Tech
Decades of research have demonstrated the adverse effects of fine particulate matter and volatile organic compounds (VOC) such as nicotine or acetonitrile from tobacco smoke on human health, with no "safe" level of exposure. Smoking restrictions have decreased non-smokers' exposure to secondhand smoke. Yet with worldwide smoking rates at 22%, exposure to hazardous pollutants from tobacco smoke remains a major risk for non-smokers, and thirdhand smoke (THS) has been identified as a major exposure pathway.
The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation (KSLOF) has published their latest findings from the Global Reef Expedition--the largest coral reef survey and mapping expedition in history. Released today, the Global Reef Expedition: Cook Islands Final Report contains critical information on the health and resiliency of coral reef ecosystems in the Cook Islands.
York University researchers have discovered a way to make Lithium-powered batteries more environmentally friendly while retaining performance, stability and storage capacity.
Lithium-ion batteries use toxic, heavy metals which can impact the environment when they are extracted from the ground and are difficult to dispose of safely. Cobalt is one of those heavy metals, used in battery electrodes. Part of the problem is that lithium and cobalt are not abundantly available, and supplies are dwindling.
It is a well-known school experiment: When a voltage is applied between two electrodes inserted in water, molecular hydrogen and oxygen are produced. To further the industrial use of this process, it is indispensable to make water splitting as energy-efficient as possible. In addition to the material of the electrode, its surface quality is a crucial aspect for the splitting efficiency. In particular, rough spots of only few nanometers - i.e. millionths of a millimeter - in size that are called reactive centers determine the electrochemical reactivity of an electrode.
PULLMAN, Wash. - Organic compounds called thiophenes are found on Earth in coal, crude oil and oddly enough, in white truffles, the mushroom beloved by epicureans and wild pigs.
Thiophenes were also recently discovered on Mars, and Washington State University astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch thinks their presence would be consistent with the presence of early life on Mars.
In experiments with mice, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center say they have slowed the growth of transplanted human prostate and pancreatic cancer cells by introducing bone marrow cells with a specific gene deletion to induce a novel immune response.
Earth's atmosphere and climate change are strongly affected by gas exchange between land and atmosphere. Reactive nitrogen (Nr) gas emissions from soils, e.g., nitrous acid (HONO) and nitric oxide (NO), play a significant role in atmospheric chemistry and also constitute a key process of the global nitrogen (N) cycle.
To understand the underlying mechanisms of soil Nr emissions, air-dried or oven-dried soils are commonly used in the laboratory. To date, few studies have compared the effects of different drying methods on soil Nr gas fluxes and N fractions.
Imagine if we could use naturally-grown products, like plants and fruit, to store electricity that charges commonly used electronics like mobile phones, tablets, laptops or even electric cars?
Researchers from the University of Sydney have done just that, and have developed a method that uses durian and jackfruit waste to create energy stores for rapid electricity charging.
School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering academic Associate Professor Vincent Gomes explains how he and the research team managed to turn the tropical fruits into super-capacitors.
ITHACA, N.Y. - Recyclable plastic containers with the No. 2 designation could become even more popular for manufacturers as plastic milk jugs, dish soap containers and shampoo bottles may soon get an environmental makeover.
Cornell chemists can demonstrate how to make high-density polyethylene with better control over polymer chain lengths, which allows for improvement over physical properties such as processability and strength, according to research published Dec. 27, 2019, in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Most coastal cities and ports face a double threat from storm surge and river flooding. Infrastructure development along waterways and sea-level rise increase vulnerability for these communities. In a recent publication, The Propagation of Fluvial Flood Waves Through a Backwater-Estuarine Environment, historical data is examined to determine how to reduce the risk of coastal river flooding to communities.
When we open our eyes, we immediately see our surroundings in great detail. How the brain is able to form these richly detailed representations of the world so quickly is one of the biggest unsolved puzzles in the study of vision.
Suggesting that current non-smoking regulations may not be enough to minimize nonsmokers' exposure to thirdhand cigarette smoke, researchers report that concentrations of nicotine and smoking-related volatile organic compounds spiked when moviegoers entered a well-ventilated, non-smoking movie theater, exposing them to the equivalent of between one and 10 cigarettes of secondhand cigarette smoke.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (March 4, 2020) -- Data science researchers at the University of Illinois have some March Madness advice based on new research: Pick top-seeded teams as the Final Four in your March Madness bracket and work backward and forward from there. If you are going to submit multiple brackets--as you can in the ESPN, CBS Sports and Yahoo Challenges--starting with the Final Four is still a good strategy, but make sure you also diversify your brackets as much as possible.
In a future where most things in our everyday life are connected through the internet, devices and sensors will need to run without wires or batteries. In a new article in Chemical Science, researchers from Uppsala University present a new type of dye-sensitised solar cells that harvest light from indoor lamps.