For years, researchers have worked to repurpose excess atmospheric carbon dioxide into new chemicals, fuels and other products traditionally made from hydrocarbons harvested from fossil fuels. 

North Carolina State University-led researchers have developed an analytical measurement “framework” which could allow organic solar cell researchers and manufacturers to determine which materials will produce the most stable solar cells prior to manufacture.

Natural gas is the cleanest traditional fossil fuel source because it produces relatively low amounts of pollutants like carbon dioxide – a potent greenhouse gas and major contributor to climate change.

Tales of post-apocalyptic landscapes in which few survivors emerge into a new and much different world have long been popular tales woven by screenwriters and authors. 

Scientists have used a “galaxy-sized” space observatory to find possible hints of a unique signal from gravitational waves, or the powerful ripples that course through the universe and warp the fabric of space and time itself.

Michigan State University is leading a global research effort to offer the first worldwide view of how climate change could affect water availability and drought severity in the decades to come.

By the late 21st century, global land area and population facing extreme droughts could more than double — increasing from 3% during 1976-2005 to 7%-8%, according to Yadu Pokhrel, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering in MSU’s College of Engineering, and lead author of the research published in Nature Climate Change.

“More and more people will suffer from extreme droughts if a medium-to-high level of global warming continues and water management is maintained at its present state,” Pokhrel said. “Areas of the Southern Hemisphere, where water scarcity is already a problem, will be disproportionately affected. We predict this increase in water scarcity will affect food security and escalate human migration and conflict.”

Read more: Michigan State University

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In most animal species, if a major artery is cut off from the heart, the animal will struggle to survive.

Rice University engineers are turning carbon monoxide directly into acetic acid — the widely used chemical agent that gives vinegar its tang — with a continuous catalytic reactor that can use renewable electricity efficiently to turn out a highly purified product.

As the planet continues to warm, the twin challenges of diminishing water supply and growing energy demand are intensifying.

Water that had pooled in the crater since 2019 quickly boiled off during an eruption that began in December 2020.