'Electrogeochemistry' captures carbon, produces fuel, offsets ocean acidification
Limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius will require not only reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, but also active removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This has prompted heightened interest in 'negative emissions technologies.' A new study evaluates the potential for recently described methods that capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through an 'electrogeochemical' process that also generates hydrogen gas for use as fuel and creates by-products that can help counteract ocean acidification.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180625192825.htm
Closing the loop for robotic grasping
Roboticists have developed a faster and more accurate way for robots to grasp objects, including in cluttered and changing environments, which has the potential to improve their usefulness in both industrial and domestic settings.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180625192819.htm
Staying coherent while spinning
Scientists have shown that photo-excited polyatomic molecules maintain their coherence in motion while undergoing spin changes within ultrashort timescales.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180625192816.htm
A galactic test will clarify the existence of dark matter
Researchers used sophisticated computer simulations to devise a test that could answer a burning question in astrophysics: is there really dark matter? Or does Newton's gravitational law need to be modified? The new study shows that the answer is hidden in the motion of the stars within small satellite galaxies swirling around the Milky Way.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180625192745.htm
Discovery of a major technical error will improve epigenetics research
An error in one of the most widely used methods in epigenetics, DIP-seq, can cause misleading results. This may have major significance in the research field, where 'big data' and advanced methods of DNA analysis are used to study vast amounts of data. Correcting for the errors in existing DIP-seq data may lead to new discoveries from previous studies of human epigenetics.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180625192730.htm
Efficient, eco-friendly production of fine chemicals
Chemical engineers have developed a new catalyst for forming a bond between two carbon atoms in a cost-effective and eco-friendly way. This technology could soon make its way into industry.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180625192727.htm
Nanomaterials could mean more algae outbreaks for wetlands, waterways
The last 10 years have seen a surge in the use of tiny substances called nanomaterials in agrochemicals like pesticides and fungicides. The idea is to provide more disease protection and better yields for crops, while decreasing the amount of toxins sprayed on agricultural fields. But when combined with nutrient runoff from fertilized cropland and manure-filled pastures, these 'nanopesticides' could also mean more toxic algae outbreaks for nearby streams, lakes and wetlands, researchers report.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180625192724.htm
How social media's powerful 'silent majority' moves Bitcoin prices
In the past four years, the value of a single bitcoin has soared from approximately $500 in 2014 to a current value of $6,000 and has worked its way into every type of financial transaction, from buying phone credits to shopping for clothes online. Now, researchers show that Bitcoin's value can be manipulated by public sentiment, verifying, for the first time, that social media and Bitcoin prices are linked -- but not without a surprise.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180625192718.htm
A multifunctional, multiscale, reconfigurable surface
Materials scientists have developed a dynamic surface with reconfigurable topography that can sculpt and re-sculpt microscale to macroscale features, change its friction and slipperiness, and tune other properties based on its proximity to a magnetic field.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180625192703.htm
Recipe for star clusters
Clusters of stars across the vast reaches of time and space of the entire universe were all created the same way, researchers have determined.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180625192659.htm
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/top/technology/