Earth

Juelich, 29 March 2016 - Juelich physicists have discovered unexpected effects in doped graphene - i.e. graphene that is mixed with foreign atoms. They investigated samples of the carbon compound enriched with the foreign atom nitrogen on various substrate materials. Unwanted interactions with these substrates can influence the electric properties of graphene. The researchers at the Peter Gruenberg Institute have now shown that effective doping depends on the choice of substrate material. The scientists' results were published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

EPFL researchers have shown that a law of physics having to do with electron transport at nanoscale can also be analogously applied to the ion transport. This discovery provides insight into a key aspect of how ion channels function within our living cells.

The membrane of all human cells contains tiny channels through which ions pass through at high speed. These ion channels play a fundamental role in how neurons, muscular cells and cardiac cells in particular function.

The formation of a distinct pattern of sea surface temperatures in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean can predict an increased chance of summer heat waves in the eastern half of the U.S. up to 50 days in advance.

The pattern is a contrast of warmer-than-average water coming up against cooler-than-average seas. When it appears, the odds that extreme heat will strike during a particular week -- or even on a particular day -- can more than triple, depending on how well-formed the pattern is.

Researchers found that short, stunted mangroves living along the coastal desert of Baja California store up to five times more carbon below ground than their lush, tropical counterparts. The new study led by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego estimates that coastal desert mangroves, which only account for one percent of the land area, store nearly 30 percent of the region's belowground carbon.

An international team of scientists led by Artem Oganov, Head of Computational Materials Discovery Lab at MIPT, has proven that technetium carbide does not exist -- it was pure technetium that was mistakenly considered as such. This is important from the view point of chemistry of transition metal carbides which are in many ways considered as promising substances. The article was published in RSC Advances.

FORT PIERCE, FL - The citrus disease huanglongbing (HLB) is endemic in Florida, where it is estimated that more than 80% of citrus trees are currently infected. Largely as a result of this devastating disease, Florida citrus production in 2014-15 was the lowest recorded in the past 50 years. Sweet orange and grapefruit, which account for more than 95% of Florida citrus production, appear to be especially compromised by HLB. Understandably, there is an urgent need to identify citrus varieties that can resist the widespread disease.

On May 17, 2012 the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center forecasted normal summer temperatures in the Northeast and Midwest United States and a 33 to 40 percent chance of above-normal temperatures for the Southeast. Instead, the regions experienced three separate, record-breaking heat events in June and July that resulted in more than 100 deaths.

In the past decade, extreme heat waves in the US have cost tens of billions in damage and killed hundreds of people -- and it's likely going to get worse.

BOULDER -- The formation of a distinct pattern of sea surface temperatures in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean can predict an increased chance of summertime heat waves in the eastern half of the United States up to 50 days in advance, according to a new study led by a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

The quantum behaviour of hydrogen affects the structural properties of hydrogen-rich compounds, which are possible candidates for the elusive room temperature superconductor, according to new research co-authored at the University of Cambridge.

UPTON, NY-The proton sounds like a simple object, but it's not. Inside, there's a teeming microcosm of quarks and gluons with properties such as spin and "color" charge that contribute to the particle's seemingly simplistic role as a building block of visible matter. By analyzing the particle debris emitted from collisions of polarized protons at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC, https://www.bnl.gov/rhic/), scientists say they've found a new way to glimpse that internal microcosm.

WASHINGTON, March 24, 2016 -- How often do you use water from your tap? Do you trust it? Residents of Flint, Michigan, don't, and they have a good reason. How did lead levels in the water get so high in this city, and how did chemistry play a part in identifying the problem -- despite government denials? In this episode of Speaking of Chemistry, Matt Davenport examines how science helped bring the Flint water crisis to light, and why researchers are calling on regulators to prevent future disasters.

Exposure to a substitute chemical often used to replace bisphenol A in plastics can encourage the formation of fat cells, according to a new study published in Endocrinology.

The replacement chemical, bisphenol S, has a slightly different chemical structure than bisphenol A (BPA), a known endocrine disruptor. As of 2014, nearly 100 epidemiological studies have been published tying BPA to health problems, according to the Introductory Guide to Endocrine-disrupting Chemicals, published by the Society and IPEN, a global network that supports sound chemicals management.

DURHAM, N.C. - Duke University researchers have taken a major step towards realizing a new form of MRI that could record biochemical reactions in the body as they happen.

In the March 25 issue of Science Advances, they report the discovery of a new class of molecular tags that enhance MRI signals by 10,000-fold and generate detectable signals that last over an hour. The tags are biocompatible and inexpensive to produce, paving the way for widespread use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to monitor metabolic processes of conditions like cancer and heart disease in real time.

CORVALLIS, Ore. - More rainfall during the growing season may have led to one of the most significant changes in the Earth's vegetation in the distant past, and similar climate changes could affect the distribution of plants in the future as well, a new study suggests.

The dodo represents one of the best-known examples of extinction caused by humans, yet we know surprisingly little about this flightless pigeon from a scientific perspective. Now, for the first time since its extinction, a 3-D atlas of the skeletal anatomy of the dodo has been created, based upon two exceptional dodo skeletons that have remained unstudied for over a century.