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38 articles from ScienceDaily

Can sunlight convert emissions into useful materials?

A team of researchers has designed a method to break CO2 apart and convert the greenhouse gas into useful materials like fuels or consumer products ranging from pharmaceuticals to polymers. Typically, this process requires a tremendous amount of energy. However, in the first computational study of its kind, the research team enlisted a more sustainable ally: the sun.

As rural western towns grow, so do their planning challenges

A new study examines the planning challenges that residents and officials in the rural mountain American West have been watching unfold for years. The researchers specifically looked at over 1,500 'gateway communities' -- rural communities adjacent to national parks, forests, rivers and other outdoor recreational amenities.

Resource sharing affects mortality worldwide

The act of giving and receiving increases well-being: the recipient benefits directly from the gift, and the giver benefits indirectly through emotional satisfaction. A new study now suggests that those who share more also live longer. In their analysis, researchers found a strong linear relationship between a society's generosity and the average life expectancy of its members. The researcher...

Neglected for over a century, Black sea spider crab re-described

Even though recognized in the Mediterranean Sea, the Macropodia czernjawskii spider crab was ignored by scientists (even by its namesake, 19th-century biologist Vladimir Czernyavsky) in the regional faunal accounts of the Black Sea for more than a century. Now, scientists re-describe this, most likely, sole species of the genus to occur in the Black Sea.

Face shield or face mask to stop the spread of COVID-19?

If CDC guidelines aren't enough to convince you that face shields alone shouldn't be used to stop the spread of COVID-19, then maybe a new visualization study will. Researchers simulated coughing and sneezing from a mannequin's mouth using a laser light to visualize droplets expelled. They tested a plastic face shield and found that they block the initial forward motion of the exhaled jet,...

Nature conservation policy rarely changes people's behavior

Too rarely do nature conservation initiatives or strategies announced by politicians lead to people changing their everyday behaviour. A research team has investigated the reasons for this. According to them, the measures do not sufficiently exploit the range of possible behavioral interventions and too rarely specify the target groups.

An embedded ethics approach for AI development

The increasing use of AI (artificial intelligence) in the development of new medical technologies demands greater attention to ethical aspects. An interdisciplinary team advocates the integration of ethics from the very beginning of the development process of new technologies.

A small number of self-organizing autonomous vehicles significantly increases traffic flow

With the addition of just a small number of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on the road, traffic flow can become faster, greener, and safer in the near future. Researchers present a simple set of guidelines and regulations for achieving the self-organization of AVs into constellations that dynamically control the entire traffic flow even when fewer than 5 percent of the vehicles on the road are...

How dangerous are burning electric cars?

What happens if an electric car burns in a road tunnel or an underground car park? In the Hagerbach test tunnel in Switzerland, researchers and tunnel safety experts set fire to battery cells of electric cars, analyzed the distribution of soot and smoke gases and the chemical residues in the extinguishing water.

Uncovering the hidden life of 'dead' coral reefs

'Dead' coral rubble can support more animals than live coral, according to researchers trialing a high-tech sampling method. A researcher said that reef rubble habitat was often overlooked as desolate, unattractive and 'dead', however reef rubble was very much alive.

Giant leap for molecular measurements

Spectroscopy is an important tool of observation in many areas of science and industry. Infrared spectroscopy is especially important in the world of chemistry where it is used to analyze and identify different molecules. The current state-of-the-art method can make approximately 1 million observations per second. Researchers have greatly surpassed this figure with a new method about 100 times...