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Categories: Chemistry: General, Environmental: Biodiversity
Published 3D-printed microstructure forest facilitates solar steam generator desalination



Faced with the world's impending freshwater scarcity, researchers turned to solar steam generators, which are emerging as a promising device for seawater desalination. The team sought design inspiration from trees and harnessed the potential of 3D printing. They present technology for producing efficient SSGs for desalination and introduces a novel method for printing functional nanocomposites for multi-jet fusion. Their SSGs were inspired by plant transpiration and are composed of miniature tree-shaped microstructures, forming an efficient, heat-distributing forest.
Published A window of opportunity for climate change and biodiversity



World leaders must take advantage of a pivotal window of opportunity for forging a much-needed joined-up approach to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss, say scientists. Without this, work on tackling either crisis could inadvertently harm progress on the other.
Published Pioneering the cellular frontier



Scientists use a multimodal approach that combines hard X-ray computed tomography and X-ray fluorescence imaging to see the structure and chemical processes inside of a single cell.
Published Heat-sensitive trees move uphill seeking climate change respite



Trees in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest are migrating in search of more favourable temperatures with species in mountain forests moving uphill to escape rising heat caused by climate change.
Published A promising new method uses light to clean up forever chemicals



A room-temperature method to decompose perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) using visible LED light offers a promising solution for sustainable fluorine recycling and PFAS treatment.
Published Tropical plant species are as threatened by climate change as widely feared, study confirms



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.
Published Converting captured carbon to fuel: Study assesses what's practical and what's not



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.
Published Agriculture: Less productive yet more stable pastures



Climate change will have a considerable influence on the biodiversity and productivity of meadows and pastures. However, according to the results of the large-scale climate and land use experiment the extent of these changes depends on the land use. Grassland optimized for high yield responds much more sensitively to periods of drought than less intensively used meadows and pastures.
Published Switching from gas to electric stoves cuts indoor air pollution



Switching from a gas stove to an electric induction stove can reduce indoor nitrogen dioxide air pollution, a known health hazard, by more than 50 percent according to new research.
Published Organs on demand? Scientists print voxel building blocks



Scientists are bioprinting 3D structures with a material that is a close match for human tissue, paving the way for true biomanufacturing.
Published 3D printing of light-activated hydrogel actuators



An international team of researchers has embedded gold nanorods in hydrogels that can be processed through 3D printing to create structures that contract when exposed to light -- and expand again when the light is removed. Because this expansion and contraction can be performed repeatedly, the 3D-printed structures can serve as remotely controlled actuators.
Published Genome study informs restoration of American chestnut tree



Researchers use genomes to help restore the American chestnut population and adjust species breeding to the changing climate.
Published Waste Styrofoam can now be converted into polymers for electronics



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.
Published Marine Protected Areas producing more 'trophy-size' fish, research finds



Marine Protected Areas are having a positive spillover effect, producing more 'trophy-size' fish just outside of the fully protected areas, and the effect is growing stronger over time, according to new research.
Published Chemists design novel method for generating sustainable fuel



Chemists have been working to synthesize high-value materials from waste molecules for years.
Published New humidity-driven membrane to remove carbon dioxide from the air



A new ambient-energy-driven membrane that pumps carbon dioxide out of the air has been developed by researchers.
Published 'Secret' hidden structure paves new way of making more efficient and stable perovskite solar cells



Researchers has revealed the existence of surface concavities on individual crystal grains -- which are the fundamental blocks -- of perovskite thin films, and have unraveled their significant effects on the film properties and reliability. Based on this discovery, the team pioneered a new way of making perovskite solar cells more efficient and stable via a chemo-elimination of these grain surface concavities.
Published Converting wastewater to fertilizer with fungal treatment



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.
Published Novel electrode for improving flowless zinc-bromine battery



The flowless zinc-bromine battery (FLZBB) is a promising alternative to flammable lithium-ion batteries due to its use of non-flammable electrolytes. However, it suffers from self-discharge due to the crossover of active materials, generated at the positive graphite felt (GF) electrode, to the negative electrode, significantly affecting performance. Now, researchers have developed a novel nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon-coated GF electrode that effectively suppresses self-discharge. This breakthrough can lead to practical applications of FLZBB in energy storage systems.
Published Microbes found to destroy certain 'forever chemicals'



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.