News tagged with atmospheric nitrogen

Is it ripe? Carbon nanotube-based ethylene sensor establishes fruit ripeness

(Phys.org) -- The term ethylene (ethene) generally brings to mind polyethylene plastics, not fruit. However, ethylene is more than just a feedstock for chemical industry, it is also the smallest plant hormone, ...

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

created May 19, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

A glow in the Martian night throws light on atmospheric circulation

(PhysOrg.com) -- A faint, infrared glow above the winter poles of Mars is giving new insights into seasonal changes in the planet's atmospheric circulation. The tell-tale night emission was first detected ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Apr 04, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Hong Kong clean air targets fail to impress

Environmentalists on Wednesday expressed disappointment at new clean-air targets for Hong Kong, as research showed pollution-related illnesses killed more than 3,000 residents a year.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 18, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Acid rain poses a previously unrecognized threat to Great Lakes sugar maples

(PhysOrg.com) -- The number of sugar maples in Upper Great Lakes forests is likely to decline in coming decades, according to University of Michigan ecologists and their colleagues, due to a previously unrecognized ...

Biology / Ecology

created Jan 16, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Soil microbiologists discover Aberdeen microbe of global agricultural significance

(PhysOrg.com) -- Organisms that oxidise ammonia were first discovered in 1890. Although a natural process, a major consequence of the activities of such organisms in soil is the transformation and loss of ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 10, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Out of Africa and Into the American Midwest

Grasses bend in the wind, their golden tips tracing arcs across fields that stretch toward the horizon. Sunwashed by a fading evening light, these reedy ballet dancers are central figures in savanna, an ecosystem ...

Biology / Ecology

created Jan 09, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Seeing the forest under the trees

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists recently discovered nitrogen that falls from the atmosphere in acid rain can influence large tracts of sugar maples in North America.

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 08, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

In nitrogenase - enzyme critical for life, X-ray emission cracks mystery atom

Like a shadowy character just hidden from view, a mystery atom in the middle of a complex enzyme called nitrogenase had long hindered scientists' ability to study the enzyme fully.

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Nov 17, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Exploring the atmosphere of exoplanet WASP-14b

First discovered in 2008, WASP 14b is an interesting exoplanet. It is roughly seven times as massive as Jupiter, but only 30% larger, making it among the densest known exoplanets. Recently, it was the target ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 15, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Researchers explore plankton's shifting role in deep sea carbon storage

The tiny phytoplankton Emiliania huxleyi, invisible to the naked eye, plays an outsized role in drawing carbon from the atmosphere and sequestering it deep in the seas. But this role may change as ocean water becomes warmer ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Oct 13, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

The hazy history of Titan's air

What rocky moon has a nitrogen-rich atmosphere, Earth-like weather patterns and geology, liquid hydrocarbon seas and a relatively good chance to support life? The answer is Titan, the fascinating moon of Saturn.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 13, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 18 | with audio podcast

Nitrate levels rising in northwestern Pacific ocean: study

Changes in the ratio of nitrate to phosphorus in the oceans off the coasts of Korea and Japan caused by atmospheric and riverine pollutants may influence the makeup of marine plants and influence marine ecology, according ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Sep 22, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Model helps pinpoint cyanobacterial genes that capture the sun's energy

A new computer model of blue-green algae can predict which of the organism's genes are central to capturing energy from sunlight and other critical processes.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jun 23, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers predict record Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' due to Mississippi River flooding

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Extreme flooding of the Mississippi River this spring is expected to result in the largest Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" on record, according to a University of Michigan aquatic ecologist and his colleagues.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jun 15, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Chemical engineers invent portable hydrogen reactor for fuel cells

Chemical Engineering students at Stevens Institute of Technology are transforming the way that American soldiers power their battery-operated devices by making a small change: a really small change. Capitalizing on the unique ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created May 23, 2011 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (9) | comments 6 | with audio podcast