Using advanced DNA sequence analysis, a research team led by NYU Tandon School of Engineering’s Assistant Professor Elizabeth Hénaff has discovered that tiny organisms in Brooklyn’s highly contaminated Gowanus Canal have developed a comprehensive collection of pollution-fighting genes. The findings were published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology on April 15, 2025. The team identified … Read more
University of Oxford researchers have helped overturn the popular theory that water on Earth originated from asteroids bombarding its surface. Instead, the material which built our planet was far richer in hydrogen than previously thought. The findings have been published today in the journal Icarus. A team of researchers at the University of Oxford have … Read more
When two materials come into contact, charged entities on their surfaces get a little nudge. This is how rubbing a balloon on the skin creates static electricity. Likewise, water flowing over some surfaces can gain or lose charge. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have harnessed the phenomenon to generate electricity from rain-like droplets … Read more
Switching from diesel to electric trains dramatically improved the air quality aboard the San Francisco Bay Area’s Caltrain commuter rail line, reducing riders’ exposure to the carcinogen black carbon by an average of 89%, finds a new study published today in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters. The electrification of the system also significantly … Read more
Wildflowers growing on land previously used for buildings and factories can accumulate lead, arsenic and other metal contaminants from the soil, which are consumed by pollinators as they feed, a new study has found. The metals have previously been shown to damage the health of pollinators, which ingest them in nectar as they feed, leading … Read more
UC Santa Cruz Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Scott Winton has been wading through thick, smelly muck in the tropics for almost a decade. He wouldn’t have it any other way. As a wetland ecologist and biogeochemist, he’s been hard at work investigating an important and mysterious topic: peatlands. Peatlands are a special type of … Read more
Researchers at Washington State University have demonstrated a way to use corn protein to improve the performance of lithium-sulfur batteries, a finding that holds promise for expanding the use of the high-energy, lighter-weight batteries in electric vehicles, renewable energy storage and other applications. Lithium-sulfur batteries are lighter for the same amount of energy and more … Read more
Think only pets have a shedding season? Un-fur-tunately you’re wrong. If you’ve noticed more lashes on your cheeks, pillowcase or bathroom sink lately, you’re not alone. We’re in the throes of “eyelash-shedding season,” which most commonly occurs in the spring and fall. “Similar to how we shed more hair in the spring and fall, our … Read more
While serving as a visiting professor in Benevento, outside of Naples, Italy, Adrian Bejan noticed something about the local architecture: All the roofs looked the same. With what seemed like too-shallow peaks on smaller, older structures clustered together, perhaps it was just the style of the times. Or perhaps the ancient Roman builders were on … Read more
A new study has shed unprecedented light on the highly variable and climate-sensitive routes that substances from Siberian rivers use to travel across the Arctic Ocean. The findings raise fresh concerns about the increasing spread of pollutants and the potential consequences for fragile polar ecosystems as climate change accelerates. The international research, published today in … Read more