Chemistry: General Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Physics: Optics
Published

Titanium oxide material can remove toxic dyes from wastewater      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Discharged in large quantities by textile, cosmetic, ink, paper and other manufacturers, dyes carry high-toxicity and can bring potential carcinogens to wastewater. It’s a major concern for wastewater treatment — but researchers may have found a solution, using a tiny nanofilament.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Geoscience: Severe Weather Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

Paleoclimatologists use ancient sediment to explore future climate in Africa      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

With global warming apparently here to stay, a team of paleoclimatologists are studying an ancient source to determine future rainfall and drought patterns: fossilized plants that lived on Earth millions of years ago.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Technology Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Modular dam design could accelerate the adoption of renewable energy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have developed a new modular steel buttress dam system designed to resolve energy storage issues hindering the integration of renewable resources into the energy mix. The new modular steel buttress dam system facilitates the rapid construction of paired reservoir systems for grid-scale energy storage and generation using closed-loop pumped storage hydropower, cutting dam construction costs by one-third and reducing construction schedules by half.

Biology: Marine Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Water Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
Published

Discovery of invisible nutrient discharge on Great Barrier Reef raises concerns      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists using natural tracers off Queensland’s coast have discovered the source of previously unquantified nitrogen and phosphorus having a profound environmental impact on the Great Barrier Reef. Groundwater discharge accounted for approximately one-third of new nitrogen and two-thirds of phosphorus inputs, indicating that nearly twice the amount of nitrogen enters the Reef from groundwater compared to river waters.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Geoscience: Severe Weather Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Researchers identify largest ever solar storm in ancient 14,300-year-old tree rings      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of scientists have discovered a huge spike in radiocarbon levels 14,300 years ago by analyzing ancient tree-rings found in the French Alps. The radiocarbon spike was caused by a massive solar storm, the biggest ever identified.  A similar solar storm today would be catastrophic for modern technological society – potentially wiping out telecommunications and satellite systems, causing massive electricity grid blackouts, and costing us billions. The academics are warning of the importance of understanding such storms to protect our global communications and energy infrastructure for the future.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Mathematics: Modeling
Published

AI language models could help diagnose schizophrenia      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have developed new tools, based on AI language models, that can characterize subtle signatures in the speech of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Climate change brings earlier arrival of intense hurricanes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research has revealed that since the 1980s, Category 4 and 5 hurricanes (maximum wind speed greater than 131 miles per hour) have been arriving three to four days earlier with each passing decade of climate change.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Fossil Fuels Environmental: General Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Discovery made about Fischer Tropsch process could help improve fuel production      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A fundamental discovery about the Fischer Tropsch process, a catalytic reaction used in industry to convert coal, natural gas or biomass to liquid fuels, could someday allow for more efficient fuel production. Researchers discovered previously unknown self-sustained oscillations in the Fischer Tropsch process. They found that unlike many catalytic reactions which have one steady state, this reaction periodically moves back and forth from a high to a low activity state. The discovery means that these well-controlled oscillatory states might be used in the future to control the reaction rate and the yields of desired products.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Plants could worsen air pollution on a warming planet      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research shows that plants such as oak and poplar trees will emit more of a compound called isoprene as global temperatures climb. Isoprene from plants represents the highest flux of hydrocarbons to the atmosphere after methane. Although isoprene isn’t inherently bad — it actually helps plants better tolerate insect pests and high temperatures — it can worsen air pollution by reacting with nitrogen oxides from automobiles and coal-fired power plants. The new publication can help us better understand, predict and potentially mitigate the effects of increased isoprene emission as the planet warms.

Chemistry: General Environmental: General Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Successful morphing of inorganic perovskites without damaging their functional properties      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research team has successfully morphed all-inorganic perovskites at room temperature without compromising their functional properties. Their findings demonstrate the potential of this class of semiconductors for manufacturing next-generation deformable electronics and energy systems in the future.

Ecology: Nature Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
Published

Climate intervention technologies may create winners and losers in world food supply      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A technology being studied to curb climate change – one that could be put in place in one or two decades if work on the technology began now – would affect food productivity in parts of planet Earth in dramatically different ways, benefiting some areas, and adversely affecting others, according to new projections.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Two-dimensional compounds can capture carbon from the air      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Some of the thinnest materials known to humankind -- MXene and MBene compounds -- may provide solutions to scientists in their quest to curb the effects of global warming. These substances are only a few atoms thick, making them two-dimensional. Because of their large surface area, the materials have the potential to absorb carbon dioxide molecules from the atmosphere, which could help reduce the harmful effects of climate change by safely sequestering carbon dioxide, according to a review study.

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

Staying dry for months underwater      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a superhydrophobic surface with a stable plastron that can last for months under water. The team’s general strategy to create long-lasting underwater superhydrophobic surfaces, which repel blood and drastically reduce or prevent the adhesion of bacterial and marine organisms such as barnacles and mussels, opens a range of applications in biomedicine and industry.

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

Ancient carbon in rocks releases as much carbon dioxide as the world's volcanoes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research has overturned the traditional view that natural rock weathering acts as a carbon sink that removes CO2 from the atmosphere. Instead, this can also act as a large CO2 source, rivaling that of volcanoes.

Chemistry: General Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Volcanoes
Published

Volcanic ash effects on Earth systems      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

To bridge the knowledge gap between volcanologists and atmospheric scientists working on climate change and observing global systems, researchers have characterized volcanic ash samples from many explosive eruptions of a broad compositional range.

Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Zoology Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Mathematics: Modeling
Published

Birders and AI push bird conservation to the next level      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Big data and artificial intelligence (AI) are being used to model hidden patterns in nature, not just for one bird species, but for entire ecological communities across continents. And the models follow each species’ full annual life cycle, from breeding to fall migration to non-breeding grounds, and back north again during spring migration.

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

Could future AI crave a favorite food?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Can artificial intelligence (AI) get hungry? Develop a taste for certain foods? Not yet, but a team of researchers is developing a novel electronic tongue that mimics how taste influences what we eat based on both needs and wants, providing a possible blueprint for AI that processes information more like a human being.

Biology: General Biology: Zoology Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Energy: Technology Engineering: Robotics Research
Published

Insect cyborgs: Towards precision movement      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Insect cyborgs may sound like something straight out of the movies, but hybrid insect computer robots, as they are scientifically called, could pioneer a new future for robotics. It involves using electrical stimuli to control an insect’s movement. Now, an international research group has conducted a study on the relationship between electrical stimulation in stick insects' leg muscles and the resulting torque (the twisting force that causes the leg to move). 

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

New pipeline makes valuable organic acid from plants -- saving money and emissions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In a breakthrough for environmentally friendly chemical production, researchers have developed an economical way to make succinic acid, an important industrial chemical, from sugarcane. The team has created a cost-effective, end-to-end pipeline for this valuable organic acid by engineering a tough, acid-tolerant yeast as the fermenting agent, avoiding costly steps in downstream processing. Succinic acid is a widely used additive for food and beverages and has diverse applications in agricultural and pharmaceutical products. This same pipeline can be used to produce other industrially important organic acids from crops rather than petroleum-based processes, significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.