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‘Dangerous’ and ‘extremely dangerous’ heat stress to become more common by 2100

The study was published Aug. 25 in the open-access journal Communications Earth & Environment. “The record-breaking heat events of recent summers will become much more common in places like North America and Europe,” said lead author Lucas Vargas Zeppetello, who did the research as a doctoral student at the UW and is now a postdoctoral …

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A new concept for low-cost batteries

Now, researchers at MIT and elsewhere have developed a new kind of battery, made entirely from abundant and inexpensive materials, that could help to fill that gap. The new battery architecture, which uses aluminum and sulfur as its two electrode materials, with a molten salt electrolyte in between, is described in the journal Nature, in …

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Scientists evaluate Earth-cooling strategies with geoengineering simulations

Their work is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Solar radiation modification — or solar geoengineering, as it is sometimes called — is a potential climate change mitigation strategy that involves injecting sulfate aerosols into the stratosphere, so more sunlight bounces off the Earth’s atmosphere. In conjunction with other strategies, like …

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Lessons from natural photosynthesis: Conversion of CO2 to raw materials for plastic

Researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University have managed to create fumarate using artificial photosynthesis on pyruvate and CO2. This fumarate can be used to make biodegradable plastic like polybutylene succinate, storing the carbon in a compact, durable, solid form. Currently, most fumarate used to make this plastic is produced from petroleum, so creating fumarate from CO2 …

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Wave created by Tonga volcano eruption reached 90 meters — nine times taller than 2011 Japan tsunami

An international research team says the eruption should serve as a wake-up call for international groups looking to protect people from similar events in future, claiming that detection and monitoring systems for volcano-based tsunamis are ’30 years behind’ comparable tools used to detect earthquake-based events. Dr Mohammad Heidarzadeh, Secretary-General of the International Tsunami Commission and …

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