Emissions of nitrous oxide from man-made activities increased by 30% over the past four decades – to 7.3 teragrams (1Tg = 1 x 1012g)/year of nitrogen, according to a new comprehensive global inventory. Nitrogen fertiliser additions to crops accounted for most of the rise (Nature, doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2780-0). Read more in C&I Magazine.
Chemists in Denmark claim to have invented a green tech process to convert seawater into drinking water in a few minutes using carbon dioxide. Seawater is already a vital source of drinking water around the world, but large plants are energy intensive and often powered by fossil fuels. The scientists at the University of Copenhagen hope their technology could offer an almost zero-energy desalination technology. Read more in C&I Magazine.
A new way to depolymerise polyethylene (PE) produces liquid alkylaromatics that could find application as feedstock for surfactants, lubricants and refrigerants. Manufacture of such compounds from waste PE could one day displace or supplement fossil fuel–based routes, the researchers believe. Read more in C&I Magazine
Easily prepared versions of the natural clay bentonite may one day offer a cheaper approach to removing synthetic oestrogens from water, according to a new study (Environ. Eng. Sci., doi: org/10.1089/ees.2020.0048). Read more in C&I Magazine.
Neonicotinoid insecticides are highly persistent and can contaminate freshwater and the nectar and pollen of crops and wildflowers. Their use is heavily restricted in the EU. Read more in C&I Magazine
Air pollution is linked to greater hospital admissions for brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, according to new research. Read more in C&I Magazine.
To survive, grow and divide, cells rely on numerous different enzymes that catalyse many successive reactions. Researchers at the University of Basel in Switzerland have developed a precisely controllable system for mimicking these biochemical reaction cascades. Read more in C&I Magazine.