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02/13/2020
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By Arsenio Toledo
Wet-dog smell, tobacco smoke and skunk spray: Various factors affect how long an unpleasant scent lingers, explain researchers
The human nose can distinguish at least one trillion different scents. Many of these smells will come and go fairly quickly. However, others, such as disgusting smells, don’t disappear fast enough. The brain recognizes smells with the help of special sensory cells known as olfactory receptor neurons that are located inside the nose. Once they receive a […]
02/09/2020
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By Arsenio Toledo
French researchers claim to have created metallic hydrogen in a lab: Material can “conduct electricity indefinitely at room temperature”
Metallic hydrogen is a state of hydrogen wherein the element is able to conduct electricity. Scientists have spent close to a century attempting to create this material. A team of French researchers now claim that they’ve done it. Normally, hydrogen isn’t a great conductor. However, physicists since the 1930s have suspected that if hydrogen were to be […]
02/08/2020
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By Arsenio Toledo
Fascinating study finds that the presence of atmospheric oxygen triggers the removal of webbed digits in amphibians and amniotes
A study published in the journal Developmental Cell found that when certain animal species detect the presence of atmospheric oxygen, their webbed digits can turn into free fingers. This is especially the case in the embryotic development of amphibians and amniotes, which includes birds, reptiles and even mammals, all of which are capable of having either webbed digits […]
01/25/2020
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By Arsenio Toledo
Study suggests Europa, Jupiter’s Moon, contains table salt in its oceans just like the oceans on Earth
A study published in the journal Science Advances believes that subterranean oceans lurking underneath the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa may have a similar salt composition to oceans on Earth after the Hubble Space Telescope spotted sodium chloride, or salt, on the surface of the icy moon. Scientists now believe that other similarities may be discovered between the oceans of the two worlds. Four different […]
12/15/2019
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By Arsenio Toledo
Researchers design cost-efficient, clean fuel cells that might soon replace traditional gas engines in cars
Fuel cell technology has been around for some time. The first truly modern fuel cell vehicles came from the 1950s and 1960s, when they were used on experimental vehicles such as the 1966 Electrovan, a van which was outfitted with a fuel cell that took up so much space it could only fit two people. Fuel cell technology was even used by […]
12/15/2019
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By Grace Olson
Inspired by photosynthesis in plants, researchers create liquid fuel with just water and carbon dioxide
Chemists from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign managed to successfully create liquid fuel from sunlight, carbon dioxide and water using gold nanoparticles. The process was inspired by photosynthesis, the energy production method of plants. The study was a collaboration between Sungju Yu, a postdoctoral researcher and Prashaint Jain, a chemistry professor. They published their findings in Nature Communications, contributing […]
11/30/2019
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By Arsenio Toledo
Liquid water on Pluto? Gases trapped in a layer of ice could be what keeps an underground ocean from freezing, report researchers
Scientists believe that a layer of gassy material on Pluto’s surface is stopping an ocean underneath it from freezing over. New models of Pluto’s evolution suggest that this gassy layer is helping to insulate this body of water. If their calculations are correct, this means that these gases, if present in other planets, can potentially harbor life-supporting bodies […]
11/11/2019
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By Edsel Cook
The Earth’s mantle is a “geochemically diverse mosaic,” reveals team of geologists
The typical visual depiction of the Earth’s mantle as a solid band of yellow-orange sitting between the crust and core has just received an update. A recent paper in Nature Geoscience now describes it as “more heterogenous” than what people previously thought. An international group led by the University of Utah provided a more diverse representation of the mantle, far different compared […]
10/23/2019
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By Edsel Cook
Swiss startup invents higher-performance electric car battery that can leave Tesla batteries in the dust
A startup in the tiny mountainous country of Switzerland promises to deliver what electric car giant Tesla Motors has failed to pull off. Its new lithium-ion battery is said to store and produce far more power for vehicles than existing designs. Swiss company Innolith claims that an electric vehicle equipped with its lithium battery would […]
10/14/2019
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By Darnel Fernandez
New polymer conductor films are lightweight and perform better than most metals
Many polymers – materials made with long, chain-like molecules – are very good insulators of heat and are usually the go-to material for thermal insulation. However, a recent study published in the journal Nature Communications managed to turn the idea of polymer insulators on its head as researchers were able to develop polymer films that can conduct heat, a property normally associated […]
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