Pyroelectric catalysis (pyro-catalysis) can convert environmental temperature fluctuations into clean chemical energy, like hydrogen. However, compared with the more common catalysis strategy, such as photocatalysis, pyro-catalysis is inefficient due to slow temperature changes in the ambient environment. Recently, a team has triggered a significantly faster and more efficient pyro-catalytic reaction...
Landscaping for drought: We’re doing it wrong
Despite recent, torrential rains, most of Southern California remains in a drought. Accordingly, many residents plant trees prized for drought tolerance, but a new study shows that these trees lose this tolerance once they're watered.
EV transition will benefit most US vehicle owners, but lowest-income Americans could get left behind
More than 90% of vehicle-owning households in the United States would see a reduction in the percentage of income spent on transportation energy -- the gasoline or electricity that powers their cars, SUVs and pickups -- if they switched to electric vehicles.
An education doesn’t just make you smarter — it protects your gut, seriously
New research has found a better education has a strong genetic correlation and a protective causal association with several gut disorders.
A new tool helps map out where to develop clean energy infrastructure
An update to the Energy Zones Mapping Tool, the Geospatial Energy Mapper is an online tool with an extensive catalog of mapping data for energy planning. It can help identify areas that are suitable for clean energy infrastructure projects.
New study puts gut microbiome at the center of Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis
New research says the gut microbiome is involved in multiple pathways in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. The findings show a wide imbalance in microbiome composition in persons with Parkinson's disease. The investigators employed metagenomics, the study of genetic material recovered directly from the stool microbiome of persons with PD...
Rice breeding breakthrough to feed billions
An international team has succeeded in propagating a commercial hybrid rice strain as a clone through seeds with 95 percent efficiency. This could lower the cost of hybrid rice seed, making high-yielding, disease resistant rice strains available to low-income farmers worldwide.
Rodent extinctions in Hispaniola may have been caused by humans
Hispaniola once had among the highest diversity of rodents in the Caribbean. Today, only one rodent species remains, and its prospects for survival are uncertain. New carbon dates place the blame squarely on humans.
Cat locomotion could unlock better human spinal cord injury treatment
Cats always land on their feet, but what makes them so agile? Their unique sense of balance has more in common with humans than it may appear. Researchers are studying cat locomotion to better understand how the spinal cord works to help humans with partial spinal cord damage walk and...
Another step toward an insulin tablet
For the millions of people living with diabetes, insulin is a life-saving drug. Unlike many other medicines, though, insulin cannot be easily delivered by swallowing a pill -- it needs to be injected under the skin with a syringe or pump. Researchers have been making steps toward an insulin pill,...