Earth

Hydroxyl (OH) radicals – known as the detergent of the atmosphere – decompose isoprene in the air. This leads to the creation of new OH radicals, which are then able to purify the air of other pollutants and trace gases. The scientific community had previously only been able to speculate about this mechanism.

DETROIT – Three years after an earthquake killed more than 200,000 people and left an estimated 1.5 million people homeless in Haiti, a Henry Ford Hospital study found that more mobilized medical care is necessary to bridge cultural and health care barriers and better serve the Haitian population.

Highlights of the study:

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Researchers at MIT, working with partners at NASA, have developed a new concept for a microscope that would use neutrons — subatomic particles with no electrical charge — instead of beams of light or electrons to create high-resolution images.

The mystery of why life on Earth evolved when it did has deepened with the publication of a new study in the latest edition of the journal Science.

Scientists at the CRPG-CNRS University of Lorraine, The University of Manchester and the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris have ruled out a theory as to why the planet was warm enough to sustain the planet's earliest life forms when the Sun's energy was roughly three-quarters the strength it is today.

Portland, Ore., USA (October 4, 2013) --- Being overweight shortens a dog's life expectancy according to new research by the WALTHAM® Centre for Pet Nutrition. Data on a range of popular dog breeds from across the USA showed that dogs that are overweight in middle age have a shorter life expectancy than ideal weight dogs. Specifically, overweight dogs were found to suffer a reduction in life expectancy of up to ten months compared to ideal weight dogs.

One of the thinnest membranes ever made is also highly discriminating when it comes to the molecules going through it. Engineers at the University of South Carolina have constructed a graphene oxide membrane less than 2 nanometers thick with high permeation selectivity between hydrogen and carbon dioxide gas molecules.

The selectivity is based on molecular size, the team reported in the journal Science. Hydrogen and helium pass relatively easily through the membrane, but carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon monoxide and methane permeate much more slowly.

Electrical currents born from thunderstorms are able to flow through the atmosphere and around the globe, causing a detectable electrification of the air even in places with no thunderstorm activity.

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BOULDER, Colo -- Extending evidence of quantum behavior farther into the large-scale world of everyday life, physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have "entangled"—linked the properties of—a microscopic mechanical drum with electrical signals.

To gain complete control over chemical reactions is one of the main goals of chemists around the world. Scientists at the University of Basel and the Center of Free-Electron Laser Science in Hamburg were able to for the first time successfully sort out single forms of molecules with electric fields and have them react specifically. Analysis of the reaction rates showed a relation between the spatial structure of the sorted molecules and their chemical reactivity. The results have been published in the renowned magazine Science.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers report that they have created a man-made catalyst that is an "enzyme mimic." Unlike most enzymes, which act on a single target, the new catalyst can alter the chemical profiles of numerous types of small molecules. The catalyst – and others like it – will greatly speed the process of drug discovery, the researchers say.

Their findings appear in the Journal of the American Chemistry Society.

Scientists have developed a new kind of 'X-ray vision' that is able to peer inside an object and map the three-dimensional distribution of its nano-properties in real time.

University of Manchester researchers, working with colleagues in the UK, Europe and the US, say the novel imaging technique could have a wide range of applications across many disciplines, such as materials science, geology, environmental science and medical research.

RUSTON, La. – Physicists from Louisiana Tech University are part of an international team of researchers which has reported first results for the proton's weak charge based on precise new data from Jefferson Laboratory, the nation's premier electron beam facility for nuclear and particle physics research in Newport News, Va.

The results will be published in an upcoming issue of "Physical Review Letters," a prestigious and widely-referenced international journal that focuses on major advances in physics and cross disciplinary developments.

FROSTBURG, MD -- Where a stream ends is clear, but where it begins can be more difficult to discern. Researchers from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science have developed a new method to solve this problem, resulting in a new map of the Potomac River watershed stream network that significantly improves the information needed for assessing the impact of urbanization on aquatic ecosystems.

Since remote times humans have been interested in the weather and have used different strategies to predict bad storms. Some of these strategies rely on the observation that in anticipation of storms, birds fly at low heights and cows lie down. Some people even claim to feel their bones ache. These and other similar accounts have been reported but not scientifically tested.