(University of Pennsylvania) Plants reap energy from the sun using two photosynthesis pathways, C3 and C4. A new study led by University of Pennsylvania biologists suggests that water availability drove the expansion of C4 species, which may help to explain how different plant lineages came to be distributed on the planet today
(Worcester Polytechnic Institute) With a $1.08 million contract award from the United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC (USABC), a materials engineering research team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) will extend development of its novel process to recycle spent lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. WPI will demonstrate that its process can recycle spent batteries and produce new cathode materials with higher nickel content. These materials are increasingly being adopted by automotive battery makers to reduce cost and increase energy density.
(Geological Society of America) Many farms have areas where the ground either floods or does not retain enough water or fertilizer for crops to thrive. Such marginal lands could become useful and potentially profitable if they are planted with perennial bioenergy crops such as shrub willow and switchgrass, report researchers this week at the annual meeting of The Geological Society of America in Indianapolis.
(Geological Society of America) Water researchers have found a way to fight the 'king of poisons' that accounts for one of every 20 deaths in Bangladesh.
(Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) Researchers at EPFL's Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering have developed a photocatalytic system based on a material in the class of metal-organic frameworks. The system can be used to degrade pollutants present in water while simultaneously producing hydrogen that can be captured and used further.
(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) The ozone hole that forms in the upper atmosphere over Antarctica each September was slightly above average size in 2018, NOAA and NASA scientists reported today.
(Tokyo Institute of Technology) Results from a collaborative study by Tokyo Institute of Technology and Tohoku University, Japan, raise prospects for large-scale production of algae-derived starch, a valuable bioresource for biofuels and other renewable materials. Such bio-based products have the potential to replace fossil fuels and contribute to the development of sustainable systems and societies.
(Georgia Institute of Technology) Envision a yellow submarine on a rocket to Europa as a future culmination in the search for extraterrestrial life. A new $7 million NASA Astrobiology grant is fueling an alliance of oceanic astrobiology researchers who will unify their focus to probe oceans on our solar system neighbors for signs of life.
(University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science) A new study led by researchers at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science found that a common coral species might have evolved unique immune strategies to cope with environmental change.
(National Science Foundation) The National Science Foundation (NSF) is investing over $18 million in 10 new projects to research processes in nature and their complex interactions with climate, land use and invasive species at local, regional and continental scales. The awards are funded through NSF's Dimensions of Biodiversity program in the agency's environmental biology division.
(American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) 'This agreement is an important vote of confidence for Israeli science in general and specifically for BGU's scientific and technological prowess on the international stage. We are honored that Governor Edwards personally participated in the signing ceremony,' said Prof. Noam Weisbrod, director of the BGU Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research.
(University of Virginia) A future with stormier seas may bring strong changes to the biodiversity of coastal sea life.
(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Typhoon Yutu, known as Rosita in the Philippines, is now threatening the Philippine Island of Luzon. The Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite provided a look at the heavy rainfall the storm is packing.
(University of Delaware) New driverless car technologies developed at a University of Delaware lab could lead to a world without traffic lights and speeding tickets. Researchers also hope the innovations will bring about the development of driverless cars that use 19 to 22 percent less fuel.
(Rice University) Rice University researchers find evidence of water escaping during subduction and infiltrating sedimentary material related to small tremors that occur beneath the Pacific Northwest of the United States.