Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Thermodynamics Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

New cooling ceramic can enhance energy efficiency for the construction sector and help combat global warming      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have made a significant breakthrough in developing a passive radiative cooling (PRC) material. The material, known as cooling ceramic, has achieved high-performance optical properties for energy-free and refrigerant-free cooling generation. Its cost-effectiveness, durability and versatility make it highly suitable for commercialization in numerous applications, particularly in building construction. 

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Zoology Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Hummingbirds' unique sideways flutter gets them through small apertures      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Hummingbirds are highly maneuverable fliers, flitting forward and backward as they home in on flowers. But in the dense foliage many inhabit, they often encounter gaps that are too narrow for their wingspan. Since they can't bend their wings in flight, how do they get through? Researchers used high-speed cameras to capture their movements, discovering two unique strategies: they sidle through while fluttering, or fold their wings in a tuck and glide.

Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Environmental: Biodiversity Geoscience: Geography Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Found at last: Bizarre, egg-laying mammal finally rediscovered after 60 years      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A long-beaked echidna named after Sir David Attenborough and last seen by scientists in 1961 has been photographed for the first time in an Indonesian tropical forest. An international team of researchers worked with local communities to deploy over 80 camera traps to film the elusive animal. Besides rediscovering the echidna, the team uncovered a wealth of species completely new to science, including beetles, spiders, and a remarkable tree-dwelling shrimp.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Physics: General Physics: Optics Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Atomic dance gives rise to a magnet      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers turned a paramagnetic material into a magnet by manipulating electrons' spin via atomic motion.

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

Chemists image basic blocks of synthetic polymers      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a new method to image polymerization catalysis reactions one monomer at a time. 

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Energy: Batteries Energy: Technology Environmental: General
Published

Advances in lithium-metal batteries, paving the way for safer, more powerful devices      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The boom in phones, laptops and other personal devices over the last few decades has been made possible by the lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery, but as climate change demands more powerful batteries for electric vehicles and grid-scale renewable storage, lithium-ion technology might not be enough. Lithium-metal batteries (LMBs) have theoretical capacities an order of magnitude greater than lithium-ion, but a more literal boom has stymied research for decades.

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

Palaeo-CSI: Mosasaurs were picky eaters      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Mosasaurs, those large marine reptiles from the long-gone Cretaceous world, were quite picky in their choice of diet. Researchers came to this conclusion after studying the wear marks on mosasaur teeth.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

First live birth of a chimeric monkey using embryonic stem cell lines      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of researchers has reported for the first time the live birth of a monkey that contains a high proportion of cells derived from a monkey stem cell line. This 'chimeric' monkey is composed of cells that originate from two genetically distinct embryos of the same species of monkey. This has previously been demonstrated in rats and mice but, until now, has not been possible in other species, including non-human primates.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Environmental: General Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Liquid metals shake up century-old chemical engineering processes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Liquid metals could be the long-awaited solution to 'greening' the chemical industry, according to researchers who tested a new technique they hope can replace energy-intensive chemical engineering processes harking back to the early 20th century.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

How animals get their stripes and spots      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research helps explain how sharp patterns form on zebras, leopards, tropical fish and other creatures. Their findings could inform the development of new high-tech materials and drugs.

Biology: Biochemistry Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Animals like crickets use the ground to amplify calls      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

When animals 'sing' sitting on the ground -- such as when crickets chirp -- their volume and reach increase dramatically, by as much as ten-fold. This result contradicts long-held beliefs in the field of animal communication, which presume the ground is a hindrance to sound transmission.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Ecology: Animals Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Yeast with an over half synthetic genome is created in the lab      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have combined over seven synthetic chromosomes that were made in the lab into a single yeast cell, resulting in a strain with more than 50% synthetic DNA that survives and replicates similarly to wild yeast strains. A global consortium is working to develop the first synthetic eukaryote genome from scratch. The team has now synthesized and debugged all sixteen yeast chromosomes.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Trees Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

The fascinating relationship between mice and a plant that flowers once a century in terms of seed dispersal      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have discovered several factors that affect field mouse behavior using seeds from dwarf bamboo plants, a plant that flowers once in a century. Their findings not only suggest the previously underappreciated role of mice in the forest ecosystem, but also show that they store small sasa seeds for later use. These challenge a previously held model of mouse behavior.  

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Chemistry: Biochemistry Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Two fins are better than one: Fish synchronize tail fins to save energy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

They say two heads are better than one. But in the world of fish, it appears two fins are better than one. Researchers have produced a theoretical model that demonstrates the underlying mechanisms behind how fish will synchronize their fin movements to ride each other's vortices, thereby saving energy.

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

Charged 'molecular beasts' the basis for new compounds      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Mass spectrometers are high-tech machines that play an important role in our society. They are highly sensitive analytical instruments that are indispensable in areas such as medical diagnostics, food quality control and the detection of hazardous chemical substances. A research group is working to modify mass spectrometers so that they can be used for a completely different purpose: the chemical synthesis of new molecules.

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

Rats have an imagination, new research suggests      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a novel system to probe a rat's thoughts, finding that animals can control their brain activity to imagine remote locations.  

Biology: Biochemistry Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Chimpanzees use hilltops to conduct reconnaissance on rival groups, study finds      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Research on neighboring chimpanzee communities in the forests of West Africa suggests a warfare tactic not previously seen beyond humans is regularly used by our closest evolutionary relatives.