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Seaweed Could Hold Key to Environmentally Friendly Sunscreen

A compound found in seaweed could protect human skin from the damaging impact of the sun without causing harm to marine ecosystems. 

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Working in the Cold

When it is cold in winter, cars tend to have starting problems. This is not much better with electric cars, which inevitably lose capacity of their rechargeable lithium-ion batteries at freezing temperatures. Now, Chinese scientists have offered a strategy to avoid plunging battery kinetics. In a study published in the journal Angewandte Chemie, they designed a battery system with a cold-enduring hard-carbon anode and a powerful lithium-rich cathode, with the important initial lithiation step integrated.

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WASP-18b Has Smothering Stratosphere Without Water

A NASA-led team has found evidence that the oversized planet WASP-18b is wrapped in a smothering stratosphere loaded with carbon monoxide and devoid of water. The findings come from a new analysis of observations made by the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes.

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Beyond Wind Speed: A New Measure for Predicting Hurricane Impacts

Six major hurricanes that engulfed the Atlantic Basin in 2017 were a devastating reminder of the vulnerability of coastal communities, where more than half the U.S. population resides.

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Obesity Prevented in Mice Fed High-Fat Diet

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a way to prevent fat cells from growing larger, a process that leads to weight gain and obesity. By activating a pathway in fat cells in mice, the researchers found they could feed the animals a high-fat diet without making them obese.

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Augmented-Reality Technology Could Help Treat 'Lazy Eye'

When signals between the brain and one eye go awry, input from the other eye can become predominant, a condition called amblyopia or “lazy eye.” Amblyopia is common and it is typically treated by forcing the less dominant eye to adapt, either through lab-based training or wearing an eyepatch. But new research suggests that people may be able to use wearable augmented-reality technology to reduce this visual discrepancy as they go about everyday activities.

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Study Finds Variation Within Species is a Critical Aspect of Biodiversity

Concerns about biodiversity tend to focus on the loss of species from ecosystems, but a new study suggests that the loss of variation within species can also have important ecological consequences.

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Superior hydrogen catalyst just grows that way

Replacing your everyday gas guzzler with a hydrogen fueled car could drastically reduce your carbon footprint. So why don’t we all make the switch?

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New Test Provides Accurate Measure of DNA Damage from Chemical Compounds

A new biomarker test developed by researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and their colleagues can help predict, with up to 90 percent certainty, which chemical compounds can cause DNA damage that could lead to cancer. The study was published early online the week of December 4, 2017, in PNAS.

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Despite city tree benefits, Calif. urban canopy cover per capita lowest in U.S.

Trees in California communities are working overtime. From removing carbon dioxide and pollutants from the air, intercepting rainfall and increasing property values, California's 173.2 million city trees provide ecosystem services valued at $8.3 billion a year. However, according to a recent study, more benefits could be realized if the Golden State's urban forests didn't have the lowest canopy cover per capita in the nation.

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