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Categories: Anthropology: General, Chemistry: General
Published A fork in the 'rhod': Researchers unveil comprehensive collection of rhodamine-based fluorescent dyes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source After more than a decade of developing fluorescent probes, a research team has now released the culmination of their years of work: A comprehensive collection of rhodamine-based dyes, the novel chemistry they developed to synthesize them and insights that provide a roadmap for designing future probes.
Published Molecular fossils shed light on ancient life
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Paleontologists are getting a glimpse at life over a billion years in the past based on chemical traces in ancient rocks and the genetics of living animals. New research combines geology and genetics, showing how changes in the early Earth prompted a shift in how animals eat.
Published Ancient DNA analysis reveals how the rise and fall of the Roman Empire shifted populations in the Balkans
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Despite the Roman Empire's extensive military and cultural influence on the nearby Balkan peninsula, a DNA analysis of individuals who lived in the region between 1 and 1000 CE found no genetic evidence of Iron Age Italian ancestry. Instead, a new study has revealed successive waves of migrations from Western Anatolia, central and northern Europe, and the Pontic-Kazakh Steppe during the Empire's reign.
Published Ancient stars made extraordinarily heavy elements
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source How heavy can an element be? An international team of researchers has found that ancient stars were capable of producing elements with atomic masses greater than 260, heavier than any element on the periodic table found naturally on Earth. The finding deepens our understanding of element formation in stars.
Published Catalyst for electronically controlled C--H functionalization
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists chipping away at one of the great challenges of metal-catalyzed C--H functionalization with a new method that uses a cobalt catalyst to differentiate between bonds in fluoroarenes, functionalizing them based on their intrinsic electronic properties. And their method is fast -- comparable in speed to those that rely on iridium.
Published Baboons in captivity in Ancient Egypt: insights from collection of mummies
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Baboons were raised in captivity before being mummified in Ancient Egyptian sites, according to a new study.
Published Chemists create organic molecules in a rainbow of colors
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Chemists have now come up with a way to make molecules known as acenes more stable, allowing them to synthesize acenes of varying lengths. Using their new approach, they were able to build molecules that emit red, orange, yellow, green, or blue light, which could make acenes easier to deploy in a variety of applications.
Published Recycling concrete using carbon can reduce emissions and waste
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Amid the rubble of large-sale earthquake, war or other disaster -- and as ageing buildings and infrastructure are replaced -- mountains of concrete are often taken to landfill or pounded into rubble for roads. For a more sustainable approach, experts are developing a 'value add' for old broken concrete to 'upcycling' coarse aggregate to produce a strong, durable and workable concrete using a small amount of a secret ingredient -- graphene.
Published Tracking undetectable space junk
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Satellite and spacecraft operators may finally be able to detect small pieces of debris orbiting Earth using a new approach. Colliding pieces of space debris emit electric signals that could help track small debris littering Earth's orbit, potentially saving satellites and spacecraft.
Published Researchers decode aqueous amino acid's potential for direct air capture of CO2
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have made a significant stride toward understanding a viable process for direct air capture, or DAC, of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This DAC process is in early development with the aim of achieving negative emissions, where the amount of carbon dioxide removed from the envelope of gases surrounding Earth exceeds the amount emitted.
Published Aging societies more vulnerable to collapse
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Societies and political structures, like the humans they serve, appear to become more fragile as they age, according to an analysis of hundreds of pre-modern societies. A new study, which holds implications for the modern world, provides the first quantitative support for the theory that the resilience of political states decreases over time.
Published 'Bone biographies' reveal lives of medieval England's common people -- and illuminate early benefits system
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers give medieval Cambridge residents the 'Richard III treatment' to reveal hard-knock lives of those in the city during its famous university's early years. Study of over 400 remains from a hospital cemetery shows spectrum of medieval poverty, and suggests that some of Cambridge University's earliest scholars ended up in penury.
Published Paleolithic humans may have understood the properties of rocks for making stone tools
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Research suggests that Paleolithic humans in the Middle East selected flint for their cutting tools based on differences in the mechanical properties of the rock. They seem to have purposefully selected the most suitable rocks for fashioning into tools, even being able to distinguish rocks that were unsuitable.
Published Control over friction, from small to large scales
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Friction is hard to predict and control, especially since surfaces that come in contact are rarely perfectly flat. New experiments demonstrate that the amount of friction between two silicon surfaces, even at large scales, is determined by the forming and rupturing of microscopic chemical bonds between them. This makes it possible to control the amount of friction using surface chemistry techniques.
Published Researchers reveal new process for making anhydride chemical compounds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A collaborative research team has discovered a new process for making anhydrides that promises improvements in costs and sustainability.
Published Unsafe lead levels in school drinking water: new study IDs building risk factors
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Civil and environmental engineers have determined the factors that may help identify the schools and daycare centers at greatest risk for elevated levels of lead in drinking water. The most telling characteristic for schools in Massachusetts is building age, with facilities built in the 1960s and 1970s -- nearly a third of the facilities tested -- at the greatest risk for having dangerously high water lead levels.
Published A mixed origin made maize successful
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Maize is one of the world's most widely grown crops. It is used for both human and animal foods and holds great cultural significance, especially for indigenous peoples in the Americas. Yet despite its importance, the origins of the grain have been hotly debated for more than a century. Now new research shows that all modern maize descends from a hybrid created just over 5000 years ago in central Mexico, thousands of years after the plant was first domesticated.
Published Phasing out fossil fuels could save millions of lives
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists provide new evidence to motivate rapid fossil fuel phaseout. The science team determined exposure to ambient air pollution and its health impacts using an updated atmospheric composition model, a newly developed relative risk model and recent satellite-based fine particle data. They estimated all-cause and disease-specific mortality and attributed them to emission categories. They show that phasing out fossil fuels is a remarkably effective health-improving and life-saving intervention. About 5 million excess deaths per year globally could potentially be avoided.
Published Decoding past climates through dripstones
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A recent study demonstrates how dripstones can be crucial for reconstructing past climates. The new approach can provide a detailed picture of the climate around early human occupations in South Africa.
Published Durable plastic pollution easily, cleanly degrades with new catalyst
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Found in fishing nets, carpet, clothing, Nylon-6 is a major contributor to plastic pollution, including ocean pollution. Now, chemists have developed a new catalyst that quickly, cleanly and completely breaks down Nylon-6 in a matter of minutes -- without generating harmful byproducts. Even better: The process does not require toxic solvents, expensive materials or extreme conditions, making it practical for everyday applications. In experiments, the new process recovered 99% of the polymer's building blocks, which can then be upcycled into higher-value products.