Energy: Alternative Fuels Engineering: Nanotechnology Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

A novel platinum nanocluster for improved oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Hydrogen, derived from polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs), is an excellent source of clean energy. However, PEFCs require platinum (Pt), which is a limited resource. Some studies have shown that Pt nanoclusters (NCs) have higher activity than conventionally used Pt nanoparticles, however the origin of their higher activity is unclear. Now, researchers have synthesized a novel Pt NC catalyst with unprecedented activity and identified the reason for its high performance.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

New approach estimates long-term coastal cliff loss      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new method for estimating cliff loss over thousands of years in Del Mar, California, may help reveal some of the long-term drivers of coastal cliff loss in the state.

Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Nature Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Earth Science Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

How can a pollinating insect be recognized in the fossil record?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Insect pollination is a decisive process for the survival and evolution of angiosperm (flowering) plants and, to a lesser extent, gymnosperms (without visible flower or fruit). There is a growing interest in studies on the origins of the relationship between insects and plants, especially in the current context of the progressive decline of pollinating insects on a global scale and its impact on food production. Pollinating insects can be recognized in the fossil record, although to date, there has been no protocol for their differentiation. Fossil pollinators have been found in both rock and amber deposits, and it is in rock deposits that the first evidence of plant pollination by insects is being studied across the globe. But how can we determine which was a true insect pollinator in the past?

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Recovering rare earth elements in environmental water      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research group has succeeded in selectively recovering trace rare earth elements in synthetic seawater and environmental water, such as hot spring water, using baker's yeast with a phosphate group added. The phosphorylated yeast is expected to be utilized as a material for recovering useful metals and removing toxic metals, thereby contributing to the realization of a metal resource-circulating society.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research
Published

Multi-compartment membranes for multicellular robots: Everybody needs some body      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

We typically think of robots as metal objects, filled with motors and circuits. But the field of molecular robotics is starting to change that. Like the formation of complex living organisms, molecular robots derive their form and functionality from assembled molecules stored in a single unit, i.e., a body. Yet manufacturing this body at the microscopic level is an engineering nightmare. Now, a team has created a simple workaround.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Volcanoes
Published

2022 Tongan volcanic explosion was largest natural explosion in over a century, new study finds      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The 2022 eruption of a submarine volcano in Tonga was more powerful than the largest U.S. nuclear explosion, according to a new study. The 15-megaton volcanic explosion from Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, one of the largest natural explosions in more than a century, generated a mega-tsunami with waves up to 45-meters high (148 feet) along the coast of Tonga's Tofua Island and waves up to 17 meters (56 feet) on Tongatapu, the country's most populated island.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology
Published

How did the Andes Mountains get so huge? A new geological research method may hold the answer      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

How did the Andes -- the world's longest mountain range -- reach its enormous size? This is just one of the geological questions that a new method may be able to answer. With unprecedented precision, the method allows researchers to estimate how Earth's tectonic plates changed speed over the past millions of years.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Predictive power of climate models may be masked by volcanoes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Simulated volcanic eruptions may be blowing up our ability to predict near-term climate, according to a new study.

Chemistry: General Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

The hidden culprit behind nitrogen dioxide emissions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research team assesses neighborhood-scale NO2 exposure using a European satellite. High-rise apartment complexes are a significant source of emissions that should be considered in the development of clean air policies.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research
Published

Research in Japan shows the way toward tactile and proximity sensing in large soft robots      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

To make human-robot interactions safer and more fruitful, robots should be capable of sensing their environment. In a recent study, researchers developed a novel robotic link with tactile and proximity sensing capabilities. Additionally, they created a simulation and learning framework that can be employed to train the robotic link to sense its environment. Their findings will pave the way to a future where humans and robots can operate harmoniously in close proximity.

Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

How did Earth get its water?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Our planet's water could have originated from interactions between the hydrogen-rich atmospheres and magma oceans of the planetary embryos that comprised Earth's formative years.

Ecology: General Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Humans need Earth-like ecosystem for deep-space living      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Can humans endure long-term living in deep space? The answer is a lukewarm maybe, according to a new theory describing the complexity of maintaining gravity and oxygen, obtaining water, developing agriculture and handling waste far from Earth.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Geoscience: Earth Science
Published

British flower study reveals surprise about plants' sex life      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A study of Britain's native flowering plants has led to new insights into the mysterious process that allows wild plants to breed across species -- one of plants' most powerful evolutionary forces.  When wild flowering plants are sizing up others they may often end up in a marriage between close relatives rather than neighbors, a new study has revealed.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology
Published

Critical observations of sinking coasts      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using satellite-obtained data from 2007-21, researchers mapped the entire East Coast to demonstrate how the inclusion of land subsidence reveals many areas to be more vulnerable to floods and erosion than previously thought.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
Published

World's biggest cumulative logjam, newly mapped in the Arctic, stores 3.4 million tons of carbon      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Throughout the Arctic, fallen trees make their way from forests to the ocean by way of rivers. Those logs can stack up as the river twists and turns, resulting in long-term carbon storage. A new study has mapped the largest known woody deposit, covering 51 square kilometers (20 square miles) of the Mackenzie River Delta in Nunavut, Canada, and calculated that the logs store about 3.4 million tons (about 3.1 million metric tons) of carbon.

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

As rising temperatures affect Alaskan rivers, effects ripple through Indigenous communities      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Six decades of river gage data gathered from nine rivers in Alaska highlight the cumulative and consequential impacts of climate change for local communities and ecosystems in the Arctic.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

It's all in the wrist: Energy-efficient robot hand learns how not to drop the ball      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have designed a low-cost, energy-efficient robotic hand that can grasp a range of objects -- and not drop them -- using just the movement of its wrist and the feeling in its 'skin'.

Archaeology: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography Geoscience: Volcanoes Paleontology: Climate
Published

Study re-evaluates hazards and climate impacts of massive underwater volcanic eruptions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Material left on the seafloor by bronze-age underwater volcanic eruptions is helping researchers better understand the size, hazards and climate impact of their parent eruptions, according to new research.

Chemistry: General Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Severe Weather Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Lightning strike creates phosphorus material      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A lightning strike in New Port Richey, Florida, led to a chemical reaction creating a new material that is transitional between space minerals and minerals found on Earth. High-energy events, such as lightning, can cause unique chemical reactions. In this instance, the result is a new material -- one that is transitional between space minerals and minerals found on Earth.