Tag Archive for 'Oxygen'

$The structure of boron monoxide was a longstanding problem, dating back to 1940. Solving it required developing new NMR methods as well as applying x-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), x-ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Image credit: U.S. Department of Energy Ames National Laboratory.$

Chemists Finally Determine Structure of Boron Monoxide

Jul 19, 2023 by News Staff

Boron monoxide, a binary compound of boron and oxygen, was first reported in the 1940s. However, scientists were unable to determine the structure of the...

Mirror nuclei, such as oxygen-18 and neon-18, have the same number of protons and neutrons (18), but while oxygen-18 has 8 protons and 10 neutrons, neon-18 has 10 protons & 8 neutrons. When they absorb enough energy, they can decay and emit an alpha particle (2 protons and 2 neutrons). Image credit: M. Barbui.

Nuclear Physicists Find Evidence of Superradiance in Mirror Nuclei

Jun 28, 2023 by News Staff

Superradiance occurs when an atomic nucleus reaches a high excitation energy. Mirror nuclei, such as oxygen-18 and neon-18, have the same number of protons...

Giesche et al. aimed to reconstruct indications of both the winter and summer rainy seasons from their multi-proxy time series and evaluate the impact these changes may have had on the Indus Civilization. Image credit: Giesche et al., doi: 10.1038/s43247-023-00763-z.

Recurring Summer and Winter Droughts Led to Demise of Bronze Age Indus Civilization

Apr 27, 2023 by News Staff

In new research, scientists from the University of Cambridge and elsewhere reconstructed changes in summer and winter rainfall from trace elements and...

An artist’s impression of two Troodon formosus near their nest. Image credit: Alex Boersma / PNAS.

Troodon Nests Were Shared by Multiple Females, Paleontologists Find

Apr 4, 2023 by News Staff

The dinosaur-bird transition is among the most fascinating events in evolutionary history, but several aspects such as changes in reproductive system,...

This schematic shows the layers of Earth’s atmosphere, from the troposphere to the thermosphere. SOFIA observes from within the stratosphere and studied the ratio of main oxygen to heavy oxygen in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere, up to an altitude of about 200 km (124 miles). Image credit: NASA / SOFIA / L. Proudfit.

SOFIA Makes First Detection of Oxygen-18 in Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere of Earth

Mar 8, 2023 by News Staff

In the lower atmosphere of Earth, oxygen contains a higher fraction of the heavy isotope 18O than ocean water does. This enrichment is a signature of biological...

This image shows the distant galaxy GHZ2/GLASS-z12. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / T. Treu, UCLA / NAOJ / T. Bakx, Nagoya University.

ALMA Confirms Discovery of Oxygen-Rich Galaxy in Very Early Universe

Jan 25, 2023 by News Staff

GHZ2/GLASS-z12, initially identified in the JWST GLASS survey, existed when the Universe was only 367 million years old (redshift z=12.117). This image...

This illustration shows what WASP-39b could look like, based on the current understanding of the planet. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / J. Olmsted, STScI.

Webb Reveals Atmospheric Composition of Hot-Saturn WASP-39b

Nov 22, 2022 by News Staff

While the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope and other space telescopes previously have revealed isolated ingredients of the atmosphere of WASP-39b,...

An artist’s impression of Devonian forest. Image credit: Eduard Riou / Rursus.

Evolution of Tree Roots Triggered Series of Devonian Mass Extinctions, Study Suggests

Nov 11, 2022 by News Staff

The Devonian period, which occurred 419 to 358 million years ago, prior to the evolution of life on land, is known for a series of catastrophic mass extinction...

Diorama of Ediacaran organisms displayed at the Smithsonian Institution. Image credit: Ryan Somma / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Study: Decreased Global Oxygen Availability Caused End-Ediacaran Mass Extinction

Nov 9, 2022 by News Staff

Mass extinctions are well recognized as significant steps in the evolutionary trajectory of life on Earth. In new research, geobiologists from Virginia...

This image shows the extremely red quasar SDSS J165202.64+172852.3. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / D. Wylezalek, A. Vayner & Q3D Team / N. Zakamska.

Webb Observes Extremely Red Quasar and Its Environment in Early Universe

Oct 20, 2022 by News Staff

The red quasar the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope observed, called SDSS J165202.64+172852.3 (SDSSJ1652 for short), resides in a very dense environment...

El Sidron Neanderthals taste wild mushrooms, pine nuts and forest moss. Image credit: Abel Grau, CSIC Communication.

Study Confirms High Level of Carnivory in Iberian Neanderthals

Oct 18, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleoanthropologists have analyzed zinc, strontium, carbon, and oxygen isotope and trace element ratios in a fossilized Neanderthal tooth as well as animal...

Kapil et al. describe the phase behavior of monolayer-confined water by calculating its pressure-temperature phase diagram: (a-g) the pressure-temperature phase diagram of monolayer water was calculated using an machine learning potential that delivers first-principles accuracy; the solid and dashed lines indicate first-order and continuous phase transitions, respectively; the gray regions indicate the statistical uncertainty for solid-solid phase transitions and, for the other transitions, the uncertainties arising from studying a finite number of thermodynamic states; the diagonally hatched area indicates the region in which square and flat-rhombic phases are near degenerate; diagrams of the hexagonal (a), pentagonal (b), square (c), flat-rhombic (d), hexatic (e), superionic (f) and liquid (g) phases are shown with oxygen atoms in red, hydrogen atoms in gray and hydrogen bonds shown by blue lines. Image credit: Kapil et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05036-x.

Monolayer-Confined Water Acts Like Neither Liquid Nor Solid, Scientists Say

Sep 14, 2022 by News Staff

Water in a one-molecule layer acts like neither a liquid nor a solid, and becomes highly conductive at high pressures, according to a new paper published...

The concept of direct air electrolysis for hydrogen production: (a) a schematic diagram of the direct air electrolysis module with a water harvesting unit made of porous medium soaked with the hygroscopic ionic solution; (b) a schematic diagram of the cross-section of the direct air electrolysis module, showing the electrodes are isolated from the air feed, and the absorbed water are transported to the electrode by capillaries of the sponge. Image credit: Guo et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-32652-y.

Scientists Demonstrate Novel Method of Direct Hydrogen Production from Air

Sep 6, 2022 by News Staff

To overcome the water shortage problem in the case of widespread deployment of hydrogen production, a team of researchers from Australia, the United Kingdom...

Schematic model of fluvial systems both before and after the development of land plants: before the Devonian period, minimal land plants, rapid channel migration and river systems dominated by braided rivers led to rapid sediment transfer, minimal development of mud-sized particles and minor deposition of mudrocks along continental margins; in contrast, after the Devonian, the expansion of vascular land plants led to the development of meandering rivers and the dramatic slowing of sediment transfer to marine environments; the red dashed line represents a generalized sediment transport path that is more sinuous post-Devonian and less sinuous pre-Devonian; these diametric depositional systems influenced the isotopic composition of sediment available for reworking and melting in magmatic systems along destructive plate boundaries. Image credit: Spencer et al., doi: 10.1038/s41561-022-00995-2.

Emergence of Land Plants Altered Composition of Earth’s Continental Crust, Researchers Say

Aug 31, 2022 by News Staff

The evolution of land plants took place about 430 million years ago (Silurian period), when North America and Europe were conjoined in a landmass called...

(A) the Milky Way Galaxy with superimposed spiral arms and geological events: the arm and the Solar System rotate clockwise at different rates; the ‘+’ number denotes the number of times Earth has passed through that arm; (B) model of the Oort cloud showing cometary nuclei; (C) schematic reconstruction of early Earth impact process; (D) early crustal nuclei development. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ESO / R. Hurt / Kirkland et al., doi: 10.1130/G50513.1.

Transits through Milky Way’s Spiral Arms Helped Form Early Earth’s Continental Crust, Study Says

Aug 24, 2022 by News Staff

New research led by Curtin University geologists suggests that regions of space with dense interstellar clouds may send more high-energy comets crashing...

Giant Meteorite Impacts Played Key Role in Creation of Earth’s Continents

Aug 10, 2022 by News Staff

Earth is the only planet known to have continents, although how they formed and evolved is unclear. An artist’s concept of meteors impacting the ancient...

University of Michigan’s Professor Daniel Fisher and the 13,000-year-old Buesching mastodon. Image credit: Eric Bronson / Michigan Photography.

Research Reveals Annual Migration Patterns of American Mastodon

Jun 14, 2022 by News Staff

Around 13,200 years ago, an 8-ton adult American mastodon (Mammut americanum) — nicknamed the Buesching mastodon — was killed when a rival...

Yao et al. propose a potentially available extraterrestrial photosynthesis pathway on the Moon, which will help us to achieve a zero-energy consumption extraterrestrial life support system. Image credit: Yao et al., doi: 10.1016/j.joule.2022.04.011.

Lunar Soil Contains Active Compounds that Can Convert Carbon Dioxide into Oxygen and Fuels

May 5, 2022 by News Staff

In light of significant efforts being taken toward manned deep space exploration, it is of high technological importance and scientific interest to develop...

Asgard archaeon. Scale bar - 500 nm. Image credit: Imachi et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1916-6.

Eukaryotic Cells Emerged in Anoxic Environment, New Study Suggests

Apr 27, 2022 by News Staff

Since the 1960s, many scientists have argued that the emergence of eukaryotes — cells containing a clearly defined nucleus — happened in response...

Artist’s concept of ocean on Jupiter’s moon Europa. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Salt Water within Europa’s Icy Shell Could Be Transporting Oxygen into Its Subsurface Ocean

Mar 24, 2022 by News Staff

Some icy moons in the outer Solar System likely contain an ocean beneath their ice shells. Jupiter’s moon Europa is thought to have an ocean beneath...

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