An international team of scientists has uncovered toxic metals in mineral phosphate fertilizers worldwide by using a new tool to identify the spread and impact of such contaminants on soil, water resources, and food supply.
Molecular & Computational biology
May 17, 2024
0
38
Phosphorus is an essential ingredient in thousands of products, including herbicides, lithium-ion batteries, and even soft drinks. Most of this phosphorus comes from an energy-intensive process that contributes significantly ...
Analytical Chemistry
Feb 21, 2023
1
71
Phosphorus is one of the most common substances on Earth. An essential nutrient for every living organism—humans require approximately 700 milligrams per day—we are rarely concerned about consuming enough of it because ...
Earth Sciences
May 14, 2015
1
73
Lithium-ion batteries are a rapidly growing energy storage method due to their high energy density, especially in mobile applications such as personal electronics and electric cars. However, the materials currently used in ...
Energy & Green Tech
Feb 17, 2016
12
26
University of California, Irvine materials science researchers are learning about resilience from the mantis shrimp. The ancient crustaceans are armed with two hammerlike raptorial appendages called dactyl clubs that they ...
Materials Science
Aug 17, 2020
0
1229
The phosphate ion is almost insoluble and is one of the most inactive of Earth's most abundant phosphate minerals. So how could phosphate have originally been incorporated into ribonucleotides, the building blocks of RNA, ...
Biochemistry
Aug 18, 2016
9
600
Plants cannot survive without phosphorus. It forms the backbone of many crucial molecules (such as DNA) and is a key player in energy transfer reactions. Low availability of phosphorus is a major environmental stress for ...
Biotechnology
May 15, 2012
0
0
Lithium iron phosphate batteries are very durable and can be charged relatively quickly. Researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), ETH Zurich and Toyota Central R&D Labs, Inc. reveal the reasons for these properties ...
Materials Science
Sep 9, 2015
0
52
If you wanted to really mess with the world's food production, a good place to start would be in Morocco. They don't grow much here, but it is home to mines containing most of the world's known reserves of phosphate rock, ...
Environment
Sep 6, 2019
4
196
Water found in ancient Moon rocks might have actually originated from the proto-Earth and even survived the Moon-forming event. Latest research into the amount of water within lunar rocks returned during the Apollo missions ...
Space Exploration
Sep 10, 2013
6
4
