Hydrogen fuel produced from sunlight and safely stored

SunlightHydrogen has long been commended as a clean and efficient alternative to gasoline, but so far it hasn’t really been able to live up to expectations. Mostly because it has to be derived from non-renewable sources like coal and natural gas to be cost efficient, but also because it has proven difficult to safely store. Surprisingly two separate research teams have now come up with solutions to both problems.

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Ancient clams disprove permanent El Niño theory

Clam year ringsThe prevailing theory and fear that rising global temperatures could result in permanent El Niño conditions have been called into question by an international research team on the basis of growth rings of prehistoric clams. A transition to a permanent El Niño state could have a major impact on socioeconomic and ecological systems worldwide.

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New model predicts environmental effects of drugs

Pharmaceutical products although usually beneficial to human health often end up in the environment with just the opposite effect on wildlife. But we are at risk as well since increasing amounts of drugs end up in our drinking water. To predict where current and future drugs may end up, researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona have come up with a new tool, which has been published in Water Air and Soil Pollution.

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Recycled paper waste could be used to fuel cars

Future biobutanolIt seems a bit far-fetched, producing fuel out of paper waste with the help of bacteria found in animal droppings. But it is exactly what Tulane University scientists in New Orleans have done. They managed to use a novel bacterial strain to convert cellulose directly into butanol, a biofuel that can serve as a substitute for gasoline.

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Biosphere’s influence on cloud formation larger than previously thought

CloudsClouds can have a large impact on global climate. Depending on conditions they can either trap or reflect the sun’s heat. Scientists at CERN have now determined that organic vapours released by Earth’s organisms play a far more significant role in cloud formation than previously suspected.

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Nature: climate change leads to 67-84 percent intraspecific biodiversity loss by 2080 – Holocene Mass Extinction within this century

The better we define the richness of life on Earth, the larger the percentage we are going to lose becomes. Life won’t go extinct. The number of domains and kingdoms will very-very likely remain the same. But as we go down from phylums and orders to families and beyond the picture gets nastier with every consecutive taxonomic zoom level – ending sub subspecies.Climate change leads to 84% biodiversity loss

That’s because climate change causes different forms of ecological damage, all of which in some way add up to the total biodiversity decline, a new study indicates.

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