Flower-like defects in graphene: a curse or a blessing in disguise?

Graphene is often hailed as the holy grail of nanomaterials, whether on its own or in combination with materials like molybdenum. Not only is it capable of conducting electrons almost without resistance, it also has remarkable mechanical properties such as high strength. But in reality the material often has defects that affect its electronic and mechanical properties.

Continue reading →

2010 brought CO2 record – 450 Scenario does not allow any further growth

We really thought we had all the climate records for 2010 neatly piled, but had all forgotten about this one. Deforestation and other land use changes excluded, simply burning fossil fuels in 2010 we emitted 30,600,000,000 tonnes of CO2. That’s 5 percent more than the previous record (2008), which stood at 29.3 Gt.

Continue reading →

Indo-Pacific coral reefs die at pH < 7.7

And already suffer biodiversity losses during the decline from pH 8.1 (preindustrial) to 7.8. That latest number is the expected acidification for the end of this century according to IPCC 4AR, a theoretical scenario and a dangerously often quoted underestimation of the true CO2 trends, we can learn today from the IEA.

Continue reading →

No evidence bacteria ate methane at end of Snowball Earth

Same story as yesterday, but now 635 million years earlier. This time again no evidence can be found that it were microbes that ate climate-disrupting amounts of methane, at the end of the Marinoan ice age, better known as ‘Snowball Earth’.

This time though the new insights do not suggest the methane stayed in the oceans or in the atmosphere, but perhaps that it wasn’t there at all.

Continue reading →

‘No evidence’ bacteria ate methane BP spill

A group of 13 marine scientists* from 12 different institutions in the United States and Germany have in Science criticised a January publication in that same journal, which stated ‘almost all’ of the spilled methane had been consumed by microbes, within 120 days of the spill.

Continue reading →