Category Environment/Geology

This diagram depicts a new reaction mechanism that could be used to improve catalyst designs for pollution-control systems for diesel exhaust.
Credit: Purdue University photo/Maureen Lifton

Researchers have discovered a new reaction mechanism that could be used to improve catalyst designs for pollution control systems to further reduce emissions of smog-causing nitrogen oxides in diesel exhaust. The research focuses on a type of catalyst called zeolites, workhorses in petroleum and chemical refineries and in emission-control systems for diesel engines. New catalyst designs are needed to reduce the emission of nitrogen oxides, or NOx, because current technologies only work well at relatively high temperatures.

“The key challenge in reducing emissions is that they can occur over a very broad ...

After conducting a new research approach using actual commutes, a group of engineers at Washington University in St. Louis discovered a simple shift in driving habits can help to reduce those risks while out on the road. Credit: Washington University in St. Louis

Engineers show how to best reduce pollution exposure during commutes. Commute can also be hazardous to your health, exposing drivers to an increased amount of air pollutants that have been linked to a whole host of medical maladies, including cardiovascular disease, respiratory issues and even lung cancer. After conducting a new research approach using actual commutes, a group of engineers at Washington University in St. Louis discovered a simple shift in driving habits can help to reduce those risks while out on the road.

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The Apollo 15 moon rock sample, which was analyzed by MIT and Rutgers University researchers, consists of basalt fragments welded together by a dark glassy matrix that was produced by melting from a meteorite impact. The black scale cube is 1 centimeter across. Credit: NASA

Findings suggest 2 mechanisms may have powered the moon’s ancient churning, molten core. New evidence from ancient lunar rocks suggests that an active dynamo once churned within the molten metallic core of the moon, generating a magnetic field that lasted at least 1 billion years longer than previously thought. Dynamos are natural generators of magnetic fields around terrestrial bodies, and are powered by the churning of conducting fluids within many stars and planets...

A sequential and mild approach toward the synthesis of poly(limonene)dicarbonate (PLDC) has been developed using readily available limonene oxide (LO) and CO2 as renewable reagents and an air-stable Al(III) complex as catalyst for the alkene-rich poly(limonene)carbonate (PLC).

From your phone case to airplane windows, polycarbonates are everywhere. Several million tons of polycarbonate are produced every year around the world. However, worries about the dangers of this material are increasing because of the toxicity of its precursors, especially bisphenol-A, a potential potential endocrine-disruptor, neurotoxic, and carcinogen...