More than 70 years after the end of the Second World War, countless pieces of ammunition from this time are still lying – and corroding – in all oceans. Once the casings are damaged, the explosives can release toxic substances into the seawater. A new review study, published by scientists from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of the Environment in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, points to considerable knowledge gaps regarding the spread and effects of these chemicals on marine ecosystems.
articles
Vultures Reveal Critical Old World Flyways
It’s not easy to catch an Egyptian vulture.
Evan Buechley knows. He’s hunkered down near garbage dumps from Ethiopia to Armenia, waiting for the highly intelligent birds to trigger a harmless trap. But no matter how well he and other researchers hid the traps, he says, “somehow the birds could always sense that something was up.”
New Materials for Sustainable, Low-Cost Batteries
A new conductor material and a new electrode material could pave the way for inexpensive batteries and therefore the large-scale storage of renewable energies.
Cheaper and easier way found to make plastic semiconductors
Cheap, flexible and sustainable plastic semiconductors will soon be a reality thanks to a breakthrough by chemists at the University of Waterloo.
Professor Derek Schipper and his team at Waterloo have developed a way to make conjugated polymers, plastics that conduct electricity like metals, using a simple dehydration reaction the only byproduct of which is water.
Greener ships, cleaner ocean
Drop an electric motor into a ship and you’re all set to sail into a cleaner environment, right?
If only it were that simple, says a University of Victoria mechanical engineer whose research focuses on hybrid electric propulsion systems.
Five Healthy Habits May Add More Than a Decade to Life
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including eating a healthy diet, regular exercise and not smoking, could prolong life expectancy at age 50 by 14 years for women and just over 12 years for men, according to new research in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation.