Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Technology Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

New method makes hydrogen from solar power and agricultural waste      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Engineers have helped design a new method to make hydrogen gas from water using only solar power and agricultural waste such as manure or husks. The method reduces the energy needed to extract hydrogen from water by 600%, creating new opportunities for sustainable, climate-friendly chemical production.

Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Paleontology: Climate
Published

Local bright spot among melting glaciers: 2000 km of Antarctic ice-covered coastline has been stable for 85 years      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A whaler's forgotten aerial photos from 1937 have given researchers the most detailed picture of the ice evolution in East Antarctica to date. The results show that the ice has remained stable and even grown slightly over almost a century, though scientists observe early signs of weakening. The research offers new insights that enhance predictions of ice changes and sea level rise.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

Editing without 'cutting': Molecular mechanisms of new gene-editing tool revealed      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research has determined the spatial structure of various processes of a novel gene-editing tool called 'prime editor.' Functional analysis based on these structures also revealed how a 'prime editor' could achieve reverse transcription, synthesizing DNA from RNA, without 'cutting' both strands of the double helix. Clarifying these molecular mechanisms contributes greatly to designing gene-editing tools accurate enough for gene therapy treatments.

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

Researchers create materials with unique combo of stiffness, thermal insulation      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have demonstrated the ability to engineer materials that are both stiff and capable of insulating against heat. This combination of properties is extremely unusual and holds promise for a range of applications, such as the development of new thermal insulation coatings for electronic devices.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

Solving the problems of proton-conducting perovskites for next-generation fuel cells      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

As a newly developed perovskite with a large amount of intrinsic oxygen vacancies, BaSc0.8W0.2O2.8 achieves high proton conduction at low and intermediate temperatures, report scientists. By the donor doping of large W6+, this material can take up more water to increase its proton concentration, as well as reduce the proton trapping through electrostatic repulsion between the dopant and proton. These findings could pave the way to the rational design of novel perovskites for protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) and electrolysis cells (PCECs).

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Fossil Fuels Energy: Technology Engineering: Nanotechnology Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Controlling water, transforming greenhouse gases      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have outlined a way to manipulate water molecules to make CO2R more efficient, with the ultimate goal of creating a clean energy loop. Through their new method, the team was able to perform CO2R with nearly 100% efficiency under mildly acidic conditions, using either gold or zinc as catalysts.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Physics: Optics
Published

Observing mammalian cells with superfast soft X-rays      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a new technique to view living mammalian cells. The team used a powerful laser, called a soft X-ray free electron laser, to emit ultrafast pulses of illumination at the speed of femtoseconds, or quadrillionths of a second. With this they could capture images of carbon-based structures in living cells for the first time, before the soft X-ray radiation damaged them.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Physics: General Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Shedding light on the chemical enigma of sulfur trioxide in the atmosphere      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers discovered that sulfur trioxide can form products other than sulfuric acid in the atmosphere by interacting with organic and inorganic acids. These previously uncharacterized acid sulfuric anhydride products are almost certainly key contributors to atmospheric new particle formation and a way to efficiently incorporate carboxylic acids into atmospheric nanoparticles. Better prediction of aerosol formation can help curb air pollution and reduce uncertainties concerning climate change.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

Producing novel liquid crystals by stacking antiaromatic units      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In a recent study, researchers developed modified norcorrole molecules whose side chains favored the formation of columnar -stacking structures. Using these compounds, they produced liquid crystals with high electrical conductivity and thermotropic properties. Their findings open up new design avenues for materials useful in electronics, sensing, optics, and biomedicine.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

Unlocking complex sulfur molecules: Novel approach for synthesis of functionalized benzenethiol equivalents      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Organosulfur skeletons are crucial in many fields, including pharmaceuticals and electronics. Synthesizing organosulfur skeletons requires o-bromobenzenethiols. However, conventional methods face challenges due to quick oxidation and formation of highly reactive intermediates. Researchers have now developed a new method for synthesizing o-bromobenzenethiols from aryne intermediates via bromothiolation. This method can pave the way for the synthesis of new organosulfur compounds with applications in diverse fields.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Marine Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Sexual parasitism helped anglerfish invade the deep sea during a time of global warming      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Members of the vertebrate group including anglerfishes are unique in possessing a characteristic known as sexual parasitism, in which males temporarily attach or permanently fuse with females to mate. Now, researchers show that sexual parasitism arose during a time of major global warming and rapid transition for anglerfishes from the ocean floor to the deep, open sea.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Beach erosion will make Southern California coastal living five times more expensive by 2050, study predicts      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Southern California's iconic sandy coastlines are vanishing at an alarming rate, and it's a warning sign for coastal communities worldwide, new research suggests.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Engineering: Robotics Research
Published

Researchers design new metal-free porous framework materials      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have used computational design methods to develop non-metal organic porous framework materials, with potential applications in areas such as catalysis, water capture or hydrogen storage.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Engineering: Graphene
Published

Scientists develop new battery-free lactic acid sensor      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have created a new type of chemosensor (demonstrated for lactic acid sensing) which functions with electricity but without the need for reference electrodes or battery power.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Marine Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

New insights into the degradation dynamics of organic material in the seafloor      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Many processes in the deep sea are not yet well understood, and the role of microbial communities in particular is often a big unknown. This includes, for example, how organic material that sinks from the water surface to the ocean floor is metabolised -- an important building block for a better understanding of the global carbon cycle.

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

Ethylene from CO2: Building-kit catalyst      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Use of the greenhouse gas CO2 as a chemical raw material would not only reduce emissions, but also the consumption of fossil feedstocks. A novel metal-free organic framework could make it possible to electrocatalytically produce ethylene, a primary chemical raw material, from CO2. Nitrogen atoms with a particular electron configuration play a critical role for the catalyst.

Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Water Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

A rise in sea urchins and related damage to kelp forests impacts Oregon's gray whales and their food      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A recent boom in the purple sea urchin population off the southern Oregon Coast appears to have had an indirect and negative impact on the gray whales that usually forage in the region, a new study shows.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Climate
Published

New research reveals that prehistoric seafloor pockmarks off the California coast are maintained by powerful sediment flows      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research on a field of pockmarks -- large, circular depressions on the seafloor -- offshore of Central California has revealed that powerful sediment flows, not methane gas eruptions, maintain these prehistoric formations.