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Categories: Environmental: Water, Physics: Optics
Published Cool roofs are best at beating cities' heat
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Painting roofs white or covering them with a reflective coating would be more effective at cooling cities like London than vegetation-covered 'green roofs,' street-level vegetation or solar panels, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.
Published A breakthrough in inexpensive, clean, fast-charging batteries
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have created an anode-free sodium solid-state battery. This brings the reality of inexpensive, fast-charging, high-capacity batteries for electric vehicles and grid storage closer than ever.
Published Early-onset El Niño means warmer winters in East Asia, and vice versa
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have found that the early onset of El Nino around June leads to warm winter climates in Japan, while the late onset of El Nino is associated with colder winters. By analyzing 100-ensemble member climate simulations over the past 61 years, the team found that the warming of the tropical Indian Ocean was a player in warmer Japanese winters.
Published Using visible light to make pharmaceutical building blocks
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Chemists have discovered a way to use visible light to synthesize a class of compounds particularly well suited for use in pharmaceuticals. The class of compounds, called azetidines, had been previously identified as a good candidate to build therapeutic drugs, but the compounds are difficult to produce in chemical reactions. Now, a team has developed a method to produce a specific class of azetidines called monocyclic azetidines using visible light and a photocatalyst.
Published Precise and less expensive 3D printing of complex, high-resolution structures
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed a new two-photon polymerization technique that uses two lasers to 3D print complex high-resolution structures. The advance could make this 3D printing process less expensive, helping it find wider use in a variety of applications, from consumer electronics to the biomedical field.
Published Giant clams may hold the answers to making solar energy more efficient
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Solar panel and biorefinery designers could learn a thing or two from iridescent giant clams living near tropical coral reefs, according to a new study. This is because giant clams have precise geometries -- dynamic, vertical columns of photosynthetic receptors covered by a thin, light-scattering layer -- that may just make them the most efficient solar energy systems on Earth.
Published Nuclear spectroscopy breakthrough could rewrite the fundamental constants of nature
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Raising the energy state of an atom's nucleus using a laser, or exciting it, would enable development of the most accurate atomic clocks ever to exist. This has been hard to do because electrons, which surround the nucleus, react easily with light, increasing the amount of light needed to reach the nucleus. By causing the electrons to bond with fluorine in a transparent crystal, UCLA physicists have finally succeeded in exciting the neutrons in a thorium atom's nucleus using a moderate amount of laser light. This accomplishment means that measurements of time, gravity and other fields that are currently performed using atomic electrons can be made with orders of magnitude higher accuracy.
Published Optoelectronics gain spin control from chiral perovskites and III-V semiconductors
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A research effort has made advances that could enable a broader range of currently unimagined optoelectronic devices.
Published Light targets cells for death and triggers immune response with laser precision
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new method of precisely targeting troublesome cells for death using light could unlock new understanding of and treatments for cancer and inflammatory diseases.
Published Layers of carbonate provide insight into the world of the ancient Romans
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Archaeologists face a major challenge when they intend to acquire information about buildings or facilities of which only ruins remain. This was a particular challenge for the remnants of the Roman water mills in Barbegal in Southern France, dating back to the 2nd century CE. This unique industrial complex consisted of 16 water wheels placed in parallel rows. Little could at first be deduced about the site from these now scant ruins -- except that the wheels were supplied by an aqueduct that brought water from the surrounding hills. Researchers have now unraveled the history of the mill complex using calcium carbonate deposits that are now stored in the Archaeological Museum of Arles. These deposits had formed towards the end of the roughly 100-year operational life of the Barbegal water mills on the sides and base of the wooden supply system that conveyed the water to the wheels.
Published Researchers identify unique survival strategies adopted by fish in the world's warmest waters
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A team of researchers have identified unexpected ways coral reef fish living in the warmest waters on earth, in the Arabian Gulf, have adapted to survive extreme temperatures.
Published Novel spectroscopy technique sheds light on NOx reduction
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The process that can convert pollution into benign by-products is called selective catalytic reduction, or SCR. Until now, it has been unclear how this reaction actually occurs, and contradictions have long existed between reaction models within the literature. Catalysis researchers used a technology called modulation excitation spectroscopy, or MES, to finally identify the correct pathway.
Published 'World record' for data transmission speed
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have sent data at a record rate of 402 terabits per second using commercially available optical fiber. This beats their previous record, announced in March 2024, of 301 terabits or 301,000,000 megabits per second using a single, standard optical fiber.
Published New computational microscopy technique provides more direct route to crisp images
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new computational microscopy technique solves for true high-resolution images without the guesswork that has limited the precision of other techniques.
Published Investigating newly discovered hydrothermal vents at depths of 3,000 meters off Svalbard
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Hydrothermal vents can be found around the world at the junctions of drifting tectonic plates. But there are many hydrothermal fields still to be discovered. During a 2022 expedition of the MARIA S. MERIAN, the first field of hydrothermal vents on the 500-kilometer-long Knipovich Ridge off the coast of Svalbard was discovered.
Published Drowning in waste: Pollution hotspots in aquatic environments
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study explores waste management systems and reveals that achieving zero waste leakage by 2030 is unlikely, potentially jeopardizing related Sustainable Development Goals. The authors emphasize the need for global cooperation, particularly across four regions, to responsibly manage waste disposal.
Published Climate change to shift tropical rains northward
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Atmospheric scientists predict that unchecked carbon emissions will force tropical rains to shift northward in the coming decades, which would profoundly impact agriculture and economies near the Earth's equator. The northward rain shift would be spurred by carbon emissions that influence the formation of the intertropical convergence zones that are essentially atmospheric engines that drive about a third of the world's precipitation.
Published Light-controlled artificial maple seeds could monitor the environment even in hard-to-reach locations
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed a tiny robot replicating the aerial dance of falling maple seeds. In the future, this robot could be used for real-time environmental monitoring or delivery of small samples even in inaccessible terrain such as deserts, mountains or cliffs, or the open sea. This technology could be a game changer for fields such as search-and-rescue, endangered species studies, or infrastructure monitoring.
Published Antarctic ice shelves hold twice as much meltwater as previously thought
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Slush -- water-soaked snow -- makes up more than half of all meltwater on the Antarctic ice shelves during the height of summer, yet is poorly accounted for in regional climate models. The findings could have profound implications for ice shelf stability and sea level rise.
Published Common plastics could passively cool and heat buildings with the seasons
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source By restricting radiant heat flows between buildings and their environment to specific wavelengths, coatings engineered from common materials can achieve energy savings and thermal comfort that goes beyond what traditional building envelopes can achieve.