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Categories: Engineering: Graphene, Paleontology: Climate
Published Humidity may be the key to super-lubricity 'switch'


A material state known as super-lubricity, where friction between two contacting surfaces nearly vanishes, is a phenomenon that materials researchers have studied for years due to the potential for reducing the energy cost and wear and tear on devices, two major drawbacks of friction. However, there are times when friction is needed within the same device, and the ability to turn super-lubricity on and off would be a boon for multiple practical engineering applications.
Published Rodent extinctions in Hispaniola may have been caused by humans


Hispaniola once had among the highest diversity of rodents in the Caribbean. Today, only one rodent species remains, and its prospects for survival are uncertain. New carbon dates place the blame squarely on humans.
Published Climate change could cause 'disaster' in the world's oceans



Climate change will slow down deep overturning ocean circulation in the coming centuries. Using three dozen Earth system models, researchers have concluded that the Southern Meridional Overturning Circulation could completely shut down by 2300, causing disaster to the marine ecosystem on a large portion of the planet.
Published Researchers discover new process to create freestanding membranes of 'smart' materials


A team has developed a new method for making nano-membranes of 'smart' materials, which will allow scientists to harness their unique properties for use in devices such as sensors and flexible electronics.
Published Human brain organoids implanted into mouse cortex respond to visual stimuli for first time


A team of engineers and neuroscientists has demonstrated for the first time that human brain organoids implanted in mice have established functional connectivity to the animals' cortex and responded to external sensory stimuli. The implanted organoids reacted to visual stimuli in the same way as surrounding tissues, an observation that researchers were able to make in real time over several months thanks to an innovative experimental setup that combines transparent graphene microelectrode arrays and two-photon imaging.
Published Bering Land Bridge formed surprisingly late during last ice age


A new study that reconstructs the history of sea level at the Bering Strait shows that the Bering Land Bridge connecting Asia to North America did not emerge until around 35,700 years ago, less than 10,000 years before the height of the last ice age (known as the Last Glacial Maximum). The findings indicate that the growth of the ice sheets -- and the resulting drop in sea level -- occurred surprisingly quickly and much later in the glacial cycle than previous studies had suggested.
Published At the edge of graphene-based electronics


Researchers developed a new graphene-based nanoelectronics platform compatible with conventional microelectronics manufacturing, paving the way for a successor to silicon.
Published Early forests did not significantly change the atmospheric CO2



Scientists have discovered that the atmosphere contained far less CO2 than previously thought when forests emerged on our planet, the new study has important implications for understanding how land plants affect the climate.
Published New theory on timing for human settlement of some parts of tropical Pacific


Spread across vast distances, the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean are thought to have been populated by humans in two distinct migrations beginning approximately 3,330 years ago. The first followed a northern route out of what is today the Philippines and the second followed a southern route from Taiwan and New Guinea. People arrived on the islands between these routes -- now making up the Federated States of Micronesia -- about 1,000 years later. But a new finding by sea-level researchers suggests that the islands in Micronesia were possibly settled much earlier than supposed and that voyagers on the two routes may have interacted with one another.
Published Lucky find! How science behind epidemics helped physicists to develop state-of-the-art conductive paint


Scientists demonstrate how a highly conductive paint coating that they have developed mimics the network spread of a virus through a process called 'explosive percolation' -- a mathematical process which can also be applied to population growth, financial systems and computer networks, but which has not been seen before in materials systems. The finding was a serendipitous development as well as a scientific first for the researchers.
Published Linking fossil climate proxies to living bacteria helps climate predictions


Fossilized microbial skins can give us a glimpse of how the climate was in the deep geological past. By discovering the 'missing link' between such fossil skins and the skins of living bacteria, researchers have greatly improved the accuracy of climate reconstructions and predictions.
Published Climate change played key role in dinosaur success story


Climate change, rather than competition, played a key role in the ascendancy of dinosaurs through the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic periods.
Published A shield for 2D materials that adds vibrations to reduce vibration problems


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 Increasing forest cover in the Eifel region 11,000 years ago resulted in the local loss of megafauna


Sediment cores obtained from Eifel maar sites provide insight into the presence of large Ice Age mammals in Central Europe over the past 60,000 years: Overkill hypothesis not confirmed. Herds of megafauna, such as mammoth and bison, have roamed the prehistoric plains in what is today's Central Europe for several tens of thousands of years. As woodland expanded at the end of the last Ice Age, the numbers of these animals declined and by roughly 11,000 years ago, they had completely vanished from this region. Thus, the growth of forests was the main factor that determined the extinction of such megafauna in Central Europe.
Published Changes in Earth's orbit may have triggered ancient warming event


Changes in Earth's orbit that favored hotter conditions may have helped trigger a rapid global warming event 56 million years ago. Researchers found the shape of Earth's orbit, or eccentricity, and the wobble in its rotation, or precession, favored hotter conditions at the onset of the PETM and that these orbital configurations together may have played a role in triggering the event.
Published Nanomaterial influences gut microbiome and immune system interactions


The nanomaterial graphene oxide -- which is used in everything from electronics to sensors for biomolecules -- can indirectly affect the immune system via the gut microbiome, as shown in a new study on zebrafish.
Published New life flashed into lithium-ion anodes


Chemists use flash Joule heating to recover graphite anodes from spent lithium-ion batteries at a cost of about $118 per ton.
Published Assessing El Nino 'flavors' to unravel past variability, future impact


By assessing so-called 'flavors' of El Nino events in past climate records and model simulations, researchers have a clearer picture of El Nino patterns over the past 12,000 years and are able to more accurately project future changes and impacts of this powerful force.
Published New way to produce important molecular entity


A team presents a new, direct way to produce unsymmetrically constructed vicinal diamines. These structures are relevant for the function of biologically active molecules, natural products and pharmaceuticals.
Published Climate whiplash increased wildfires on California's west coast about 8,000 years ago


Researchers have been studying the effects of the sudden decrease in global temperatures that occurred about 8,200 years ago, the so-called 8.2-kiloyear event, with the help of mineral deposits present in White Moon Cave in Northern California. New indications show that oscillations between extreme wetness and aridity in California were closely linked with the occurrence of wildfires. The researchers have concluded that such events are likely to become more common in the face of human-induced climate change.