In a new study that expands our understanding of how humans contribute to global warming, scientists have discovered that human activity has changed the terrestrial biosphere to make it a significant contributor to climate change. Published in Nature, the study looked at the net balance of the three major greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane, and […]
Researchers at Plymouth University have found that polychaete worms living in acidified waters exhibit a tendency to nurture their offspring to a greater extent than those in more regular conditions. The polychaete worms in question live around volcanic vents in the Mediterranean. They grow and develop their eggs within the protection of the family unit […]
Scientists at Berkeley Lab and the University of Hawaii have shown how DNA’s molecular precursors – carbon ring structures with embedded nitrogen atoms – could be created in the region surrounding a star. The new work adds to previous intriguing observations of what appear to be organic molecules in distant stellar environments. In the new […]
Astronomers have discovered an unusual carbon-based molecule – isopropyl cyanide – in the gaseous star-forming region Sagittarius B2. The discovery, made using the ALMA radio telescope array, suggests that the complex molecules needed for life may have their origins in interstellar space. The astronomers, from Cornell University, the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, and […]
Biofuels might not be so “green” after all, say researchers at MIT, who have been doing some calculations based on the complete carbon footprint of fossil fuels and their biofuel equivalents. They contend that when a biofuel’s origins are factored in – for example, taking into account whether the fuel is grown in a clear-cut […]
A massive glaciation event that occurred around 720 million years ago is yielding important clues as to how anomalies in Earth’s carbon cycle can occur. A Princeton University-led team of geologists suggest that a geological episode called “snowball Earth” (which many believe covered the continents and oceans in a thick sheet of ice) produced a […]
Plants are extremely efficient at taking carbon dioxide from the air and converting it into biomass using light as an energy source. Now, chemists may be a step closer to replicating photosynthesis, thanks to a novel catalyst identified by German researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces. Being able to use plain […]
Landowners in the southern United States who are planting pine plantations may be contributing to rising carbon dioxide levels, says a study from Ohio State University. The researchers said that while planting trees is generally considered to be environmentally beneficial, pine plantations are in fact not that helpful. This is because pine plantations don’t retain […]
It seems that current efforts to understand the effects of carbon on climate warming could be a waste of time as estimates of Arctic soil carbon appear to be hugely underestimated. New University of Washington research shows that the estimate of how much soil carbon is available in the high Arctic to be released into […]
Department of Energy funded researchers have decoded and analyzed the genome of a bacterium with the potential to bioremediate radioactive metals and generate electricity. In an article published in Science, researchers at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) and the University of Massachusetts report that Geobacter sulfurreducens possesses extraordinary capabilities to transport electrons and “reduce” […]
