Earth

Classical and high-temperature superconductors differ hugely in the value of the critical temperatures at which they lose all electrical resistance. Scientists have now used powerful X-rays to establish another big difference: high-temperature superconductivity cannot be accounted for by the mechanism that leads to conventional superconductivity. As this mechanism called "electron-phonon coupling" contributes only marginally to the loss of electrical resistance, other scenarios must now be developed to explain high-temperature superconductivity.

Even if carbon dioxide emissions came to a sudden halt, the carbon dioxide already in Earth's atmosphere could continue to warm our planet for hundreds of years, according to Princeton University-led research published in the journal Nature Climate Change. The study suggests that it might take a lot less carbon than previously thought to reach the global temperature scientists deem unsafe.

A unique inside look at the electronic structure of a highly touted metal-organic framework (MOF) as it is adsorbing carbon dioxide gas should help in the design of new and improved MOFs for carbon capture and storage. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have recorded the first in situ electronic structure observations of the adsorption of carbon dioxide inside Mg-MOF-74, an open metal site MOF that has emerged as one of the most promising strategies for capturing and storing greenhouse gases.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Copper adorns the Statue of Liberty, makes sturdy, affordable wiring, and helps our bodies absorb iron. Now, researchers at Duke University would like to use copper to transform sunlight and water into a chemical fuel.

Predictions of sea level rise could become more accurate, thanks to new insight into how glacier movement is affected by melting ice in summer.

Studies of the Greenland ice sheet, including during a record warm summer, are helping scientists better understand how summer conditions affect its flow. This is important for predicting the future contribution made by melting glaciers to sea level rise.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – For years scientists have intensely argued over whether increases of potent methane gas concentrations in the atmosphere – from about 5,000 years ago to the start of the industrial revolution – were triggered by natural causes or human activities.

A new study, which will be published Friday in the journal Science, suggests the increase in methane likely was caused by both.

Researchers at The Field Museum, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (NCMNS), and North Carolina State University (NCSU) have discovered a new, giant predatory dinosaur that walked the Earth approximately 100 million years ago, in the Cedar Mountain Formation in Utah. The new dinosaur is the first of its kind to be discovered in North America. The study appears in the Nov. 22, 2013 issue of Nature Communications.

The new predator, which was over 30 feet long and weighed more than four tons, was doubtless the top predator in its ecosystem.

Faced with inevitable pain, most people choose to "get it out of the way" as soon as possible, according to research published this week in PLOS Computational Biology. In the study, which was conducted from the Institute for Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London, and the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, participants chose between real painful stimuli in the form of electric shocks, and imagined painful dental appointments occurring at different times in the future.

Researchers have created magnetic replicas of sunflower pollen grains using a wet chemical, layer-by-layer process that applies highly conformal iron oxide coatings. The replicas possess natural adhesion properties inherited from the spiky pollen particles while gaining magnetic behavior, allowing for tailored adhesion to surfaces.

MADISON, Wis. – The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a particle detector buried in the Antarctic ice, is a demonstration of the power of the human passion for discovery, where scientific ingenuity meets technological innovation. Today, nearly 25 years after the pioneering idea of detecting neutrinos in ice, the IceCube Collaboration announces the observation of 28 very high-energy particle events that constitute the first solid evidence for astrophysical neutrinos from cosmic accelerators.

COLLEGE PARK, MD – Astrophysicists using a telescope embedded in Antarctic ice have succeeded in a quest to detect and record the mysterious phenomena known as cosmic neutrinos – nearly massless particles that stream to Earth at the speed of light from outside our solar system, striking the surface in a burst of energy that can be as powerful as a baseball pitcher's fastball.

The ability to differentiate your own body from others is a fundamental skill, critical for humans' ability to interact with their environments and the people in them. Now, researchers reporting in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, on November 21 provide some of the first evidence that newborn babies enter the world with the essential mechanisms for this kind of body awareness already in place.

In addition to this insight into normal human development, the researchers stress the importance of the new findings for understanding atypical development, too.

Scientists funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) have observed "swarms" of seismic activity--thousands of events in the same locations, sometimes dozens in a single day--between January 2010 and March 2011, indicating current volcanic activity under the massive West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS).

BUFFALO, N.Y. — It's not X-ray vision, but you could call it infrared vision.

A University at Buffalo-led research team has developed a technique for "seeing through" a stack of graphene sheets to identify and describe the electronic properties of each individual sheet — even when the sheets are covering each other up.

The method involves shooting a beam of infrared light at the stack, and measuring how the light wave's direction of oscillation changes as it bounces off the layers within.

Whether you're brining your bird this Thanksgiving or experimenting with "wheat meat," the American Chemical Society's (ACS') latest Bytesize Science episode offers five tips on how to make this year's holiday even better through chemistry. The video is available now on http://www.BytesizeScience.com.