Environment

Researchers at Washington State University, University of New Mexico, Eindhoven University of Technology, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed a catalyst that can both withstand high temperatures and convert pollutants at near room temperature – an important advance for reducing pollution in modern cars. They report on their work in the journal, Nature Communications.…

Ocean warming is threatening coral reefs globally, with persistent thermal stress events degrading coral reefs worldwide, but a new study has found that corals at or near the equator are affected less than corals elsewhere. The findings from Florida Institute of Technology Ph.D. student Shannon Sully and professor Rob van Woesik, along with colleagues at…

A newly discovered parasitic cycle, in which ocean bacteria keep phytoplankton on an energy-sapping treadmill of nutrient detoxification, may offer a preview of what further ocean warming will bring. The research, conducted by Oregon State University scientists in the Sargasso Sea near Bermuda, also may explain how the bacteria, SAR11, came to be so prolific.…

Access to clean water remains one of the biggest challenges facing humankind. A breakthrough by engineers at The University of Texas at Austin may offer a new solution through solar-powered technology that absorbs moisture from the air and returns it as clean, usable water. The breakthrough, described in a recent issue of the journal Advanced…

A recently-launched satellite mission has captured precision data on the elevation of the Antarctic ice sheet proving a valuable addition to monitoring efforts in the region, according to work published this week in The Cryosphere. From its orbit 815 km above the Earth, the Sentinel-3 satellite was able to detect the height of the ice…

Hiding within the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park, scientists from Washington State University (WSU) have found electricity-breathing microbes that could help tackle two emerging global problems—environmental pollution and sustainable energy. If harnessed correctly, this bacteria can “eat” pollution by converting toxic pollutants into less harmful substances, while simultaneously generating electricity. “As these bacteria pass…

Geophysicists at Caltech have created a new method for determining earthquake hazards by measuring how fast energy is building up on faults in a specific region, and then comparing that to how much is being released through fault creep and earthquakes. They applied the new method to the faults underneath central Los Angeles, and found…

Researchers have used liquid metals to turn carbon dioxide back into solid coal, in a world-first breakthrough that could transform our approach to carbon capture and storage. The research team led by RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, have developed a new technique that can efficiently convert CO2 from a gas into solid particles of carbon.…

The Arctic Ocean could become ice-free in the summer in the next 20 years due to a natural, long-term warming phase in the tropical Pacific that adds to human-caused warming, according to a new study. Computer models predict climate change will cause the Arctic to be nearly free of sea ice during the summer by…

Over the past 20 years, concentrations of pharmaceuticals have increased in freshwater sources all over the world, as research by environmental experts at Radboud University has revealed. Levels of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin have reached the point of potentially causing damaging ecological effects. The research is the first to examine the risks of two particular medicines…

Viruses don’t always kill their microbial hosts. In many cases, they develop a mutually beneficial relationship: the virus establishes itself inside the microbe and, in return, grants its host with immunity against attack by similar viruses. Understanding this relationship is beneficial not only for medical research and practical applications but also in marine biology, says…

Scientists from seven countries, including Austria, the Netherlands and five key Arctic states (Russia, USA, Canada, Norway, and Sweden) – participants of the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) published an article on the study of the so-called sources of black carbon emissions in the Arctic in the Science Advances. Black carbon (BC) aerosols are formed under…

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed a process that removes CO2 from coal-burning power plant emissions in a way that is similar to how soda lime works in scuba diving rebreathers. Their research, published January 31 in the journal Chem, offers an alternative but simpler strategy for carbon…

By mathematically modeling the movements of a locomotive that toppled from the tracks north of San Francisco during the city’s infamous 1906 earthquake, researchers have calculated a lower limit on the earthquake ground motion at the spot of the tipped train. Their report in the journal Seismological Research Letters concludes that the ground shaking was…

A new NASA study shows that warming of the tropical oceans due to climate change could lead to a substantial increase in the frequency of extreme rain storms by the end of the century. The study team, led by Hartmut Aumann of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, combed through 15 years of data…

The fight against greenhouse gas emissions is being taken to the streets, as new research finds that the impact of keeping roads in good shape more than offsets pollution generated during road construction, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Rutgers University researchers have discovered that extending the life of pavement through preventative maintenance will reduce greenhouse…