Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Engineering: Nanotechnology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Cleaner air with a cold catalytic converter      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Although passenger vehicle catalytic converters have been mandatory for over 30 years, there is still plenty of room for improvement. For instance, they only work correctly when the engine is sufficiently hot, which is not always the case, especially with hybrid vehicles. Researchers have now developed an improved catalyst that can properly purify exhaust gases even at room temperature.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

A 'spy' in the belly      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

To ensure that wounds remain tightly sealed in the abdomen after surgery, researchers have developed a patch with a sensor function. The polymer patch warns before the occurrence of dangerous leaks on sutures in the gastrointestinal tract take hold, while closes the areas on its own. A new material now enables a fast, easy and non-invasive leak diagnosis.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: Optics
Published

Nanomaterials: 3D printing of glass without sintering      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new process enables printing of nanometer-scale quartz glass structures directly onto semiconductor chips. A hybrid organic-inorganic polymer resin is used as feedstock material for 3D printing of silicon dioxide. Since the process works without sintering, the required temperatures are significantly lower. Simultaneously, increased resolution enables visible-light nanophotonics.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Offbeat: General Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

For experimental physicists, quantum frustration leads to fundamental discovery      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of physicists recently announced that they have discovered a new phase of matter. Called the 'chiral bose-liquid state,' the discovery opens a new path in the age-old effort to understand the nature of the physical world.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Microbiology Biology: Zoology Ecology: Invasive Species Environmental: Biodiversity Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Researchers find high risk to amphibians if fungal pathogen invades North America      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research indicates the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) could be devastating to amphibian biodiversity if introduced to North America.

Biology: Botany Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Invasive Species Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Plant remediation effects on petroleum contamination      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Initial choices about fertilization and grass seeding could have a long-lasting effect on how plants and their associated microbes break down pollution in petroleum-contaminated soils.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Batteries
Published

A novel, completely solid, rechargeable air battery      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Solid-state batteries use solid electrodes and solid electrolytes, unlike the more commonly known lithium-ion batteries, which use liquid electrolytes. Solid-state batteries overcome various challenges associated with liquid-based batteries, such as flammability, limited voltage, unstable reactants, and poor long-term cyclability and strength. Making advances in this field, researchers recently demonstrated an all-solid-state rechargeable air battery composed of a redox-active organic negative electrode and a proton-conductive polymer electrolyte.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: Optics
Published

New material transforms light, creating new possibilities for sensors      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new class of materials that can absorb low energy light and transform it into higher energy light might lead to more efficient solar panels, more accurate medical imaging and better night vision goggles.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Physics: General Physics: Optics
Published

Mirror, mirror on the wall... Now we know there are chiral phonons for sure      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New findings settle the dispute: phonons can be chiral. This fundamental concept, discovered using circular X-ray light, sees phonons twisting like a corkscrew through quartz.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Chemistry: Thermodynamics
Published

Sustainable technique to manufacture chemicals      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A newly published study details a novel mechanochemistry method that can produce chemicals using less energy and without the use of solvents that produce toxic waste.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Offbeat: General Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Breakthrough: Scientists develop artificial molecules that behave like real ones      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have developed synthetic molecules that resemble real organic molecules. A collaboration of researcher can now simulate the behavior of real molecules by using artificial molecules.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity
Published

Team finds reliable predictor of plant species persistence, coexistence      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Ecological scientists have long sought ways to measure and predict how specific plant communities will fare over time. Which species in a diverse population will persist and coexist? Which will decline? What factors might contribute to continuing biodiversity? Researchers report on a new method for determining whether pairs or groups of plant species are likely to coexist over time.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Physics: General Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Physicists discover an exotic material made of bosons      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Take a lattice -- a flat section of a grid of uniform cells, like a window screen or a honeycomb -- and lay another, similar lattice above it. But instead of trying to line up the edges or the cells of both lattices, give the top grid a twist so that you can see portions of the lower one through it. This new, third pattern is a moiré, and it's between this type of overlapping arrangement of lattices of tungsten diselenide and tungsten disulfide where physicists found some interesting material behaviors.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Energy: Nuclear Physics: General Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Calculation shows why heavy quarks get caught up in the flow      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Theorists have calculated how quickly a melted soup of quarks and gluons -- the building blocks of protons and neutrons -- transfers its momentum to heavy quarks. The calculation will help explain experimental results showing heavy quarks getting caught up in the flow of matter generated in heavy ion collisions.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

More complex than expected: Catalysis under the microscope      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Usually, catalytic reactions are analyzed by checking which chemicals go into a chemical reactor and which come out. But as it turns out, in order to properly understand and optimize catalysts, much more information is necessary. Scientists developed methods to watch catalytic reactions with micrometer resolution under the microscope -- and the process is much more complex than previously thought.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Trees Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General
Published

Older trees accumulate more mutations than their younger counterparts      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A study of the relationship between the growth rate of tropical trees and the frequency of genetic mutations they accumulate suggests that older, long-lived trees play a greater role in generating and maintaining genetic diversity than short-lived trees.