Science

Precious metals in catalytic converters such as platinum, palladium and rhodium attract thieves, but University of Central Florida researchers are working to reduce the amount of precious metals the converters need — down to single atoms — while still maximizing their effectiveness. Catalytic converters, widely introduced in American vehicles in the 1970s, use precious metals … Read more

An array of 350 radio telescopes in the Karoo desert of South Africa is getting closer to detecting “cosmic dawn,” the era after the Big Bang when stars first ignited and galaxies began to bloom. In a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal, the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array, or HERA, team reports that it … Read more

Since the discovery 50 years ago of subglacial lakes in Antarctica — some of the least accessible geological features on Earth — scientists have attempted to extract lake bed sediment to learn about the formation, movement and past conditions of the ice sheet. Now, a team of researchers with the U.S. National Science Foundation-funded project … Read more

Populations of various species of aquatic insects and other invertebrates respond to flooding and waterway drying in different ways that can be anticipated, according to a new Penn State-led study that employed a novel method to assess the stability of stream ecosystem communities. As the frequency and magnitude of floods and droughts increase due to … Read more

Efforts to fight disease-causing bacteria by harnessing their natural predators could be undermined when multiple species occupy the same space, according to a study by Dartmouth College researchers. When growing in mixed colonies, some harmful bacteria may be able to withstand attacks from the bacteria and viruses that target them by finding protection inside groups … Read more

In the future, self-driving cars’ computational needs may fuel a large increase in global carbon emissions. The energy needed to run the powerful computers onboard a global fleet of autonomous vehicles could generate as much greenhouse gas emissions as what all global data centers combined currently emit. That’s one key finding of a new study … Read more

Researchers have developed a new tool and technique that uses “vortex ultrasound“ – a type of ultrasonic tornado – to break down blood clots in the brain. The new approach works faster than existing techniques to eliminate clots formed in an in vitro model of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, or CVST. The U.S. National Science … Read more

New research by Joanna Blaszczak of the University of Nevada, Reno and her colleagues shows that hypoxia in rivers and streams is more prevalent across the globe than previously thought. Hypoxia occurs when oxygen levels in surface waters become depleted, which can be harmful to aquatic species and can increase production of greenhouse gases from … Read more

A startling analysis from Globe at Night — a citizen science program run by the U.S. National Science Foundation NOIRLab — concludes that stars are disappearing from human sight at an astonishing rate. The study finds that, to human eyes, artificial lighting has dulled the night sky more rapidly than indicated by satellite measurements. The … Read more

A team led by University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers has invented a groundbreaking catalyst technology that converts renewable materials such as trees and corn into acrylic acid and acrylates, the key chemicals used in paints, coatings and superabsorbent polymers. The new technology is highly efficient and could lead to lower costs for manufacturing renewable … Read more