Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Energy: Batteries
Published

BESSY II shows how solid-state batteries degrade      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Solid-state batteries have several advantages: they can store more energy and are safer than batteries with liquid electrolytes. However, they do not last as long and their capacity decreases with each charge cycle. But it doesn't have to stay that way: Researchers are already on the trail of the causes.

Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Extinction Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Researchers listen to the hearts of bats in flight      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Unique recordings show that bats can ramp up heart rate from 6 to 900 b.p.m within minutes.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Computer Science: Quantum Computers Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: General Physics: Optics Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Moving from the visible to the infrared: Developing high quality nanocrystals      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, quantum dots have a wide variety of applications ranging from displays and LED lights to chemical reaction catalysis and bioimaging. These semiconductor nanocrystals are so small -- on the order of nanometers -- that their properties, such as color, are size dependent, and they start to exhibit quantum properties. This technology has been really well developed, but only in the visible spectrum, leaving untapped opportunities for technologies in both the ultraviolet and infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Biology: Marine Ecology: General Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Oceanography Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Whale remains tracked to highlight sustainable disposal benefits      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study highlights the sustainable, cultural and ecosystem benefits of offshore removal or decomposition of whale remains. The study tracked the remains of a humpback whale that was intercepted before washing up on the shoreline, then repositioned 30km offshore and fitted with a satellite tag that tracked its position as it drifted with the wind and currents for 6 days before falling to the seabed.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Geoscience: Severe Weather Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Groundbreaking study reveals oceanic seabirds chase tropical cyclones      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study reveals that the rare Desertas Petrels (Pterodroma deserta), a wide-ranging seabird in the North Atlantic, exhibit unique foraging behaviors during hurricane season. Contrary to other pelagic seabirds, these petrels do not avoid intense tropical cyclones but instead exploit the dynamic conditions for their benefit, providing new insights into the impact of cyclones on open ocean marine life.

Biology: Microbiology Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Research Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Cracking open a tasty menu for captive marsupials to sink their teeth into      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

From sifting through topsoil for native truffles to cracking open hard shells of seeds and nuts to munch on the tasty kernels, Australia bettongs and potoroos are described as 'ecosystem engineers' in a two-way relationship between their rich diet and environmental health. However, with native ecosystems and potoroid marsupial numbers in decline, ecology and evolution experts are working to understand how difficult it is to bite into the foods these leading foragers seek out.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Mining rare earth metals from electronic waste      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A small molecule that naturally serves as a binding site for metals in enzymes also proves useful for separating certain rare earth metals from each other. In a proof of concept, the process extracts europium directly from fluorescent powder in used energy-saving lamps in much higher quantities than existing methods. The researchers are now working on expanding their approach to other rare earth metals. They are in the process of founding a start-up to put the recycling of these raw materials into practice.

Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Ancient large kangaroo moved mainly on four legs, according to new research      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A type of extinct kangaroo that lived during the Pleistocene around two and a half million to ten thousand years ago, known as the 'giant wallaby', was a poor hopper, a study has found.

Biology: Zoology Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: General
Published

Life underground suited newly discovered dinosaur fine      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A newly discovered ancestor of Thescelosaurus shows evidence that these animals spent at least part of their time in underground burrows. The new species contributes to a fuller understanding of life during the mid-Cretaceous -- both above and below ground.

Biology: Microbiology Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals Offbeat: Space Space: Exploration Space: General
Published

New way for beneficial microbes to survive extreme conditions and space exploration      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Investigators sought to help figure out how to send materials like probiotics into space and to better treat a variety of gastrointestinal (GI) and metabolic diseases. The team's formulations allow microbial therapeutics, including those used to treat gastrointestinal diseases and improve crop production, to maintain their potency and function over time despite extreme temperatures.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Offbeat: General
Published

It takes a cool microscope and antifreeze to really look at ice      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Ice in nature is surrounded by liquid most of the time, and therefore it is key to understand how ice and liquid interact. A new study has now directly observe the precise shape of ice at the interface between ice and liquid -- by using antifreeze and a refrigerated microscope.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

Chemistry inspired by one-pot cooking      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Is it possible to create a new class of materials from very different substances using the 'one-pot synthesis' approach? Chemists explain how they enable the synthesis of such novel materials.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Physics: General Physics: Optics
Published

Visualizing short-lived intermediate compounds produced during chemical reactions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Immobilizing small synthetic molecules inside protein crystals proves to be a promising avenue for studying intermediate compounds formed during chemical reactions, scientists report. By integrating this method with time-resolved serial femtosecond crystallography, they successfully visualized reaction dynamics and rapid structural changes occurring within reaction centers immobilized inside protein crystals. This innovative strategy holds significant potential for the intelligent design of drugs, catalysts, and functional materials.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry
Published

Ionic liquids: 'Don't shake it'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Chemists have develop innovative ionic liquid synthesis and purification technology.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Physics: General
Published

Scientists discover way to 'grow' sub-nanometer sized transistors      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research team has implemented a novel method to achieve epitaxial growth of 1D metallic materials with a width of less than 1 nm. The group applied this process to develop a new structure for 2D semiconductor logic circuits. Notably, they used the 1D metals as a gate electrode of the ultra-miniaturized transistor.

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

Chemists synthesize an improved building block for medicines      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Research could help drug developers improve the safety profiles of medications and reduce side effects.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry
Published

Mechanism of bio-inspired control of liquid flow      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The more we discover about the natural world, the more we find that nature is the greatest engineer. Past research implied that liquids can only be transported in fixed direction on species with specific liquid communication properties and cannot switch the transport direction. Recently, researchers have shown that an African plant controls water movement in a previously unknown way -- and this could inspire breakthroughs in a range of technologies in fluid dynamics and nature-inspired materials, including applications that require multistep and repeated reactions, such as microassays, medical diagnosis and solar desalination etc.

Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Blue and great tits deploy surprisingly powerful memories to find food      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Blue and great tits recall what they have eaten in the past, where they found the food and when they found it, a new study shows. In the first experiment of its kind to involve wild animals, blue and great tits demonstrated 'episodic-like' memory to cope with changes in food availability when foraging. The same study may suggest that humans leaving out seeds and nuts for garden birds could be contributing to the evolution of these memory traits.