has now introduced a biohybrid catalyst that oxidizes polystyrene microparticles to facilitate their subsequent degradation. The catalyst consists of a specially constructed 'anchor peptide' that adheres to polystyrene surfaces and a cobalt complex that oxidizes polystyrene.
Published Nature's checkup: Surveying biodiversity with environmental DNA sequencing



A thousand kilometers south of Tokyo, far into the largest ocean on Earth, lies a chain of small, volcanic islands -- the Ogasawara Islands. Nature has been able to develop on its own terms here, far from both humans and the warm Kuroshio current, which acts like a shuttle, moving marine species from Taiwan, over the Ryukyu Islands, and up the Pacific coast of mainland Japan. With upwards of 70 % of trees and many animal species being endemic to the archipelago, the islands have been dubbed 'the Galapagos of the East', as they are valuable as both a biodiversity hotspot and a cradle of scientific discovery.
Published Scientists may have cracked the 'aging process' in species



Research shows the relationship between a species' age and its risk of going extinct could be accurately predicted by an ecological model called the 'neutral theory of biodiversity.'
Published Microplastics found in every human placenta tested



Researchers reported finding microplastics in all 62 of the placenta samples tested, with concentrations ranging from 6.5 to 790 micrograms per gram of tissue.
Published First-ever report of nesting of incredibly rare and endangered giant turtle



Knowledge from local communities has resulted in the first-ever nesting evidence and discovery of a breeding population of an incredibly rare turtle in India.
Published Genetic insights and conservation challenges of Nara's sacred deer



In Nara, Japan, the revered sika deer faces a dilemma as their escalating population damages local farmlands. A new study has revealed a complex situation: while the sanctuary's deer upholds a distinct genetic identity, the surrounding areas display a blend of genetic lineages. This exposes a pressing predicament: whether to cull the 'pest' deer around sanctuary or risk losing a sacred genetic legacy.
Published A new glue, potentially also for you



Hydrogels are already used in clinical practice for the delivery of drugs, and as lenses, bone cement, wound dressings, 3D scaffolds in tissue engineering and other applications. However, bonding different hydrogel polymers to one another has remained a challenge; yet it could enable numerous new applications. Now, researchers have pioneered a new method that uses a thin film of chitosan, a fibrous sugar-based material derived from the processed outer skeletons of shellfish, to make different hydrogels instantaneously and strongly stick to each other. They used their approach to locally protect and cool tissues, seal vascular injuries, and prevent unwanted 'surgical adhesions' of internal body surfaces.