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Categories: Chemistry: Organic Chemistry, Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
Published Putting an end to plastic separation anxiety



Bio-based plastics often end up in recycling streams because they look and feel like conventional plastic, but the contamination of these compostable products makes it much harder to generate functional material out of recycled plastic. Scientists have now developed a biology-driven process to convert these mixtures into a new biodegradable material that can be used to make fresh products. The scientists believe the process could also enable a new field of biomanufacturing wherein valuable chemicals and even medicines are made from microbes feeding off of plastic waste.
Published Shedding light on unique conduction mechanisms in a new type of perovskite oxide



The remarkable proton and oxide-ion (dual-ion) conductivities of hexagonal perovskite-related oxide Ba7Nb3.8Mo1.2O20.1 are promising for next-generation electrochemical devices. The unique ion-transport mechanisms they unveiled will hopefully pave the way for better dual-ion conductors, which could play an essential role in tomorrow's clean energy technologies.
Published Like the phoenix, Australia's giant birds of prey rise again from limestone caves



Australia's only vulture, and a fearsome extinct eagle, are among the earliest recorded birds of prey from the Pleistocene period more than 50,000 years ago -- and now researchers are bringing them to 'life' again. Along with new scientific information, a bold new pictorial reconstruction of a newly named eagle and the only known Australian vulture will be unveiled at the World Heritage-listed Naracoorte Caves in South Australia's Limestone Coast this month.
Published Pushing the boundaries of eco-friendly chemical production



A team of pioneering researchers has made a significant leap forward in the complex world of molecular chemistry. Their focus? Azaarenes, unique molecular puzzle pieces crucial to many everyday products, from eco-friendly agrochemicals to essential medicines. The team developed an innovative way to modify these molecules using light-powered enzymes -- a groundbreaking discovery that holds promise for new industrially relevant chemical reactions and sustainable energy solutions.
Published Birds set foot near South Pole in Early Cretaceous, Australian tracks show



The discovery of 27 avian footprints on the southern Australia coast -- dating back to the Early Cretaceous when Australia was still connected to Antarctica -- opens another window onto early avian evolution and possible migratory behavior.
Published Engineering bacteria to biosynthesize intricate protein complexes



Protein cages found in nature within microbes help weather its contents from the harsh intracellular environment -- an observation with many bioengineering applications. Researchers recently developed an innovative bioengineering approach using genetically modified bacteria; these bacteria can incorporate protein cages around protein crystals. This in-cell biosynthesis method efficiently produces highly customized protein complexes, which could find applications as advanced solid catalysts and functionalized nanomaterials.
Published Water splitting reaction for green hydrogen gas production improved



Electrochemical catalysts used in water splitting often show poor performance due to low electrical conductance of (oxy)hydroxide species produced in situ. To overcome this challenge, researchers have now designed an electrode with Schottky Junction formed at the interface of metallic Ni-W5N4 and semiconducting NiFeOOH. The proposed electrode shows excellent catalytic activity and can facilitate industrial seawater splitting continuously for 10 days.
Published New study reveals surprising insights into feeding habits of carnivorous dinosaurs in North America



New research sheds light on the dining habits of ancient carnivorous dinosaurs from Jurassic rocks of the USA. A recent study explores the bite marks left on the ancient bones of the giant long-necked sauropod dinosaurs like Diplodocus and Brontosaurus by carnivorous theropod dinosaurs.
Published Some of today's earthquakes may be aftershocks from quakes in the 1800s



In the 1800s, some of the strongest earthquakes in recorded U.S. history struck North America's continental interior. Almost two centuries later, the central and eastern United States may still be experiencing aftershocks from those events, a new study finds.
Published Evolution of taste: Early sharks were able to perceive bitter substances



New genetic data show that humans and sharks share bitter taste receptors, even though their evolutionary pathways separated nearly 500 million years ago.
Published AI programs spat out known data and hardly learned specific chemical interactions when predicting drug potency



Artificial intelligence (AI) is on the rise. Until now, AI applications generally have 'black box' character: How AI arrives at its results remains hidden. A cheminformatics scientist has now developed a method that reveals how certain AI applications work in pharmaceutical research. The results are unexpected: the AI programs largely remembered known data and hardly learned specific chemical interactions when predicting drug potency.
Published No scientific evidence for cognitively advanced behaviors and symbolism by Homo naledi



A new study casts doubt on claims that Homo naledi, a small-brained hominin dating to between 335-241,000 years ago, deliberately buried their dead and produced rock art in Rising Star Cave, South Africa. Recent articles suggested the recent excavations at the Rising Star Cave system provided evidence of at least three burial features, two in the Dinaledi Chamber and a third in the Hill Antechamber cavity. The group of experts have now called for a deeper dig into the science behind the findings.
Published Solar-powered device produces clean water and clean fuel at the same time



A floating, solar-powered device that can turn contaminated water or seawater into clean hydrogen fuel and purified water, anywhere in the world, has been developed by researchers.
Published How to use AI for discovery -- without leading science astray



In the same way that chatbots sometimes 'hallucinate,' or make things up, machine learning models designed for scientific applications can sometimes present misleading or downright false results. Researchers now present a new statistical technique for safely using AI predictions to test scientific hypotheses.
Published Chemists image basic blocks of synthetic polymers



Researchers have developed a new method to image polymerization catalysis reactions one monomer at a time.
Published Scientists use quantum biology, AI to sharpen genome editing tool



Scientists used their expertise in quantum biology, artificial intelligence and bioengineering to improve how CRISPR Cas9 genome editing tools work on organisms like microbes that can be modified to produce renewable fuels and chemicals.
Published Palaeo-CSI: Mosasaurs were picky eaters



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.
Published Liquid metals shake up century-old chemical engineering processes



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.
Published Head lice evolution mirrors human migration and colonization in the Americas



A new analysis of lice genetic diversity suggests that lice came to the Americas twice -- once during the first wave of human migration across the Bering Strait, and again during European colonization.
Published French love letters confiscated by Britain finally read after 265 years



Over 100 letters sent to French sailors by their fianc es, wives, parents and siblings -- but never delivered -- have been opened and studied for the first time since they were written in 1757-8.