Exhaust gas is to blame: Ground-level ozone is damaging crops

It is generally known that pollution has damaged the ozone layer around the Earth. The ozone layer is important for protecting life from harmful UV rays from the sun. However, the fact that pollution leads to too much ozone ...

Carbon monoxide detectors could warn of extraterrestrial life

Carbon monoxide detectors in our homes warn of a dangerous buildup of that colorless, odorless gas we normally associate with death. Astronomers, too, have generally assumed that a build-up of carbon monoxide in a planet's ...

Africa: An air pollution wildcard

For the past four years, atmospheric scientists have been flying around the world with NASA on a mission to analyze pollution chemistry in the air and oceans. The NASA Atmospheric Tomography Mission or ATom, which flew its ...

New catalyst turns pollutant into fuel

Rather than allow power plants and industry to toss carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, incoming Rice University assistant professor Haotian Wang has a plan to convert the greenhouse gas into useful products in a green way.

Chemists discover unexpected enzyme structure

Many microbes have an enzyme that can convert carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide. This reaction is critical for building carbon compounds and generating energy, particularly for bacteria that live in oxygen-free environments.

Size matters—if you are a bubble of volcanic gas

The chemical composition of gases emitted from volcanoes—which are used to monitor changes in volcanic activity—can change depending on the size of gas bubbles rising to the surface, and relate to the way in which they ...

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