Most recent 40 articles: Science Daily - Earth and Climate
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1.5°C Pathways Can Still Be Achieved, Combining Fairness and Global Climate Protection - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Dec 23) |
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Dec 23 · Global warming can still be limited to 1.5°C by 2100 while ensuring that the poor are not hit hardest by climate policies and climate impacts. This is achieved by immediately introducing broad carbon pricing together with re-distributive policies using carbon pricing revenues and further measures to reduce energy consumption, accelerate technological transitions, and transform the land sector. The results from multiple integrated assessment models (IAMs) show that a combination of producer and consumer-oriented measures can work together to rapidly reduce emissions. The comprehensive results on 1.5°C pathways in line with the Paris Agreement are synthesised in a report of ... Read more ...
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Botany Must Feature More Prominently on the School Curriculum to Promote Awareness of Climate Change, Study Warns - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Dec 23) |
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Dec 23 · Children must be taught more about the importance of plants if education about climate change and sustainability is to be effective, experts have warned.
Botany should feature more heavily in the school curriculum, and be a greater focus of educational policy, the study says.
It warns neither the importance of plants for sustainability or the threats facing many of them are adequately represented in science education. While the problem has been identified for some time, attempts to address it have often struggled to gain a foothold in science education practice.
Dr Bethan Stagg from the University of Exeter and Professor Justin Dillon from UCL argue teachers should ... Read more ...
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Consensus Needed on When Global Warming Reaches 1.5°C - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Dec 23) |
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Dec 23 · Writing in the journal Nature ahead of COP28, a team of Met Office scientists has emphasised that -- surprisingly -- there is currently no formally agreed way of defining the current level of global warming relevant to the Paris Agreement.
They have proposed a solution.
While the global average temperature in a particular year is well-known, this will not be suitable as an indicator of whether the "Paris 1.5" has been breached or not, because the Paris Agreement refers to long-term warming, not individual years.
But no alternative has yet been formally agreed.
Without an agreement on what will count as breaching the Paris 1.5, there may be confusion and delay ... Read more ...
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Crocodile Family Tree Mapped - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Dec 23) |
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Dec 23 · Around 250 million years ago, 700 species of reptiles closely related to the modern-day crocodile roamed the earth, now new research reveals how a complex interplay between climate change, species competition and habitat can help explain why just 23 species of crocodile survive today.
The study, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, found that when global temperatures rose, the number of species of the crocodile's sea-dwelling and land-based relatives went up, while increases in competition for resources, perhaps with sharks, marine reptiles or dinosaurs, likely brought about their extinction. By contrast, the crocodile's freshwater-dwelling relatives were not affected by ... Read more ...
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Deep Sea Sensor Reveals That Corals Produce Reactive Oxygen Species - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Dec 23) |
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Dec 23 · Just like us, corals breathe in oxygen and eat organic carbon. And just like us, as a byproduct of converting energy and oxygen in the body, corals produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), a family of chemical compounds that are naturally made by cells during cell division, while fighting off pathogens, and performing other physiological functions.
But until now, it was unknown whether healthy, deep-sea corals produce a particular type of ROS, called superoxide (O2•-). Superoxide is a highly reactive ROS known for influencing ocean ecology, organisms' physiology, and driving chemistry in the ocean including the breakdown of carbon and the bioavailability of metals and ... Read more ...
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Fossil CO2 Emissions at Record High in 2023 - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Dec 23) |
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Dec 23 · Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels have risen again in 2023 -- reaching record levels, according to new research from the Global Carbon Project science team.
The annual Global Carbon Budget projects fossil carbon dioxide (CO2 emissions of 36.8 billion tonnes in 2023, up 1.1% from 2022.
Fossil CO2 emissions are falling in some regions, including Europe and the USA, but rising overall -- and the scientists say global action to cut fossil fuels is not happening fast enough to prevent dangerous climate change.
Emissions from land-use change (such as deforestation) are projected to decrease slightly but are still too high to be offset by current levels of ... Read more ...
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Harvesting More Solar Energy With Supercrystals - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Dec 23) |
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Dec 23 · Hydrogen is a building block for the energy transition. To obtain it with the help of solar energy, LMU researchers have developed new high-performance nanostructures. The material holds a world record for green hydrogen production with sunlight.
When Emiliano Cortés goes hunting for sunlight, he doesn't use gigantic mirrors or solar farms. Quite the contrary, the professor of experimental physics and energy conversion at LMU dives into the nanocosmos. "Where the high-energy particles of sunlight meet atomic structures is where our research begins," Cortés says. "We are working on material solutions to use solar energy more efficiently." His findings have great ... Read more ...
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Harvesting Water from Air With Solar Power - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Dec 23) |
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Dec 23 · More than 2.2 billion people currently live in water-stressed countries, and the United Nations estimates that 3.5 million die every year from water-related diseases. Because the areas most in need of improved drinking water are also located in some of the sunniest places in the world, there is strong interest in harnessing sunlight to help obtain clean water.
"This atmospheric water harvesting technology can be used to increase the daily water supply needs, such as household drinking water, industrial water, and water for personal hygiene," said author Ruzhu Wang.
Historically, researchers have faced challenges when injecting salt into hydrogels as the higher salt ... Read more ...
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Himalayan Glaciers React, Blow Cold Winds Down Their Slopes - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Dec 23) |
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Dec 23 · Himalayan Glaciers 'fight back' to preserve themselves, but for how long? An international team of researchers, co-led by Professor Francesca Pellicciotti of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), explains a stunning phenomenon: rising global temperatures have led Himalayan glaciers to increasingly cool the air in contact with the ice surface. The ensuing cold winds might help cool the glaciers and preserve the surrounding ecosystems. The results, found across the Himalayan range, were published in Nature Geoscience.
Is global warming causing Himalayan glaciers to melt like ice cream on a hot summer day? Previously, scientists documented an elevation-dependent ... Read more ...
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How Mountains Affect El Niño-Induced Winter Precipitation - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Dec 23) |
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Dec 23 · A consideration of how mountains influence El Niño and La Niña-induced precipitation change in western North America may be the ticket to more informed water conservation planning along the Colorado River, new research suggests.
The study, coinciding with a recent shift from a strong La Niña to a strong El Niño, brings a degree of precision to efforts to make more accurate winter precipitation predictions in the intermountain West by comparing 150 years of rain and snow data with historic El Niño-Southern Oscillation patterns.
Overall, the analysis shows increasing winter precipitation trends in the north and decreasing trends in the ... Read more ...
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In Hotter Regions, Mammals Seek Forests, Avoid Human Habitats - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Dec 23) |
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Dec 23 · The cool of the forest is a welcome escape on a hot day. This is especially true for mammals in North America's hottest regions, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. The study indicates that, as the climate warms, preserving forest cover will be increasingly important for wildlife conservation.
The study, published today in the journal PNAS, found that North American mammals -- from pumas, wolves and bears to rabbits, deer and opossums -- consistently depend on forests and avoid cities, farms and other human-dominated areas in hotter climes. In fact, mammals are, on average, 50% more likely to occupy forests than open habitats in hot regions. The ... Read more ...
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Meteorites likely source of nitrogen for early Earth | ScienceDaily - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Dec 23) |
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Dec 23 · Micrometeorites originating from icy celestial bodies in the outer Solar System may be responsible for transporting nitrogen to the near-Earth region in the early days of our solar system. That discovery was published today in Nature Astronomy by an international team of researchers, including University of Hawai'i at Manoa scientists, led by Kyoto University.
Nitrogen compounds, such as ammonium salts, are abundant in material born in regions far from the sun, but evidence of their transport to Earth's orbital region had been poorly understood.
"Our recent findings suggests the possibility that a greater amount of nitrogen compounds than previously recognized was ... Read more ...
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More Than a Meteorite: New Clues About the Demise of Dinosaurs - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Dec 23) |
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Dec 23 · What wiped out the dinosaurs? A meteorite plummeting to Earth is only part of the story, a new study suggests. Climate change triggered by massive volcanic eruptions may have ultimately set the stage for the dinosaur extinction, challenging the traditional narrative that a meteorite alone delivered the final blow to the ancient giants.
That's according to a study published in Science Advances, co-authored by Don Baker, a professor in McGill University's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.
The work took researchers around the world, from hammering out rocks in the Deccan Traps to analyzing the samples in England and Sweden.
A new season?: 'Volcanic ... Read more ...
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New Study Identifies the Greatest Threat to Wildlife Across North America and Canada: People - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Dec 23) |
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Dec 23 · You see posts like these on neighborhood Facebook pages all the time: "An owl just flew into my window and appears stunned! Help!" or "I found a baby squirrel on the ground after the wind storm last night. Who do I call?" The answer is a local wildlife rehabilitation center -- licensed individuals and organizations that take in hundreds of thousands of sick and injured wild animals nationwide each year. Wildlife rehabilitators see the highest number and greatest range of species of any government or nonprofit organization in the country, giving them unique insight into animal health -- and making them great bellwethers of what's happening in the broader environment.
A few ... Read more ...
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Researchers Decode Aqueous Amino Acid's Potential for Direct Air Capture of CO2 - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Dec 23) |
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Dec 23 · Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory 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.
The recently published research focused on the foundational steps of carbon dioxide sequestration using aqueous glycine, an amino acid known for its absorbent qualities. By combining a series of advanced computational methods, the scientists probed less-explored dynamic ... Read more ...
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Snail-Inspired Robot Could Scoop Ocean Microplastics - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Dec 23) |
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Dec 23 · Inspired by a small and slow snail, scientists have developed a robot protype that may one day scoop up microplastics from the surfaces of oceans, seas and lakes.
The robot's design is based on the Hawaiian apple snail (Pomacea canaliculate), a common aquarium snail that uses the undulating motion of its foot to drive water surface flow and suck in floating food particles.
Currently, plastic collection devices mostly rely on drag nets or conveyor belts to gather and remove larger plastic debris from water, but they lack the fine scale required for retrieving microplastics. These tiny particles of plastic can be ingested and end up in the tissues of marine animals, ... Read more ...
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Strange Burn: New Research Identifies Unique Patterns in Utah Wildfires - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Dec 23) |
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Dec 23 · For a century fire ecologists have worked to decipher a complex question -- what does a "normal'' wildfire year look like in the West? That's a hard question to answer for many reasons, but new research from a team in the Quinney College of Natural Resources shows that thanks to the state's unique landscapes, Utah's wildfire patterns may never fit into what is considered "normal" for other Western states.
Utah landscapes are diverse -- from dense forests of pinyon-juniper to scattered patches of sagebrush and grasslands, Utah's variable topography produces a tremendous range of wildfire behavior, said Jim Lutz, professor and author on the research. In some ways it defies easy ... Read more ...
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Three Decades of Data in Bangladesh Show Elevated Risk of Infant Mortality In Flood-Prone Areas - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Dec 23) |
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Dec 23 · A new study from researchers at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography and UC San Francisco estimates 152,753 excess infant deaths were attributable to living in flood-prone areas in Bangladesh over the past 30 years. Additionally, across the study period, children born during rainy months faced higher risk of death than those born in dry months.
The paper was published Dec. 5 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The findings begin to unspool the long term public health impacts of recurring environmental hazards such as flooding, wildfires, or extreme heat, many of ... Read more ...
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Tiny Electromagnets: Ultra-Thin Carbon - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Dec 23) |
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Dec 23 · Graphene, that is extremely thin carbon, is considered a true miracle material. An international research team has now added another facet to its diverse properties with experiments at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR): The experts, led by the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), fired short terahertz pulses at micrometer-sized discs of graphene, which briefly turned these minuscule objects into surprisingly strong magnets. This discovery may prove useful for developing future magnetic switches and storage devices.
Graphene consists of an ultra-thin sheet of just one layer of carbon atoms. But the material, which was only discovered as recently as 2004, displays ... Read more ...
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Top 10 Climate Science Insights Unveiled - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Dec 23) |
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Dec 23 · The report equips policymakers with the latest and most pivotal climate science research from the previous 18 months, synthesised to help inform negotiations at COP28 and policy implementation through 2024 and beyond. Simon Stiell, the UNFCCC Executive Secretary says: "The 10 New Insights in Climate Science report provides an essential tool for decision makers at a critical time in the climate calendar each year. Scientific findings from reports like these should inform the ambitious and evidence-based action plans needed in this critical decade of accelerated climate action."
The 10 full list of insights:
Professor Laura Pereira from the Wits Global Change Institute, ... Read more ...
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'Alien' Wasps Thriving in Tropical Forests - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · The wasps, which survive by living off host insects and spiders until adult-sized, were discovered on a mountain in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest. The number of types found were similar to that previously found in the whole of the UK.
The latest findings adds to a growing body of evidence that debunks the widely held belief that the Darwin wasp does not thrive in tropical environments and points to the possibility of many wasp species unknown to researchers in the past.
The level of diversity in a group of species changes depending on where they live, and yet for invertebrates, some of the most diverse species on Earth, little is known about how much diversity can ... Read more ...
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'Biodiversity Time Machine' Provides Insights Into a Century of Loss - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · Scientists have run the first proof of concept of their DNA 'time machine' to shed light on a century of environmental change in a freshwater lake -- including warming temperatures and pollution, leading to the potentially irreversible loss of biodiversity.
Their approach, which uses AI applied to DNA-based biodiversity, climate variables and pollution, could help regulators to protect the planet's existing biodiversity levels, or even improve them.
Publishing their findings today (7 Nov) in eLife, the experts reveal that the sediment holds a continuous record of biological and environmental signals that have changed over time -- from (semi)pristine environments at the ... Read more ...
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'Bouncing' comets could deliver building blocks for life to exoplanets | ScienceDaily - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · How did the molecular building blocks for life end up on Earth? One long-standing theory is that they could have been delivered by comets. Now, researchers from the University of Cambridge have shown how comets could deposit similar building blocks to other planets in the galaxy.
In order to deliver organic material, comets need to be travelling relatively slowly -- at speeds below 15 kilometres per second. At higher speeds, the essential molecules would not survive -- the speed and temperature of impact would cause them to break apart.
The most likely place where comets can travel at the right speed are 'peas in a pod' systems, where a group of planets orbit closely ... Read more ...
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'Cooling Glass' Blasts Building Heat Into Space - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · University of Maryland researchers aiming to combat rising global temperatures have developed a new "cooling glass" that can turn down the heat indoors without electricity by drawing on the cold depths of space.
The new technology, a microporous glass coating described in a paper published in the journal Science, can lower the temperature of the material beneath it by 3.5 degrees Celsius at noon, and has the potential to reduce a mid-rise apartment building's yearly carbon emissions by 10%, according to the research team led by Distinguished University Professor Liangbing Hu in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
The coating works in two ways: First, it ... Read more ...
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'Indoor Solar' to Power the Internet of Things - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · From Wi-Fi-connected home security systems to smart toilets, the so-called Internet of Things brings personalization and convenience to devices that help run homes. But with that comes tangled electrical cords or batteries that need to be replaced. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Energy Materials have brought solar panel technology indoors to power smart devices. They show which photovoltaic (PV) systems work best under cool white LEDs, a common type of indoor lighting.
Indoor lighting differs from sunlight. Light bulbs are dimmer than the sun, and sunlight comprises ultraviolet, infrared and visible light, whereas indoor lights typically shine light from a narrower ... Read more ...
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'Not Dead Yet': Experts Identify Interventions That Could Rescue 1.5°C - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · To meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and limit global heating to 1.5°C, global annual emissions will need to drop radically over the coming decades. Today [22 Nov], a new paper from climate economists at the University of Oxford says that this goal could still be within our reach. They identify key "sensitive intervention points" that could unlock significant progress towards the Paris Agreement with the least risk and highest impact. These include:
'This is not to suggest that reaching the Paris goals will be straightforward, or easy, but like Achilles' heel, our research points to the areas that could have an outsized impact,' says lead author Dr Penny Mealy, ... Read more ...
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'Super Melanin' Heals Skin Injuries from Sunburn - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · Imagine a skin cream that heals damage occurring throughout the day when your skin is exposed to sunlight or environmental toxins. That's the potential of a synthetic, biomimetic melanin developed by scientists at Northwestern University.
In a new study, the scientists show that their synthetic melanin, mimicking the natural melanin in human skin, can be applied topically to injured skin, where it accelerates wound healing. These effects occur both in the skin itself and systemically in the body.
When applied in a cream, the synthetic melanin can protect skin from sun exposure and heals skin injured by sun damage or chemical burns, the scientists said. The technology ... Read more ...
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600 Years of Tree Rings Reveal Climate Risks in California - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · The San Joaquin Valley in California has experienced vast variability in climate extremes, with droughts and floods that were more severe and lasted longer than what has been seen in the modern record, according to a new study of 600 years of tree rings from the valley.
This new approach, combining paleo information with synthetic weather generation, may help policymakers and scientists better understand -- and anticipate -- California's flood and drought risks and how they will be compounded by climate change.
The group's paper published in Earth's Future, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.
The San Joaquin Valley sits in the southern part of California's ... Read more ...
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A Database Unifies the Information on Damage to European Forests Over the Last 60 Years - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · The University of Córdoba is participating in the creation of the first database that harmonizes the recording of disturbances caused by insects and diseases in forests in 8 European countries by combining remote sensing, satellite images and field data
Forest damage caused by insects and diseases is increasing in many parts of the world due to climate change as reductions in plants' defense mechanisms, induced by global warming, seem to contribute to forests' increased vulnerability to the incidence of pathogens and diseases.
These disturbances jeopardize many of the beneficial effects that forests offer the world, such as carbon sequestration, the regulation of ... Read more ...
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A Different Take on Phosphorus: Bacteria Use Organic Phosphorus and Release Methane in the Process - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · Off Barbados, researchers from Bremen have investigated how bacteria inadvertently release methane in order to obtain phosphorus -- with significant effects on atmospheric greenhouse gases.
Some bacteria are able to tap into unusual sources of nutrients in the surface water of the oceans. This enables them to increase their primary production and extract more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In doing so, however, they release the potent greenhouse gas methane.
Methane as a waste product of phosphorus capture
The potent greenhouse gas methane constantly escapes from the sea into the atmosphere and contributes significantly to global warming. Methane is mainly ... Read more ...
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A Fifth Higher: Tropical Cyclones Substantially Raise the Social Cost of Carbon - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · Extreme events like tropical cyclones have immediate impacts, but also long-term implications for societies. A new study published in the journal Nature Communications now finds: Accounting for the long-term impacts of these storms raises the global Social Cost of Carbon by more than 20 percent, compared to the estimates currently used for policy evaluations. This increase is mainly driven by the projected rise of tropical-cyclone damages to the major economies of India, USA, China, Taiwan, and Japan under global warming.
"Intense tropical cyclones have the power to slow down the economic development of a country for more than a decade, our analysis shows. With global warming, ... Read more ...
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A Mathematical Model for Studying Methane Hydrate Distribution in the Nankai Trough - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · Methane hydrate is a naturally occurring ice-like crystalline solid that forms when methane and water are subjected to geological high-pressure and low-temperature conditions. It is often found trapped in continental margin sediments and permafrost. Owing to its immense potential as a possible energy resource, researchers have attempted to get a better understanding of the geochemical and geophysical factors that control the distribution of methane hydrate reservoirs. However, these deposits take thousands of years to form, and their reservoirs are often found in geologically heterogeneous conditions. This makes it difficult to conduct a real-time or thorough evaluation of the ... Read more ...
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A Single Bitcoin Transaction Could Cost as Much Water as a Backyard Swimming Pool - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · Cryptocurrency mining uses a significant amount of water amid the global water crisis, and its water demand may grow further. In a commentary published November 29 in the journal Cell Reports Sustainability, financial economist Alex de Vries provides the first comprehensive estimate of Bitcoin's water use. He warns that its sheer scale could impact drinking water if it continues to operate without constraints, especially in countries that are already battling water scarcity, including the U.S.
"Many parts of the world are experiencing droughts, and fresh water is becoming an increasing scarce resource," says de Vries, a PhD student at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. "If we ... Read more ...
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Adult Coral Can Handle More Heat and Keep Growing Thanks to Heat-Evolved Symbionts - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · Adult fragments of a coral species can better tolerate bleaching and recover faster when treated with tougher heat-evolved symbionts, new research from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and the University of Melbourne indicates.
The study also found that treatment with the heat-evolved symbionts did not compromise the coral's ability to grow. This differs from previous studies on Great Barrier Reef corals which found that naturally heat tolerant symbionts could enhance heat resistance in adult corals, but at a cost to its growth.
Symbionts are the tiny cells of algae that live inside the coral tissue, providing corals with energy to grow. The survival of ... Read more ...
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Advances in Lithium-Metal Batteries, Paving the Way for Safer, More Powerful Devices - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · The boom in phones, laptops and other personal devices over the last few decades has been made possible by the lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery, but as climate change demands more powerful batteries for electric vehicles and grid-scale renewable storage, lithium-ion technology might not be enough.
Lithium-metal batteries (LMBs) have theoretical capacities an order of magnitude greater than lithium-ion, but a more literal boom has stymied research for decades.
"A compounding challenge that further doomed the first wave of LMB commercialization in the late 1980s was their propensity to explode," University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering Prof. Chibueze ... Read more ...
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Aerosols: When Scents Influence Our Climate - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · It has long been clear that human-made greenhouse gases are changing the climate -- but there are still important details of climate change that are not well understood. These include the behavior of tiny particles that form all by themselves from molecules in the air and can lead to the formation of clouds.
Dominik Stolzenburg of the Institute of Materials Chemistry at TU Wien is working to better understand these processes and now summarizes the current state of research in a review article in the journal Reviews of Modern Physics. This research should make climate models even more accurate in the future.
Fragrant gases become mini-particles
"You know this from a ... Read more ...
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Africa's Dangerous Air Pollution Levels Are a Global Problem, Says New Research - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · A new report in Nature Geoscience has brought to light the challenge of air pollution levels in Africa and why international action is needed to combat it.
Over the last 50 years African nations have suffered from rapidly deteriorating air quality, making their cities some of the most polluted in the world. Particulate matter concentration levels are now five to ten levels greater than that recommended by the World Health Organisation, with the situation predicted to worsen as populations grow and industrialization accelerates.
However, far too little has been done to try and combat the dangerous air quality with just 0.01% of global air pollution funding currently spent ... Read more ...
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AI for Perovskite Solar Cells: Key to Better Manufacturing - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · Tandem solar cells based on perovskite semiconductors convert sunlight to electricity more efficiently than conventional silicon solar cells. In order to make this technology ready for the market, further improvements with regard to stability and manufacturing processes are required. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and of two Helmholtz platforms -- Helmholtz Imaging at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and Helmholtz AI -- have succeeded in finding a way to predict the quality of the perovskite layers and consequently that of the resulting solar cells: Assisted by Machine Learning and new methods in Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is possible assess ... Read more ...
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Amazing Star Factories of Dwarf Galaxies - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · If you look at massive galaxies teeming with stars, you might be forgiven in thinking they are star factories, churning out brilliant balls of gas. But actually, less evolved dwarf galaxies have bigger regions of star factories, with higher rates of star formation.
Now, University of Michigan researchers have discovered the reason underlying this: These galaxies enjoy a 10-million-year delay in blowing out the gas cluttering up their environments. Star-forming regions are able to hang on to their gas and dust, allowing more stars to coalesce and evolve.
In these relatively pristine dwarf galaxies, massive stars -- stars about 20 to 200 times the mass of our sun -- ... Read more ...
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Ammonia for Fertilizers Without the Giant Carbon Footprint - Science Daily - Earth and Climate (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · The production of ammonia for fertilisers -- which has one of the largest carbon footprints among industrial processes -- will soon be possible on farms using low-cost, low-energy and environmentally friendly technology.
This is thanks to researchers at UNSW Sydney and their collaborators who have developed an innovative technique for sustainable ammonia production at scale.
Up until now, the production of ammonia has relied on high-energy processes that leave a massive global carbon footprint -- temperatures of more than 400 oC and pressures exceeding 200 atmospheres that account for 2 per cent of the world's energy and 1.8 per cent of its CO2.
But the researchers ... Read more ...
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