News tagged with methane molecule

Sunlight turns carbon dioxide to methane

Dual catalysts may be the key to efficiently turning carbon dioxide and water vapor into methane and other hydrocarbons using titania nanotubes and solar power, according to Penn State researchers.

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Mar 05, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (17) | comments 6

Life on Titan: stand well back and hold your nose!

(PhysOrg.com) -- Research by astrobiologist William Bains suggests that if life has evolved on the frozen surface of Saturn's moon, Titan, it would be strange, smelly and explosive compared to life on Earth. ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Apr 14, 2010 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (11) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Golden pairs: Catalytic dimers of gold atoms make ethylene from methane

(PhysOrg.com) -- Ethylene (ethene, CH2=CH2) is a primary feedstock for chemical industry, and particularly for the production of plastics like polyethylene and polystyrene. Ethylene is currently made by the steam cracking ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Jan 19, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (9) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Milestone: A methane-metal marriage

(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Arizona scientists have inserted metal atoms into methane gas molecules and obtained a detailed structure of the resulting molecule. The discovery could be a key step in making ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Dec 20, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

The great gas hydrate escape

For some time, researchers have explored flammable ice for low-carbon or alternative fuel or as a place to store carbon dioxide. Now, a computer analysis of the ice and gas compound, known as a gas hydrate, ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Jan 18, 2012 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (7) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

How tiny microbes took a big bite out of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

(PhysOrg.com) -- Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, seeps naturally from the seafloor in many places around the planet, including in the Gulf of Mexico.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created May 24, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Feasible use of methane as a raw material

A team of EU-funded researchers has moved one step closer to using methane as a raw material.

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Jun 23, 2011 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Research estimates how long Titan's chemical factory has been in business

Saturn's giant moon Titan hides within a thick, smoggy atmosphere that's well-known to scientists as one of the most complex chemical environments in the solar system. It's a productive "factory" cranking ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Apr 24, 2012 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Rampant helper syndrome: Methane-producing molecule can also repair DNA

The Archaea are single-celled organisms and a domain unto themselves, quite apart from the so called eukaryotes, being bacteria and higher organisms. Many species live under extreme conditions, and carry out unique biochemical ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jul 02, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

New model is proposed to explain absence of organic compounds on surface of Mars

The ongoing search for evidence of past or present life on Mars includes efforts to identify organic compounds such as proteins in Martian soil, but their absence to date remains a mystery. A new theory to ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jun 10, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 2