A new single-atom catalyst can produce hydrogen from urea at an exceptional rate

While hydrogen is widely suggested as an alternative fuel with zero carbon emission, the majority of commercial hydrogen fuel production is obtained from the refining of fossils fuels. The limited reservoir of fossils fuels and their negative impact on the environment has encouraged researchers to develop alternative technologies to produce hydrogen fuel through an eco-friendly process. Such "green hydrogen" can be produced from the electrolysis of water, which is abundant in nature, using electricity derived from a renewable energy source. However, the efficiency of water electrolysis is significantly limited due to the sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which requires a high thermodynamic voltage of 1.23 V.

Research on levitating oil droplets may help reduce air pollution

Research using sound waves to suspend oil droplets has shown that the air pollution coming from the tiny droplets may be impacting larger areas of the environment.

Lego's return to gender neutral toys is good news for all kids

Lego announced this week it would work to remove gender stereotypes from its brand, including no longer marketing toys distinctly to boys or girls and ensuring products are gender-neutral.

Liquid metal proven to be cheap and efficient CO2 converter

A global collaboration, led by researchers from UNSW, has shown how liquid gallium can be used to help achieve the important goal of net zero carbon emissions.

Image: Tethered satellites for propulsion without fuel

How to propel a spacecraft without propellant? Use electrodynamic tethers. These are long, strong conductors connecting two spacecraft. When direct current is applied to the tether, the tether exerts a force on the spacecraft, causing it to either accelerate or brake.

Fewer frogs died by vehicles in the outset of the pandemic

Fewer frogs died from vehicle collisions in spring 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, than during the season in other recent years, according to a new study led by a University of Maine graduate student and community science project coordinator.

Climate-smart rice cultivation system shows promising results

With its extreme weather conditions, climate change poses a threat to rice farming across the world, among other things due to anticipated irrigation water scarcity and escalated labor costs.

Social safety net can become a web for low-income L.A. families who start to earn more

The social safety net is intended to improve the lives of low-income families and individuals. But as assistance programs have become more complex, families face challenges in navigating them. As a result, low-income people risk falling through the safety net and into difficult-to-escape cycles of poverty.

Boom in home-delivered alcohol opens the door to underage drinking

A rapid expansion in online liquor delivery services is making it easier for minors to obtain alcohol, due to regulatory holes and non-compliance with legal requirements, say the authors of a study published today.

To watch a comet form, a spacecraft could tag along for a journey toward the sun

Deep in the solar system, between Jupiter and Neptune, lurk thousands of small chunks of ice and rock. Occasionally, one of them will bump into Jupiter's orbit, get caught and flung into the inner solar system—towards the sun, and us.

Storing data as mixtures of fluorescent dyes

As the world's data storage needs grow, new strategies for preserving information over long periods with reduced energy consumption are needed. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have developed a data storage approach based on mixtures of fluorescent dyes, which are deposited onto an epoxy surface in tiny spots with an inkjet printer. The mixture of dyes at each spot encodes binary information that is read with a fluorescent microscope.

Improved fluorescent amino acids for cellular imaging

New research conducted by researchers in the lab of Penn's E. James Petersson in collaboration with Oregon State University and the University of Washington describes how proteins in living cells can be engineered to include synthetic fluorescent amino acids that are bright, long-lasting, and have properties that sense their environment. This work can help biologists study proteins more easily, with implications for understanding the mechanisms of complex neurological diseases. The results were published in Chemical Science with two associated studies published in eLife and Scientific Reports.

Did a black hole eating a star generate a neutrino? Unlikely, new study shows

In October 2019, a high-energy neutrino slammed into Antarctica. The neutrino, which was remarkably hard to detect, peaked astronomers' interest: what could generate such a powerful particle?

Widely used chemical linked to 100,000 US deaths per year: study

Daily exposure to phthalates, a group of chemicals used in everything from plastic containers to makeup, may lead to approximately 100,000 deaths in older Americans annually, a study from New York University warned Tuesday.

Under-pressure New Zealand sets out carbon-zero plan

New Zealand put forward a raft of carbon-cutting plans Wednesday, ranging from reduced car usage to making ebikes more accessible to meet its target of becoming carbon-zero by 2050.

World's clean energy transition 'too slow': IEA

The global transition to clean energy is still far too slow to meet climate pledges and risks fuelling even greater price volatility, the International Energy Agency warned on Wednesday.

Climate change: England must 'adapt or die,' agency warns

England will be hit hard by floods like those that devastated Germany this summer if the country does not improve its defense against more extreme weather brought by climate change, a governmental agency said Wednesday.

Court rejects fired physicist's intellectual freedom claim

Australia's highest court Wednesday dismissed an intellectual freedom claim by a university physicist who was fired in part over his public statements that scientists exaggerated damage to the Great Barrier Reef caused by climate change.

To oldly go: Shatner, 90, inspires with real-life space trip

As William Shatner prepares to be beamed up Wednesday for his first real-life spaceflight, and to become at 90 the oldest person ever to enter the final frontier, he's bringing out the awe in the small handful of people around a rural Texas spaceport.

Popular theory of Native American origins debunked by genetics and skeletal biology

A widely accepted theory of Native American origins coming from Japan has been attacked in a new scientific study, which shows that the genetics and skeletal biology "simply does not match-up".