A peptide sensor to detect water-soluble polymers in wastewater, a major contributor to pollution on par with microplastics, has been developed. The new technique takes advantage of the bonding that occurs between peptides and different polymers to train a machine learning algorithm that can both identify and quantify a large number of pollutants in a…

Tropical rain forests are becoming fragmented at a higher rate than expected. By analyzing high-resolution satellite data, researchers were able to measure even the smallest piece of tropical forest and study the changes in tropical fragmentation. In a new paper, they discuss how this previously unnoticed and underestimated increase in fragmentation to almost one third…

Engineers suggest that flaring of natural gas at oil and gas fields in the United States, primarily in North Dakota and Texas, contributed to dozens of premature deaths in 2019. Satellite observations and computer models can link gas flares to air pollution and health, according to Daniel Cohan of Rice’s George R. Brown School of…

Earth’s atmosphere has a unique ability to cleanse itself by way of invisible molecules in the air that act as minuscule cleanup crews. The most important molecule in that crew is the hydroxyl radical (OH), nicknamed the ‘detergent of the atmosphere’ because of its dominant role in removing pollutants. New research will aid in building…

Solar energy plays an important role in the fight against climate change as a substitute for fossil fuels. Dye-sensitized solar cells promise to be a low-cost supplement to the photovoltaic systems we know today. Their key feature is the dye sensitizers attached to their surface. Researchers continue to improve the performance with sensitizers using iron…

Researchers have discovered that an initial UTI can set the tone for subsequent infections. In mouse studies, the researchers found that a transient infection triggers a short-lived inflammatory response that rapidly eliminates the bacteria. But a lingering infection leads to persistent inflammation and long-lasting changes to the bladder that prime the immune system to overreact…

Bird dispersal movements are thought to depend on complex demographic and genetic factors. Researchers show that there may be a simpler explanation: bird dispersal distances depend on the morphology and flight efficiency of the wings. Bird populations and the capacity of species to move across the landscape can determine which species will thrive and which…

Human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world, despite efforts to reduce the risks. People and ecosystems least able to cope are being hardest hit, said scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. «This report is a…

The fact that microplastics can accumulate organic pollutants from the environment and transport them has been known for some time. What is new, however, is that metals can also be transported in this manner. In addition, the smaller the particles, the greater the metal accumulation on the plastic. Fifty-five different metals investigated The team, which…

Engineers find ‘nanoarchitected’ materials designed from precisely patterned nanoscale structures may be a promising route to lightweight armor, protective coatings, blast shields, and other impact-resistant materials. The researchers have fabricated an ultralight material made from nanometer-scale carbon struts that give the material toughness and mechanical robustness. The team tested the material’s resilience by shooting it…