Cooling effect discovered in breathing MOFs

Adsorbing carbon dioxide into certain metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) could provide greener alternatives for refrigeration. Juan Manuel Bermúdez García and co-workers at the University of Coruña, Spain, have discovered that some MOFs can cool down their environment as they ‘breathe out’ CO2 . The thermal changes are big enough to meet the most critical industrial cooling […]

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Strange new bonds found hiding in plain sight in common organometallics

A new bond type called collective bonding has been discovered in well-known boron, aluminium, organolithium and organomagnesium compounds. In these molecules, there is little bonding between the central neighbouring atoms – their stability can only be explained by global interactions. When chemists first made NaBH3– from the common reducing agent sodium borohydride, they immediately realised […]

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Plastic-eating enzyme could eliminate billions of tons of landfill waste

An enzyme variant created by engineers and scientists at The University of Texas at Austin can break down environment-throttling plastics that typically take centuries to degrade in just a matter of hours to days. This discovery, published today in Nature, could help solve one of the world’s most pressing environmental problems: what to do with the billions […]

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Earth’s atmosphere may be source of some lunar water

Hydrogen and oxygen ions escaping from Earth’s upper atmosphere and combining on the moon could be one of the sources of the known lunar water and ice, according to new research by University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute scientists. The work led by UAF Geophysical Institute associate research professor Gunther Kletetschka adds to a growing body of research about […]

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Globally, 99% of people now impacted by bad air, WHO declares

(The below Apr. 4, 2022 news release is from the World Health Organization). Almost the entire population (99%) breathes air that exceeds WHO air quality limits, and threatens their health. A record number of over 6000 cities in 117 countries are now monitoring air quality, but the people living in them are still breathing unhealthy […]

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Highest number of U.S. gun homicides ever recorded in 2020

A new report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions analyzes Centers for Disease Control and Prevention firearm fatality data for 2020—a year that saw the highest number of gun-related deaths ever recorded by the CDC and a sharp increase in gun homicides. Among other things, the report concludes that states with the […]

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Human skin has evolved to allow maximum durability and flexibility

Human skin has evolved to allow maximum durability and flexibility, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York. Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering Guy German, along with former students Christopher Maiorana and Rajeshwari Jotawar have published new research regarding the structure of human skin and the amount of damage it can sustain. […]

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New study finds climate change could spark the next pandemic

As the earth’s climate continues to warm, researchers predict wild animals will be forced to relocate their habitats – likely to regions with large human populations – dramatically increasing the risk of a viral jump to humans that could lead to the next pandemic. This link between climate change and viral transmission is described by […]

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Neurons may work completely differently than previously thought

The brain is a complex network containing billions of neurons. Each of these neurons communicates simultaneously with thousands of others via their synapses (links), and collects incoming signals through several extremely long, branched “arms”, called dendritic trees. For the last 70 years a core hypothesis of neuroscience has been that brain learning occurs by modifying […]

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More relaxation and less stress through combined yoga techniques

Yoga is often equated with acrobatic stretching exercises that are supposed to induce relaxation and a better body awareness. This benefit has been scientifically proven. What has been little researched so far is how different yoga techniques such as the so-called “sun salutation” or breathing exercises as well as meditation work in combination. Dr. Karin Matko, […]

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