Catalyst transforms plastic waste to valuable ingredients at low temperature

For the first time, researchers have used a novel catalyst process to recycle a type of plastic found in everything from grocery bags and food packaging to toys and electronics into liquid fuels and wax.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-catalyst-plastic-valuable-ingredients-temperature.html

Making methane on Mars

Among the many challenges with a Mars voyage, one of the most pressing is: How can you get enough fuel for the spacecraft to fly back to Earth?

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-methane-mars.html

Populism erupts when people feel disconnected and disrespected

American society is riven down the middle. In the 2020 presidential election, 81 million people turned out to vote for Joe Biden, while another 74 million voted for Donald Trump. Many people came to the polls to vote against the other candidate rather than enthusiastically to support the one who secured their vote.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-populism-erupts-people-disconnected-disrespected.html

Collective action around common resources could help vulnerable communities

Two separate economic studies point to a grim current economic reality in South Africa. Close to 3 million jobs lost due to the COVID-19 lockdown in April were not recovered again by June 2020. Also by June, one in every two households living in shack settlements did not have enough money to buy food at the end of the month.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-action-common-resources-vulnerable.html

DYNAMO achieves first observation of the 'charge separation effect'

The University of Michigan has successfully demonstrated the "charge separation effect," predicted over a decade ago, which has important potential for direct conversion of light to electricity without the thermodynamic losses typical of photovoltaic (solar cell) technology. The results are expected to be important to future developments in ultrafast switching, nanophotonics, and nonlinear optics as well.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-dynamo-effect.html

Paying for emissions we've already released

The planet is committed to global warming in excess of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) just from greenhouse gases that have already been added to the atmosphere. This is the conclusion of new research by scientists from Nanjing University, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Texas A&M University, which appears in the latest edition of Nature Climate Change.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-emissions-weve.html

Combining solar energy and agriculture to mitigate climate change, assist rural communities

Co-developing land for both solar photovoltaic power and agriculture could provide 20% of total electricity generation in the United States with an investment of less than 1% of the annual U.S. budget, a new paper by Oregon State University researchers found.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-combining-solar-energy-agriculture-mitigate.html

New dancing girl ginger species found in Yunnan, China

The genus Globba (the dancing girl ginger) is one of the largest genera of the family Zingiberaceae and comprises about 110 species distributed in Sri Lanka, India, Southeast Asia and Australia.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-girl-ginger-species-yunnan-china.html

Scientists identify transition metal for highly-efficient carbon dioxide activation

The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) has been increasing over the past century, imposing severe consequences for global climate change and planetary temperature increase.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-scientists-transition-metal-highly-efficient-carbon.html

How to untie magnetic nano-knots

Skyrmions—tiny magnetic whirls that appear in certain combinations of materials—are considered promising information carriers for future data storage. A research team from RWTH Aachen University, Kiel University, and the University of Iceland has discovered that these magnetic nano-knots untie themselves in two distinct ways. Using a magnetic field, the probability to succeed in untying can be varied by up to a factor of 10,000. This insight might be groundbreaking for future information processing with skyrmions. The research has now been published in Nature Physics.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-untie-magnetic-nano-knots.html

Use of ocean resources changed as Dungeness crab fishing industry adapted to climate shock event

An unprecedented marine heat wave that led to a massive harmful algal bloom and a lengthy closure of the West Coast Dungeness crab fishery significantly altered the use of ocean resources across seven California crab-fishing communities.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-ocean-resources-dungeness-crab-fishing.html

Researchers uncover unequal effects of human activity on mammals

Walking along the Tech Green, you are likely to see squirrels, birds, and the occasional chipmunk scurrying along among passing students. These small critters seem to be thriving in urban environments across the world, but are these the same animals you would see if you took a walk in the same spot 200 or even 2,000 years ago?

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-uncover-unequal-effects-human-mammals.html

Researchers compute turbulence with artificial intelligence

For the first time, researchers at ETH Zurich have successfully automated the modeling of turbulence by combining fluid mechanics with artificial intelligence. Their project relies on fusing reinforcement learning algorithms with turbulent flow simulations on the CSCS supercomputer Piz Daint.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-turbulence-artificial-intelligence.html

Summer temperatures could rise faster in the UK than average global rates

The U.K. could be facing a future of extreme heatwaves according to a new study in which scientists mapped almost 40 years' worth of trends to project what lies ahead.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-summer-temperatures-faster-uk-average.html

A plant's way to its favorite food

Nitrogen is one the most essential nutrients for plants. Its availability in the soil plays a major role in plant growth and development, thereby affecting agricultural productivity. Scientists at the IST Austria were now able to show, how plants adjust their root growth to varying sources of nitrogen. In a new study published in The EMBO Journal they give insights in the molecular pathways of roots adaptation.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-favorite-food.html

Uncovering how grasslands changed our climate

Grasslands are managed worldwide to support livestock production, while remaining natural or semi-natural ones provide critical services that contribute to the wellbeing of both people and the planet. Human activities are, however, causing grasslands to become a source of greenhouse gas emissions rather than a carbon sink. A new study published in Nature Communications reports how grasslands used by humans have changed our climate in recent centuries.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-uncovering-grasslands-climate.html

Qualcomm's Snapdragon 480 SoC to bring 5G to low-cost phones

As 5G-enabled phones secured their spot as major players in smartphone technology in 2020, access to this latest functionality has been limited to higher-end phones. But things are about to change, as Qualcomm announced today the development of the Snapdragon 480 5G Mobile Platform, which is expected to usher in a new wave of low-cost smartphones featuring cutting-edge features of the latest wireless standard.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-qualcomm-snapdragon-soc-5g-low-cost.html

3-D-printed smart gel changes shape when exposed to light

Inspired by the color-changing skin of cuttlefish, octopuses and squids, Rutgers engineers have created a 3-D-printed smart gel that changes shape when exposed to light, becomes "artificial muscle" and may lead to new military camouflage, soft robotics and flexible displays.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-d-printed-smart-gel-exposed.html

China state news agency urges end to long work hours in tech

China's official Xinhua News Agency is calling for shorter work hours in the country's tech sector following the sudden death last week of a young employee at a leading e-commerce platform.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-china-state-news-agency-urges.html

Singapore admits police can access contact-tracing data

Singapore has admitted data collected for contact-tracing can be accessed by police despite earlier assurances it would only be used to fight the coronavirus, sparking privacy concerns Tuesday about the scheme.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-singapore-police-access-contact-tracing.html

Study: Warming already baked in will blow past climate goals

The amount of baked-in global warming, from carbon pollution already in the air, is enough to blow past international agreed upon goals to limit climate change, a new study finds.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-climate-goals.html

NYSE scraps plan to delist China telecom firms

The New York Stock Exchange abandoned plans to delist three state-owned Chinese telecom companies on Monday, reversing a decision that further dented already strained relations between the world's two superpowers.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-nyse-scraps-delist-china-telecom.html

Eurasian eagle owl diet reveals new records of threatened giant bush-crickets

Bird diets provide a real treasure for research into the distribution and conservation of their prey, such as overlooked and rare bush-cricket species, point out scientists after studying the diet of the Eurasian Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) in southeastern Bulgaria.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-eurasian-eagle-owl-diet-reveals.html