News
Tiny ocean shells draw a hidden line across the Atlantic, and it may shape Earth's carbon cycle
3+ hour, 20+ min ago (1042+ words) The ocean handles more of Earth's carbon chemistry than most people realize, and most of it happens invisibly. Somewhere between the surface and the seafloor, tiny armored cells live, calcify, and sink " taking carbon with them. Scientists have known for…...
Scientists design a new reactor that turns renewable electricity into a storable fuel
1+ week, 4+ day ago (488+ words) Scientists have created a reactor capable of converting carbon dioxide into storable methane fuel using microbes and renewable energy....
Scientists found a hidden stage in chemistry that could change clean energy
1+ week, 5+ day ago (782+ words) An orange powder goes into the furnace. Somewhere in the run it turns jet black. A yellow crystal comes out the other end. For labs making solar-fuel materials, the start and end have always been the whole story. A new…...
Ancient glassmaking method helps create glass that traps carbon dioxide
2+ week, 1+ day ago (904+ words) A glass that physically locks carbon dioxide inside its own structure sounds like a material worth building. Researchers have spent nearly a decade trying to make it manufacturable. The catch: it softens only a hair's breadth from the temperature at…...
Satellite pollution could soon become a major climate threat
2+ week, 6+ day ago (590+ words) Scientists warn pollution from satellite launches and falling space debris could have growing effects on Earth's atmosphere and climate....
Some plants can pull rare earth metals from soil, a discovery that may revolutionize the tech industry
2+ week, 6+ day ago (941+ words) Rare earth elements reside within nearly every phone, electric car, and wind turbine on the planet. Getting them out of the ground requires acid baths, chemical ponds, and years of environmental cleanup. Oftentimes, the process to retrieve them produces far…...
AI is learning the strategies chemists use to build new molecules
3+ week, 4+ day ago (841+ words) Something happens when an experienced chemist looks at a route someone else designed. Within seconds, they'll often say it won't work " not because they ran a calculation, but because the order of decisions just looks wrong. Getting software to replicate…...
Laser turns metal into star-like plasma in trillionths of a second, opening a new path toward fusion energy
3+ week, 4+ day ago (828+ words) Laser fusion research has a measurement problem. The critical physics " what happens in the first trillionths of a second after a laser pulse strikes its target " has always been modeled, never directly observed. A new experiment has now produced a…...
Material called 'living plastic' breaks itself down after use, self-destructing on command
4+ week, 1+ day ago (867+ words) Modern plastics are designed for durability, but that same strength allows waste to accumulate long after products are discarded. Now, researchers have created a "living plastic" that stays stable during use, then completely breaks itself down within six days after…...
Methane leaks from city sewer pipes are becoming a growing climate threat
4+ week, 2+ day ago (822+ words) When cities calculate their climate pollution, they usually focus on cars, factories, landfills, and power plants. Sewer pipes rarely make the list. But new research suggests that may be a major oversight. Scientists have found that urban sewer systems could…...