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Categories: Environmental: General, Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published Wastewater surveillance is key tool in keeping schools open during public health emergencies, study reveals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Wastewater surveillance is a potent tool in understanding COVID-19 transmission within school settings and keeping schools open when COVID cases spike, according to a new study.
Published Using idle trucks to power the grid with clean energy
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers are tapping into idled electric vehicles to act as mobile generators and help power overworked and aging electricity grids. After analyzing energy demand on Alberta's power grid during rush hour, the research proposes an innovative way to replenish electrical grids with power generated from fuel cells in trucks.
Published Reflective materials and irrigated trees: Study shows how to cool one of the world's hottest cities by 4.5°C
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A combination of cooling technologies and techniques could reduce the temperature and energy needs of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Published Capturing greenhouse gases with the help of light
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers use light-reactive molecules to influence the acidity of a liquid and thereby capture of carbon dioxide. They have developed a special mixture of different solvents to ensure that the light-reactive molecules remain stable over a long period of time. Conventional carbon capture technologies are driven by temperature or pressure differences and require a lot of energy. This is no longer necessary with the new light-based process.
Published Study uncovers potential origins of life in ancient hot springs
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A research team investigated how the emergence of the first living systems from inert geological materials happened on the Earth, more than 3.5 billion years ago. Scientists found that by mixing hydrogen, bicarbonate, and iron-rich magnetite under conditions mimicking relatively mild hydrothermal vent results in the formation of a spectrum of organic molecules, most notably including fatty acids stretching up to 18 carbon atoms in length.
Published Thermal vision shows endangered numbats feel the heat of warming climate
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Research using thermal imaging of numbats in Western Australia has found that during hot weather the endangered animals are limited to as little as ten minutes of activity in the sun before they overheat to a body temperature of greater than 40 C.
Published The first assessment of toxic heavy metal pollution in the Southern Hemisphere over the last 2,000 years
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Human activity, from burning fossil fuels and fireplaces to the contaminated dust produced by mining, alters Earth's atmosphere in countless ways. Records of these impacts over time are preserved in everlasting polar ice that serves as a sort of time capsule, allowing scientists and historians to link Earth's history with that of human societies. In a new study, ice cores from Antartica show that lead and other toxic heavy metals linked to mining activities polluted the Southern Hemisphere as early as the 13th century.
Published Bulky additives could make cheaper solar cells last longer
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An insight into preventing perovskite semiconductors from degrading quickly could help enable solar cells estimated to be two to four times cheaper than today's thin-film solar panels.
Published Molecularly designing polymer networks to control sound damping
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The world is filled with a myriad of sounds and vibrations -- the gentle tones of a piano drifting down the hall, the relaxing purr of a cat laying on your chest, the annoying hum of the office lights. Imagine being able to selectively tune out noises of a certain frequency. Researchers have now synthesized polymer networks with two distinct architectures and crosslink points capable of dynamically exchanging polymer strands to understand how the network connectivity and bond exchange mechanisms govern the overall damping behavior of the network. The incorporation of dynamic bonds into the polymer network demonstrates excellent damping of sound and vibrations at well-defined frequencies.
Published Catalytic combo converts CO2 to solid carbon nanofibers
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have developed a way to convert carbon dioxide (CO2), a potent greenhouse gas, into carbon nanofibers, materials with a wide range of unique properties and many potential long-term uses. Their strategy uses tandem electrochemical and thermochemical reactions run at relatively low temperatures and ambient pressure and could successfully lock carbon away to offset or even achieve negative carbon emissions.
Published Ancient cities provide key datasets for urban planning, policy and predictions in the Anthropocene
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study shows how state-of-the-art methods and perspectives from archaeology, history, and palaeoecology are shedding new light on 5,500 years of urban life.
Published U.S. health costs related to chemicals in plastics reached $250 billion in 2018
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in plastics pose a serious threat to public health and cost the U.S. an estimated $250 billion in increased health care costs in 2018, according to new research.
Published Record heat in 2023 worsened global droughts, floods and wildfires
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Record heat across the world profoundly impacted the global water cycle in 2023, contributing to severe storms, floods, megadroughts and bushfires, new research shows.
Published Wristband monitors provide detailed account of air pollution exposure
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Environmental epidemiologists report on a new study of air pollution exposures collected using personal wristband monitors worn by pregnant individuals in New York City matched with data from a questionnaire. Factors predictive of exposures to air pollution include income, time spent outdoors, maternal age, country of birth, transportation type, and season.
Published Scaling up urban agriculture: Research team outlines roadmap
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Urban agriculture has the potential to decentralize food supplies, provide environmental benefits like wildlife habitat, and mitigate environmental footprints, but researchers have identified knowledge gaps regarding both the benefits and risks of urban agriculture and the social processes of growing more food in urban areas.
Published Dry-cleaning fluid becomes a synthetic chemist's treasure
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The widely used dry-cleaning and degreasing solvent perc can be converted to useful chemicals by a new clean, safe and inexpensive procedure. The discovery using on-demand UV activation may open the path to upcycling perc and thus contribute to a more sustainable society.
Published New findings regarding the high efficiency of perovskite solar cells
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Free charge carriers in perovskite solar cells likely have a special form of protection from recombination, researchers have discovered. This may be key to the high efficiency of this cell type, which has been increased to over 25 % within a decade.
Published PFAS flow equally between Arctic Ocean and Atlantic Ocean
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The frigid Arctic Ocean is far removed from the places most people live, but even so, 'forever chemicals' reach this remote landscape. Now, research suggests that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) won't stay there indefinitely. Instead, they are transported in a feedback loop, with the Arctic Ocean potentially exporting as many PFAS to the North Atlantic Ocean as it receives, circulating the compounds around the world.
Published Only 18% of the global land area that is needed for human well-being and biodiversity is currently protected
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international group of researchers finds that conserving about half of global land area could maintain nearly all of nature's contributions to people and still meet biodiversity targets for tens of thousands of species. But the same priority areas are at risk of conflict with human development with only 18% of that land area protected.
Published Climate change behind sharp drop in snowpack since 1980s
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study confirms that spring snowpacks across the Northern Hemisphere have shrunk significantly over the past 40 years due to human-driven climate change, putting hundreds of millions of people worldwide at risk of a water crisis. The Southwestern and Northeastern U.S. saw among the steepest declines, with more than 10% of the spring snowpack lost per decade, which the researchers expect will accelerate with further warming. Many heavily populated snow-dependent watersheds are dangerously near what they call a 'snow-loss cliff,' wherein once average winter temperatures exceed 17 degrees Fahrenheit, snow loss accelerates even with only modest increases in temperature.