Showing 20 articles starting at article 801

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Chemistry: General, Geoscience: Geography

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Highly reducing or oxidizing photocatalysts are a fundamental challenge in photochemistry. Only a few transition metal complexes with Earth-abundant metal ions have so far advanced to excited state oxidants, including chromium, iron, and cobalt. All these photocatalysts require high energy light for excitation and their oxidizing power has not yet been fully exploited. Furthermore, precious and hence expensive metals are the decisive ingredients in most cases. A team of researchers has now developed a new molecular system based on the element manganese. Manganese, as opposed to precious metals, is the third most abundant metal after iron and titanium and hence widely available and very cheap.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Analysis reveals imported earthworm species have colonized large swaths of North America, and represent a largely overlooked threat to native ecosystems. The researchers warn of the need to better understand and manage the invaders in our midst.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

For the first time, pollutants from burning fossil fuels have been found embedded in corals, offering scientists a potential new tool to track the history of pollution, finds a new study.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In a win for chemistry, inventors have designed a closed-loop path for synthesizing an exceptionally tough carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer and later recovering all of its starting materials.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

PFAS have earned the name 'forever chemicals' with good reason -- the human-made compounds, which can take thousands of years to degrade and are found in everything from grease-resistant food packaging to water-repellent clothing, have made their way into nearly half the U.S. tap water supply.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have discovered that nighttime air pollution -- coming primarily form car exhaust and power plant emissions -- is responsible for a major drop in nighttime pollinator activity. Nitrate radicals (NO3) in the air degrade the scent chemicals released by a common wildflower, drastically reducing the scent-based cues that its chief pollinators rely on to locate the flower. The findings show how nighttime pollution creates a chain of chemical reactions that degrades scent cues, leaving flowers undetectable by smell. The researchers also determined that pollution likely has worldwide impacts on pollination.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have identified a new way to harness the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of a botanical compound to make nanofiber-coated cotton bandages that fight infection and help wounds heal more quickly.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Cutting-edge research converted waste carbon dioxide into a potential precursor for chemicals and carbon-free fuel.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of scientists has developed an artificial 'worm gut' to break down plastics, offering hope for a nature-inspired method to tackle the global plastic pollution problem.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have uncovered the first direct evidence that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet shrunk suddenly and dramatically at the end of the Last Ice Age, around eight thousand years ago. The evidence, contained within an ice core, shows that in one location the ice sheet thinned by 450 meters -- that's more than the height of the Empire State Building -- in just under 200 years.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Rocks once buried deep in ancient subduction zones -- where tectonic plates collide -- could help scientists make better predictions of how these zones behave during the years between major earthquakes, according to a research team.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Inspired during field work in South Australia's Flinders Ranges, geoscientists have proposed that all-time low volcanic carbon dioxide emissions triggered a 57-million-year-long global 'Sturtian' ice age.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers report that replacing 50% of animal products with alternative proteins by 2050 could free up enough agricultural land to generate renewable energy equivalent in volume to today's coal-generated power while simultaneously removing substantial CO2 from the atmosphere.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers say there needs to be better regulation and more guidance for consumers about how safe cleaning products really are.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

When it comes to making fuel from plants, the first step has always been the hardest -- breaking down the plant matter. A new study finds that introducing a simple, renewable chemical to the pretreatment step can finally make next-generation biofuel production both cost-effective and carbon neutral.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

For the first time, a hydrogel material made of nanocellulose and algae has been tested as an alternative, greener architectural material. The study shows how the abundant sustainable material can be 3D printed into a wide array of architectural components, using much less energy than conventional construction methods.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Carboxylic acid dianions (fumarate, maleate and succinate) play a role in coordination chemistry and to some extent also in the biochemistry of body cells. A team has now analyzed their electronic structures using RIXS in combination with DFT simulations. The results provide information not only on electronic structures but also on the relative stability of these molecules which can influence an industry's choice of carboxylate dianions, optimizing both the stability and geometry of coordination polymers.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research reveals that denser, and more sheltered, kelp forests can withstand serious stressors amid warming ocean temperatures.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Think of it as recycling on the nanoscale: a tantalizing electrochemical process that can harvest carbon before it becomes air pollution and restructure it into the components of everyday products. The drive to capture airborne carbon dioxide from industrial waste and make it into fuel and plastics is gaining momentum after a team of researchers uncovered precisely how the process works and where it bogs down.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international research team has succeeded in controlling the chirality of individual molecules through structural isomerization. The team also succeeded in synthesizing highly reactive diradicals with two unpaired electrons. These achievements were made using a scanning tunneling microscope probe at low temperatures.