Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Children's exposome associated with changes in serum metabolites      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The combined effect of environmental exposures and unhealthy lifestyle habits can affect children's cardiometabolic health in a way that exceeds their separate effects. A new study shows the benefit of measuring the combined effect of multiple environmental and lifestyle factors.

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

A promising new method uses light to clean up forever chemicals      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A room-temperature method to decompose perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) using visible LED light offers a promising solution for sustainable fluorine recycling and PFAS treatment.

Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science
Published

Tropical plant species are as threatened by climate change as widely feared, study confirms      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Biologists who set out to better understand the effects of climate change on plant species in tropical mountain regions found that even small variations in temperature and moisture can have massive impacts, threatening not only plants that live there, but also the ecosystems they support. A study based on labor-intensive fieldwork and analysis in tropical mountain regions shows that a warmer and drier climate will lead to massive losses of plant species.

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

Converting captured carbon to fuel: Study assesses what's practical and what's not      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new analysis sheds light on major shortfalls of a recently proposed approach to capture CO2 from air and directly convert it to fuel using electricity. The authors also provide a new, more sustainable, alternative.

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

Deep-ocean floor produces its own oxygen      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of researchers has discovered that metallic minerals on the deep-ocean floor produce oxygen -- 13,000 feet below the surface. Discovery challenges long-held assumptions that only photosynthetic organisms generate Earth's oxygen. Minerals at the abyssal seafloor appear to act like geobatteries to produce oxygen in a process that does not require sunlight.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Waste Styrofoam can now be converted into polymers for electronics      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study describes a chemical reaction that can convert Styrofoam into a high-value conducting polymer known as PEDOT:PSS. Researchers also noted that the upgraded plastic waste can be successfully incorporated into functional electronic devices, including silicon-based hybrid solar cells and organic electrochemical transistors.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Converting wastewater to fertilizer with fungal treatment      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Creating fertilizers from organic waste can help reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and promote sustainable production. One way of doing this is through hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), which converts biomass into biocrude oil through a high-temperature, high-pressure process. Two studies explore the use of a fungal treatment to convert the leftover wastewater into fertilizer for agricultural crops.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Small animals acquire genes from bacteria that can produce antibiotics      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A group of small, freshwater animals (bdelloid rotifers) protect themselves from infections using antibiotic recipes 'stolen' from bacteria, according to new research. This raises the potential that rotifers are producing novel antimicrobials that may be less toxic to animals, including humans, than those we develop from bacteria and fungi.

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

Minerals play newly discovered role in Earth's phosphorus cycle      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Plants and microbes are known to secrete enzymes to transform organic phosphorus into bioavailable inorganic phosphorus. Now, researchers found that iron oxide in soil performs the same transformation. Discovery is important for food security, which requires phosphorus as a crop fertilizer.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Groundcherry gets genetic upgrades: Turning a garden curiosity into an agricultural powerhouse      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Imagine a small fruit that tastes like a cross between a tomato and a pineapple, wrapped in its own natural paper lantern. That's the groundcherry (Physalis grisea) -- a little-known relative of tomatoes that's been quietly growing in gardens and small farms across North America for centuries. Now, this humble fruit is getting a 21st-century upgrade thanks to some cutting-edge genetic research.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Although tiny, peatland microorganisms have a big impact on climate      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Polyphenols are generally toxic to microorganisms. In peatlands, scientists thought microorganisms avoided this toxicity by degrading polyphenols using an oxygen-dependent enzyme, and thus that low-oxygen conditions inhibit microbes' carbon cycling. However, a new study found that Arctic peatland microorganisms used alternative enzymes, with and without oxygen, to break down polyphenols. This suggests carbon stored in these ecosystems is more at risk than previously thought.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Sea Life Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

The courtship of leopard seals off the coast of South America      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A pioneering study has unveiled the first paired observations of sexual behavior and vocalizations in wild leopard seals. The study on the mysterious leopard seal represents a major advance in understanding the behavior of one of the most difficult apex predators to study on Earth.

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

Microbes found to destroy certain 'forever chemicals'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An environmental engineering team has discovered that specific bacterial species can cleave the strong fluorine-to-carbon bond certain kinds of 'forever chemical' water pollutants, offering promise for low-cost treatments of contaminated drinking water.

Biology: Botany Biology: Marine Biology: Microbiology Ecology: General Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Reef pest feasts on 'sea sawdust'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have uncovered an under the sea phenomenon where coral-destroying crown-of-thorns starfish larvae have been feasting on blue-green algae bacteria known as 'sea sawdust'.

Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Nature Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Diatom surprise could rewrite the global carbon cycle      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

When it comes to diatoms that live in the ocean, new research suggests that photosynthesis is not the only strategy for accumulating carbon. Instead, these single-celled plankton are also building biomass by feeding directly on organic carbon in wide swaths of the ocean. These new findings could lead to reduced estimates regarding how much carbon dioxide diatoms pull out of the air via photosynthesis, which in turn, could alter our understanding of the global carbon cycle, which is especially relevant given the changing climate.

Chemistry: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Bridging the 'Valley of Death' in carbon capture      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

PrISMa is a new platform that uses advanced simulations and machine learning to streamline carbon capture technologies, by taking into account the perspectives of diverse stakeholders early in the research process.