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Categories: Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry, Ecology: Invasive Species
Published Chemists redesign biological PHAs, 'dream' biodegradable plastics
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source They've been called 'dream' plastics: polyhydroxyalkanoates, or PHAs. Already the basis of a fledgling industry, they're a class of polymers naturally created by living microorganisms, or synthetically produced from biorenewable feedstocks. They're biodegradable in the ambient environment, including oceans and soil.
Published Wildfires and animal biodiversity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Wildfires. Many see them as purely destructive forces, disasters that blaze through a landscape, charring everything in their paths. But a new study reminds us that wildfires are also generative forces, spurring biodiversity in their wakes.
Published Professor unearths the ancient fossil plant history of Burnaby Mountain
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research led by a paleobotanist provides clues about what plants existed in the Burnaby Mountain area (British Columbia, Canada) 40 million years ago during the late Eocene, when the climate was much warmer than it is today.
Published Luminous molecules
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Twisted molecules play an important role in the development of organic light-emitting diodes. A team of chemists has managed to create these compounds with exactly the three-dimensional structure that they wanted. In so doing, they are smoothing the path for new and better light sources.
Published Your fork could someday be made of sugar, wood powders and degrade on-demand
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Single-use hard plastics are all around us: utensils, party decorations and food containers, to name a few examples. These items pile up in landfills, and many biodegradable versions stick around for months, requiring industrial composting systems to fully degrade. Now, researchers have created a sturdy, lightweight material that disintegrates on-demand -- and they made it from sugar and wood-derived powders.
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.
Published Pollution monitoring through precise detection of gold nanoparticles in woodlice
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers introduce a novel imaging method to detect gold nanoparticles in woodlice. Their method, known as four-wave mixing microscopy, flashes light that the gold nanoparticles absorb. The light flashes again and the subsequent scattering reveals the nanoparticles' locations. With information about the quantity, location, and impact of gold nanoparticles within the organism, scientists can better understand the potential harm other metals may have on nature.
Published Trees in areas prone to hurricanes have strong ability to survive even after severe damage
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The island of Dominica took a direct hit from Category 5 Hurricane Maria. Nine months afterward, researchers found that while 89% percent of trees located in nine previously documented forest stands were damaged, but only 10 percent had immediately died. The most common damage was stem snapping and major branch damage. The damage with the highest rates of mortality were uprooting and being crushed by a neighboring tree. Large individual trees and species with lower wood density were susceptible to snapping, uprooting and mortality. Those on steeper slopes were more prone to being crushed by neighboring trees.
Published Rooting out how plants control nitrogen use
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Nitrogen is such a crucial nutrient for plants that vast quantities of nitrogen-containing fertilizers are spread on farmlands worldwide. However, excess nitrogen in the soil and in drainage run-off into lakes and rivers causes serious ecological imbalances. A recent study has uncovered the regulatory mechanisms at work when plants utilize nitrogenous fertilizers in their roots, a positive step in the quest to generate crops that require less fertilizer while still producing the yields needed to feed the world.
Published Scientists use peroxide to peer into metal oxide reactions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers to get a better look at how peroxides on the surface of copper oxide promote the oxidation of hydrogen but inhibit the oxidation of carbon monoxide, allowing them to steer oxidation reactions.
Published In Florida study, nonnative leaf-litter ants are replacing native ants
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new look at decades of data from museum collections and surveys of leaf-litter ants in Florida reveals a steady decline in native ants and simultaneous increase in nonnative ants -- even in protected natural areas of the state, researchers report.
Published Toward tunable molecular switches from organic compounds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Newly synthesized organic molecules can be tuned to emit different colors depending on their molecular structures in crystal form.
Published New atomic-scale understanding of catalysis could unlock massive energy savings
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In an advance they consider a breakthrough in computational chemistry research, chemical engineers have developed a model of how catalytic reactions work at the atomic scale. This understanding could allow engineers and chemists to develop more efficient catalysts and tune industrial processes -- potentially with enormous energy savings, given that 90% of the products we encounter in our lives are produced, at least partially, via catalysis.
Published Long-forgotten equation provides new tool for converting carbon dioxide
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source To manage atmospheric carbon dioxide and convert the gas into a useful product, scientists have dusted off an archaic -- now 120 years old -- electrochemical equation.
Published Two-dimensional nanoparticles with great potential
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A research team has discovered how catalysts and many other nanoplatelets can be produced in an environmentally friendly way from readily available materials and in sufficient quantities.
Published US forests face an unclear future with climate change
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Climate change might compromise how permanently forests are able to store carbon and keep it out of the air. In a new study, researchers found that the regions most at risk to lose forest carbon through fire, climate stress or insect damage are those regions where many forest carbon offset projects have been set up. The authors assert that there's an urgent need to update these carbon offsets protocols and policies.
Published Discovery of ferroelectricity in an elementary substance
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have discovered a new single-element ferroelectric material that alters the current understanding of conventional ferroelectric materials and has future applications in data storage devices.
Published Gone for good? California's beetle-killed, carbon-storing pine forests may not come back
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Ponderosa pine forests in the Sierra Nevada that were wiped out by western pine beetles during the 2012-2015 megadrought won't recover to pre-drought densities, reducing an important storehouse for atmospheric carbon.
Published A new type of photonic time crystal gives light a boost
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed a way to create photonic time crystals and shown that these bizarre, artificial materials amplify the light that shines on them. These findings could lead to more efficient and robust wireless communications and significantly improved lasers.
Published Lifting the veil on disease avoidance strategies in multiple animal species
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A framework has been developed to test disgust and its associated disease avoidance behaviors across various animal species, social systems, and habitats. Over 30 species have been predicted to exhibit disease avoidance strategies in the wild. With these predictions, the team accounts for models of specific ecological niches, sensory environments and social systems for a number of species including the native common octopus and the invasive red-eared slider, which are both relevant to Japan.