Carbon capture a tool in climate fight, but at what cost?

Technology for capturing carbon from industrial emissions and storing it may still be in its early stages, but proponents believe it can become a major tool in the fight against climate change.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-carbon-capture-tool-climate.html

Airbnb launches nonprofit for crisis lodging

Airbnb has created a nonprofit aimed at helping emergency response workers find lodging in times of crisis, like now with the pandemic.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-airbnb-nonprofit-crisis-lodging.html

'Net zero' climate targets? Read the fine print

The worldwide effort to prevent Earth from becoming an unlivable hothouse is in the grips of "net zero" fever.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-net-climate-fine.html

Green hydrogen: A fuel bursting with climate-saving potential

In the battle against climate change, green hydrogen is being hailed as a potential miracle fuel that could help the world's worst-polluting industries slash carbon emissions.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-green-hydrogen-fuel-climate-saving-potential.html

Fossil fuels still reign, but renewables make inroads

Five years after the signing of the Paris Climate Accord fossil fuels still dominate the energy landscape but it is renewables that are enjoying the strongest growth which even the COVID-19 crisis has not dented.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-fossil-fuels-renewables-inroads.html

New Zealand marks 'devastating' volcano eruption anniversary

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern paid emotional tribute to victims of the White Island volcano eruption Wednesday on the first anniversary of the disaster that claimed 22 lives.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-zealand-devastating-volcano-eruption-anniversary.html

'Sabre-toothed tiger' skeleton sells for $70,000

A nearly 40-million-year-old skeleton belonging to what is popularly called a sabre-toothed tiger has sold for almost $70,000, a year after its discovery on a US ranch.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-sabre-toothed-tiger-skeleton.html

Google and FB risk big fines under draft Australian news law

Google and Facebook would risk multimillion-dollar fines if they failed to comply with proposed legislation introduced into the Australian Parliament on Wednesday that would make the tech giants pay for journalism they display.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-google-fb-big-fines-australian.html

Cybersecurity firm FireEye says was hacked by nation state

Prominent U.S. cybersecurity firm FireEye said Tuesday that foreign government hackers with "world-class capabilities" broke into its network and stole offensive tools it uses to probe the defenses of its thousands of customers, who include federal, state and local governments and major global corporations.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-cybersecurity-firm-fireeye-hacked-nation.html

Test flight of SpaceX's Starship aborted at last second

The first high-altitude test flight of SpaceX's futuristic Starship was aborted at the last second in Texas on Tuesday.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-flight-spacex-starship-aborted.html

Reductive stress in neuroblastoma cells aggregates protein and impairs neurogenesis

Cells require a balance among oxidation-reduction reactions, or redox homeostasis. Loss of that balance to create oxidative stress is often associated with neurodegeneration. Less is known about how loss of that balance at the other end of the spectrum—reductive stress, or RS—may affect neurons.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-reductive-stress-neuroblastoma-cells-aggregates.html

Why do elephants and tigers still roam in India? Study offers clues

Tropical Asia and Africa are the only regions on Earth that retain diverse populations of large, land-dwelling mammals, such as elephants, rhinos, and big cats. A new study co-authored by Yale researcher Advait M. Jukar suggests that the persistence of mammalian megafauna in the Indian Subcontinent is related to the great beasts' long coexistence there with homo sapiens and other human ancestors.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-elephants-tigers-roam-india-clues.html

AGU panel explores environmental impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, as observed from space

COVID-19 has changed the way we live and work, as various health and safety restrictions keep more of us at home more often. The resulting changes to our behavior are already impacting the environment around us in myriad ways, according to comparisons of remote sensing data before and during the pandemic collected by NASA, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and ESA (European Space Agency) Earth-observing satellites and others.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-agu-panel-explores-environmental-impacts.html

Colorado mountains bouncing back from 'acid rain' impacts

A long-term trend of ecological improvement is appearing in the mountains west of Boulder. Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder have found that Niwot Ridge—a high alpine area of the Rocky Mountains, east of the Continental Divide—is slowly recovering from increased acidity caused by vehicle emissions in Colorado's Front Range.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-colorado-mountains-acid-impacts.html

Team discovers light-driven catalyst forms olefins for drug, agrochemical manufacturing

Inspired by light-sensing bacteria that thrive near hot oceanic vents, synthetic chemists at Rice University have found a mild method to make valuable hydrocarbons known as olefins, or alkenes.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-team-light-driven-catalyst-olefins-drug.html

Algorithms and automation: Making new technology faster and cheaper

Additive manufacturing (AM) machinery has advanced over time, however, the necessary software for new machines often lags behind. To help mitigate this issue, Penn State researchers designed an automated process planning software to save money, time and design resources.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-algorithms-automation-technology-faster-cheaper.html

Microbes and plants: A dynamic duo

Drought stress has been a major roadblock in crop success, and this obstacle will not disappear anytime soon. Luckily, a dynamic duo like Batman and Robin, certain root-associated microbes and the plants they inhabit, are here to help.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-microbes-dynamic-duo.html

Several US populations and regions exposed to high arsenic concentrations in drinking water

A new national study of public water systems found that arsenic levels were not uniform across the U.S., even after implementation of the latest national regulatory standard. In the first study to assess differences in public drinking water arsenic exposures by geographic subgroups, researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health confirmed there are inequalities in drinking water arsenic exposure across certain sociodemographic subgroups and over time. Community water systems reliant on groundwater, serving smaller populations located in the Southwest, and Hispanic communities were more likely to continue exceeding the national maximum containment level, raising environmental justice concerns. The findings are published online in Environmental Health Perspectives.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-populations-regions-exposed-high-arsenic.html

The use of wild mammals in traditional medicine

In an analysis of published research, investigators identified 565 mammalian species that have been used to source products used in traditional medicine around the world, especially in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The analysis, which is published in Mammal Review, also found that 155 of these mammalian species are considered threatened (vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered), and a further 46 are near threatened.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-wild-mammals-traditional-medicine.html

Understanding COVID-19 infection and possible mutations

The binding of a SARS-CoV-2 virus surface protein spike—a projection from the spherical virus particle—to the human cell surface protein ACE2 is the first step to infection that may lead to COVID-19 disease. Penn State researchers computationally assessed how changes to the virus spike makeup can affect binding with ACE2 and compared results to those of the original SARS-CoV virus (SARS).

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-covid-infection-mutations.html