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Since hydrogen releases an abundance of energy when combusted, with only water as a by-product, it is now widely seen as an excellent alternative to fossil fuels. Splitting water molecules involves a ‘redox reaction,’ where electrons and holes participate in reduction and oxidation reactions. Since they are excellent semiconductors, 2D Janus materials are particularly well …

2D Janus materials could harvest abundant hydrogen fuel Read More »

To make these breakthroughs, which were detailed in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectrics, senior authors Derek Lovley, Distinguished Professor of Microbiology at UMass Amherst, and Jun Yao, professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering at UMass Amherst, needed to look no farther than their own noses. “Human noses have hundreds of …

‘Electronic nose’ built with sustainably sourced microbial nanowires that could revolutionize health monitoring Read More »

Bowhead whales found in the Pacific Arctic, sometimes called Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort bowheads based on their migratory patterns, normally winter in the northern Bering Sea and migrate north in the spring through the Bering Strait to the Canadian Beaufort Sea, where they spend summer and fall. They then migrate south again through the Strait for the winter. …

As sea ice declines in the Arctic, bowhead whales are adjusting their migration patterns Read More »

The paper, which published this week in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, is the first natural and synthetic graphite material flow analysis for the U.S., and considers 11 end-use applications for graphite, two waste management stages and three recycling pathways. “If we want to produce more batteries domestically, we’re going to need to increase …

Ramping up domestic graphite production could aid the green energy transition Read More »

Mercury in its Hg2+ form can be harmful if consumed through contaminated water or food, so researchers have developed various mercury sensors. One of these was integrated into a glove for on-site monitoring, but it couldn’t detect the ion in small amounts and required a constant supply of external power. Instead, attention is now turning …

This new sensor can detect mercury ions with just a tap Read More »

RIPE, or Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency, led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, is engineering crops to be more productive by improving photosynthesis, the natural process all plants use to convert sunlight into energy and yields. RIPE is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, and the U.K. …

Researchers put plant protein mechanism into bacteria to help move forward 50 years of effort Read More »

Countless meteorites have struck Earth in the past and shaped the history of our planet. It is assumed, for example, that meteorites brought with them a large part of its water. The extinction of the dinosaurs might also have been triggered by the impact of a very large meteorite. Meteorite craters which are still visible …

Meteorite crater discovered in French winery Read More »

Published today in Conservation Biology, University of Melbourne researchers have identified 12 potential ecological benefits of aquaculture. These include species recovery, habitat restoration, rehabilitation and protection, and removal of overabundant species. Lead author, University of Melbourne researcher Ms Kathy Overton, said the potential environmental benefits of aquaculture have gone under the radar for many years. …

New research reveals 12 ways aquaculture can benefit the environment Read More »

Dramatic changes to forests, and other habitats that store carbon in plants and soils, are becoming more likely in some regions across Earth, with less carbon consistently absorbed by the ‘land carbon sink’ provided by trees, soil and plants, according to scientists writing in Nature. The short-term impacts of rising temperatures, deforestation and farming on …

Climate ‘spiral’ threatens land carbon stores Read More »