912,143 articles

Is there more to palm oil than deforestation?

Palm oil is the world's most produced and consumed vegetable oil and everyone knows that its production can damage the environment. But do consumers have the full picture? In fact, replacing palm oil with rapeseed oil would require a four to five-fold increase in the amount of land needed.

How does voltage drive nonmetallic catalysts to perform electrocatalytic reactions?

Understanding how voltage drives nanoscale electrocatalysts to initiate reactions is a fundamental scientific question. This is especially challenging when dealing with non-metallic electrocatalysts due to their low inherent carrier concentration, which leads to poor conductivity. When voltage is applied at the non-metal/solution interface, the situation becomes more complex than in the case of...

Companies in Germany are adapting to the consequences of extreme weather events

German Executives are most concerned about the impact of hot weather and heavy rains on their companies' operations. Apart from this, however, they also have an awareness of the consequences of climate change on their value chains. This is revealed by the current IfM survey of more than 1,300 managing executives on the current Climate Adaptation Week of the Federal Ministry for the Environment.

Gold nanoclusters can improve electrochemical water splitting to produce hydrogen

As energy demand continues to rise, research into new, efficient renewable and clean energy sources is an urgent priority. Currently, renewable energy sources like solar, wind, tide, and geothermal make up less than 40% of the current energy demand. Increasing this percentage and reducing the amount of fossil fuels used will require other, more efficient renewable and clean energy sources.

Generating homozygous mutant populations of barley microspores by ethyl methanesulfonate treatment

A new study combined expertise in barley genetics and genomics from the research group led by Dr. Ping Yang (Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences) and that in barley microspore culturing led by Dr. Chenghong Liu (Biotech Research Institute, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences), in order to address the time- and space-cost issue in developing homozygous induced...

Study explores supergiant iceberg's huge impact on surrounding ocean surface

The melting of the supergiant iceberg A-68 had a huge impact on the ocean around South Georgia, in sub-Antarctica, and significantly changed the Southern Ocean's temperature and saltiness, with potentially major consequences for this ecologically significant region. These results are published this week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Solar sails could reach Mars in just 26 days

A recent study submitted to Acta Astronautica and currently available on the arXiv preprint server explores the potential for using aerographite solar sails for traveling to Mars and interstellar space, which could dramatically reduce both the time and fuel required for such missions.

International study shows staycations are likely here to stay

An international study by tourism and hospitality experts in the U.S. and China has determined the "staycation phenomenon," which reached prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, is still going strong and is most likely here to stay as part of a new industry normal.

We can't see the first stars yet, but we can see their direct descendants

If you take a universe worth of hydrogen and helium, and let it stew for about 13 billion years, you get us. We are the descendants of the primeval elements. We are the cast-off dust of the first stars, and many generations of stars after that. So our search for the first stars of the cosmos is a search for our own history. While we haven't captured the light of those first stars, some of their...

Improving air quality forecasting with daily update of emission inventory

In the realm of air quality forecasting, the precision of predictions largely hinges on the accuracy of emission inventory data. Traditional methods, which often update only once a year or less, face challenges in keeping pace with the dynamic nature of air pollutant emissions. This issue is particularly significant in China, where rapid changes in atmospheric pollutants demand a more agile...