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Categories: Chemistry: Thermodynamics, Geoscience: Oceanography
Published Marine reserves unlikely to restore marine ecosystems
(via sciencedaily.com) Protected marine areas are one of the essential tools for the conservation of natural resources affected by human impact -- mainly fishing --, but, are they enough to recover the functioning of these systems? A study now highlights the limitations of marine reserves in restoring food webs to their pristine state prior to the impact of intensive fishing.
Published 'Game-changing' findings for sustainable hydrogen production
(via sciencedaily.com) Hydrogen fuel could be a more viable alternative to traditional fossil fuels, according to University of Surrey researchers who have found that a type of metal-free catalysts could contribute to the development of cost-effective and sustainable hydrogen production technologies.
Published Devastating cost of future coastal flooding for many developing nations predicted in new study
(via sciencedaily.com) New global modelling predicts the devastating socioeconomic impacts of future extreme coastal flooding for developing nations caused by climate change, with Asia, West Africa and Egypt facing severe costs in the coming decades.
Published Plastic debris in the Arctic comes from all around the world
(via sciencedaily.com) In the course of five years, citizens who went on sailing cruises to the Arctic surveyed and collected plastic debris that had washed up on the shores of Svalbard. This has now been analyzed. According to the findings, one third of the plastic debris which still bore imprints or labels allowing an analysis of their origin came from Europe, and much of that number from Germany.
Published Changing climate conditions likely facilitated early human migration to the Americas at key intervals, research suggests
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have pinpointed two intervals when ice and ocean conditions would have been favorable to support early human migration from Asia to North America late in the last ice age, a new paper shows.
Published More frequent atmospheric rivers hinder seasonal recovery of Arctic sea ice
(via sciencedaily.com) The Arctic is rapidly losing sea ice, even during winter months when temperatures are below freezing and ice should be recovering from the summer melt. A new study found powerful storms called atmospheric rivers are increasingly reaching the Arctic in winter, slowing sea ice recovery and accounting for a third of all winter sea ice decline, according to a team led by Penn State scientists.
Published A quasiparticle that can transfer heat under electrical control
(via sciencedaily.com) Scientists have found the secret behind a property of solid materials known as ferroelectrics, showing that quasiparticles moving in wave-like patterns among vibrating atoms carry enough heat to turn the material into a thermal switch when an electrical field is applied externally.
Published Passive radiative cooling can now be controlled electrically
(via sciencedaily.com) Energy-efficient ways of cooling buildings and vehicles will be required in a changing climate. Researchers have now shown that electrical tuning of passive radiative cooling can be used to control temperatures of a material at ambient temperatures and air pressure.
Published Researchers can 'see' crystals perform their dance moves
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers already knew the atoms in perovskites react favorably to light. Now they've seen precisely how the atoms move when the 2D materials are excited with light. Their study details the first direct measurement of structural dynamics under light-induced excitation in 2D perovskites.
Published Person-shaped robot can liquify and escape jail, all with the power of magnets
(via sciencedaily.com) Inspired by sea cucumbers, engineers have designed miniature robots that rapidly and reversibly shift between liquid and solid states. On top of being able to shape-shift, the robots are magnetic and can conduct electricity. The researchers put the robots through an obstacle course of mobility and shape-morphing tests.
Published No 'second law of entanglement' after all
(via sciencedaily.com) When two microscopic systems are entangled, their properties are linked to each other irrespective of the physical distance between the two. Manipulating this uniquely quantum phenomenon is what allows for quantum cryptography, communication, and computation. While parallels have been drawn between quantum entanglement and the classical physics of heat, new research demonstrates the limits of this comparison. Entanglement is even richer than we have given it credit for.
Published Polysulfates could find wide use in high-performance electronics components
(via sciencedaily.com) Flexible compounds made with Nobel-winning click chemistry can be used in energy-storing capacitors at high temperatures and electric fields.
Published Improving perovskite solar cell resistance to degradation
(via sciencedaily.com) Despite their huge potential, the way perovskite solar cells respond to external stimuli -- such as heat or moisture -- has a considerable impact on their stability. Researchers have identified the cause of degradation and developed a technique to improve stability, bringing us closer to widespread adoption of these cost-effective and efficient solar cells.
Published A big step toward 'green' ammonia and a 'greener' fertilizer
(via sciencedaily.com) Synthesizing ammonia, the key ingredient in fertilizer, is energy intensive and a significant contributor to greenhouse gas warming of the planet. Chemists designed and synthesized porous materials -- metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs -- that bind and release ammonia at more moderate pressures and temperatures than the standard Haber-Bosch process for making ammonia. The MOF doesn't bind to any of the reactants, making capture and release of ammonia less energy intensive and greener.
Published Converting temperature fluctuations into clean energy with novel nanoparticles and heating strategy
(via sciencedaily.com) Pyroelectric catalysis (pyro-catalysis) can convert environmental temperature fluctuations into clean chemical energy, like hydrogen. However, compared with the more common catalysis strategy, such as photocatalysis, pyro-catalysis is inefficient due to slow temperature changes in the ambient environment. Recently, a team has triggered a significantly faster and more efficient pyro-catalytic reaction using localized plasmonic heat sources to rapidly and efficiently heat up the pyro-catalytic material and allow it to cool down. The findings open up new avenues for efficient catalysis for biological applications, pollutant treatment and clean energy production.
Published Enabling nanoscale thermoelectrics with a novel organometallic molecular junction
(via sciencedaily.com) Multinuclear organometallic junctions might be the key to realizing high-performance thermoelectric devices at the nanoscale. The unique electronic structure of organometallic ruthenium alkynyl complexes allowed the researchers to achieve unprecedented heat-to-electricity conversion performance in molecular junctions, paving the way to molecular-scale temperature sensors and thermal energy harvesters.
Published Cheap, sustainable hydrogen through solar power
(via sciencedaily.com) A new kind of solar panel has achieved 9% efficiency in converting water into hydrogen and oxygen--mimicking a crucial step in natural photosynthesis. Outdoors, it represents a major leap in the technology, nearly 10 times more efficient than solar water-splitting experiments of its kind.
Published Scientists develop a cool new method of refrigeration
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have developed a new kind of heating and cooling method that they have named the ionocaloric refrigeration cycle. They hope the technique will someday help phase out refrigerants that contribute to global warming and provide safe, efficient cooling and heating for homes.
Published A shield for 2D materials that adds vibrations to reduce vibration problems
(via sciencedaily.com) A new study demonstrates a new, counterintuitive way to protect atomically-thin electronics -- adding vibrations, to reduce vibrations. By squeezing a liquid-metal gallium droplet, graphene devices are painted with a protective coating of gallium-oxide that can cover millimeter-wide scales, making it potentially applicable for industrial large-scale fabrication. The new technique improves device performance as well as protecting 2D materials from thermal vibration in neighboring materials.
Published Mitigating corrosion by liquid tin could lead to better cooling in fusion reactors
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have clarified the chemical compatibility between high temperature liquid metal tin (Sn) and reduced activation ferritic martensitic, a candidate structural material for fusion reactors. This discovery has paved the way for the development of a liquid metal tin divertor, which is an advanced heat-removal component of fusion reactors. A device called a divertor is installed in the fusion reactors to maintain the purity of the plasma. For divertors, there has been demand for liquid metals that can withstand extremely large heat loads from high-temperature plasma.