News tagged with nitrous oxide
Solar-powered nano sensor targets gases more polluting than carbon
(PhysOrg.com) -- A solar-powered sensor station to monitor in real time the concentration of gases that are key culprits in climate change and air pollution has been installed on a QUT Gardens Point roof as ...
May 30, 2011 |
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Research in Antarctica reveals non-organic mechanism for production of important greenhouse gas
In so many ways, Don Juan Pond in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica is one of the most unearthly places on the planet. An ankle-deep mirror between mountain peaks and rubbled moraine, the pond is an astonishing ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Apr 25, 2010 |
4.3 / 5 (10) |
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New study sheds light on evolutionary origin of oxygen-based cellular respiration
Researchers at the RIKEN SPring-8 Center in Harima, Japan, have clarified the crystal structure of quinol dependent nitric oxide reductase (qNOR), a bacterial enzyme that offers clues on the origins of our ...
Jan 22, 2012 |
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Fertilizer use responsible for increase in nitrous oxide in atmosphere
University of California, Berkeley, chemists have found a smoking gun proving that increased fertilizer use over the past 50 years is responsible for a dramatic rise in atmospheric nitrous oxide, which is a major greenhouse ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Apr 02, 2012 |
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Could urine be a source of renewable energy?
A research team at Heriot-Watt University, UK, is investigating whether urine could be used to create energy via new, low-cost fuel cells.
Technology / Energy & Green Tech
Aug 22, 2010 |
4.7 / 5 (20) |
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Anthropogenic nitrogen plays a double role in climate change
Human nitrogen additions to the soil may reinforce the greenhouse effect. Nitrogen additions tend to boost plant growth, so that terrestrial ecosystems absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. ...
Aug 04, 2011 |
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Soil microbes accelerate global warming
More carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes soil to release the potent greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide, new research published in this week's edition of Nature reveals. "This feedback to our changing atmosphere means ...
Jul 13, 2011 |
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Engineers use rocket science to make wastewater treatment sustainable
Within the sludge of wastewater treatment plants is an invisible world teeming with microbes. Here, diverse species of bacteria convert solid and liquid wastes into gases, some of which contribute to global ...
Jul 26, 2010 |
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Aquatic 'dead zones' contributing to climate change
The increased frequency and intensity of oxygen-deprived "dead zones" along the world's coasts can negatively impact environmental conditions in far more than just local waters. In the March 12 edition of the journal Science, Univer ...
Mar 11, 2010 |
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Sir Richard Branson All Fired Up With Latest Rocket Motor Test
Virgin Galactic owned by Sir Richard Branson completed a successful test on May 28, 2009 of its hybrid nitrous oxide motor designed by Scaled Composites and a subcontractor Sierra Nevada Corporation. The ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
May 31, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (15) |
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New study shows nitrous oxide now top ozone-depleting emission
Nitrous oxide has now become the largest ozone-depleting substance emitted through human activities, and is expected to remain the largest throughout the 21st century, NOAA scientists say in a new study.
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Aug 27, 2009 |
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Waterways contribute to growth of potent greenhouse gas
Nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, has increased by more than 20 percent over the last century, and nitrogen in waterways is fueling part of that growth, according to a Michigan State University study.
Dec 20, 2010 |
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New way to measure nitrous oxide emissions
(PhysOrg.com) -- An accurate new way to measure a potent greenhouse gas emitted during agricultural production will help countries to better manage their environmental impact, thanks to Queensland University of Technology ...
Mar 06, 2012 |
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Intensive land management leaves Europe without carbon sinks
A new calculation of Europe's greenhouse gas balance shows that emissions of methane and nitrous oxide tip the balance and eliminate Europe's terrestrial sink of greenhouse gases.
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 23, 2009 |
3.5 / 5 (8) |
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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 ...
Jan 10, 2012 |
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Nitrous oxide
Nitrous oxide, commonly known as happy gas or laughing gas, is a chemical compound with the chemical formula N2O. At room temperature, it is a colorless non-flammable gas, with a pleasant, slightly sweet odor and taste. It is used in surgery and dentistry for its anesthetic and analgesic effects. It is known as "laughing gas" due to the euphoric effects of inhaling it, a property that has led to its recreational use as an inhalant drug. It is also used as an oxidizer in rocketry and in motor racing to increase the power output of engines. It is often created in bushfires[citation needed].
Nitrous oxide reacts with ozone and is the main naturally occurring regulator of stratospheric ozone. Nitrous oxide is also a major greenhouse gas. Considered over a 100 year period, it has 298 times more impact per unit weight than carbon dioxide.
For more information about Nitrous oxide, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
