Natural environment – Page 2
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ResearchStrings that draw-up brine could help supply the world with lithium
Concept takes lithium extraction into the third dimension away from cumbersome, slow pools of brine
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ResearchSustainable glue made from soy oil and tannin outperforms best commercial adhesives
Mussel inspired plant-based adhesive still requires optimisation but shows promise
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ResearchOrganocatalyst deconstructs mixed plastic waste into monomers
Step towards closed-loop recycling
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ResearchOcean lithium concentrations declined sevenfold over 150 million years
The concentration of lithium in seawater, previously assumed constant, could be related to geologic and climate effects
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ResearchLithium discovery in US volcano could be biggest deposit ever found
Find could point to new ways to prospect for material in high demand for batteries.
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ResearchHow human recreation alters river chemistry
Analytical chemists identify cocaine, pharmaceuticals and sunscreen ingredients in a Colorado river
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ResearchNew understanding of why supercooled water droplets sometimes explode when they freeze
Imaging experiments with thousands of observations help scientists detail complex freezing process
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ResearchPyrolysed plastic waste converted into valuable chemical feedstocks
’Economic mindset’ shapes plastic upcycling approach
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ResearchVolcanic sulfur dioxide linked to oxygen level rise in Earth’s early atmosphere
Study predicts 4.3% of oxygen in atmosphere today comes from breakdown of sulfur dioxide
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ResearchMaillard reaction helps store carbon on the seafloor
Reaction that gives browned food its flavour could play crucial but underappreciated role in the ocean carbon cycle
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ResearchFirst high-pressure synthesis of iron polymorph found at centre of Earth
Recreation of ε-iron backs up theories on why seismic waves travel faster pole-to-pole following an earthquake
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ResearchAcidic proton transfer inhibited on gas-phase ice nanoparticles
Fundamental findings about nitric acid dissociation will feed into atmospheric research on ozone depletion
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ResearchMechanochemical process makes fluorochemicals without HF
New approach brings safety and sustainability benefits
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ResearchPhotophysical oxidation plays newly discovered role in atmospheric chemistry
Process is likely to be a general mechanism in tropospheric chemistry, especially at low altitudes
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ResearchRecreation of Ediacaran ‘death masks’ offers chemical explanation for fossils’ formation
Discovery offers insight into why so many soft-bodied organisms were preserved during that period
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ResearchIce crystallisation initiated by ultrafast laser pulses caught on camera
Technique will aid understanding of early stages of water freezing
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ResearchLife might be able to prosper in sulfuric acid clouds of Venus
Nucleic acid bases found to be stable in conditions found in the planet’s atmosphere
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ResearchMechanochemistry makes gold salts that are soluble in organic solvents
No need for aqua regia, chlorine or mercury in this gold processing method
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ResearchVolcanoes and meteorites may have delivered catalysts for life’s beginning
Iron-rich nanoparticles can catalyse conversion of CO2 to complex organic molecules
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ResearchExposure to high levels of TCE could increase risk of Parkinson’s disease by 70%
US marines working at base with contaminated drinking water in the 1970s and 80s have elevated risk for the disease