News by Subject Earth Science

In two new studies on life in the seafloor of the Guaymas Basin, in the Gulf of California, Marine Biological Laboratory scientist Emil Ruff and collaborators show that distinct regions within the Basin harbor specially adapted microorganisms; discover new microbial inhabitants of this deep-sea community; and suggest how the community may be dramatically influencing carbon cycling in the hot seafloor sediments.

A novel way of synthesizing an essential powder is key to raising the efficiency of perovskite solar cells, say researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University.

Rice University engineers have created microscopic seeds for growing remarkably uniform 2D perovskite crystals that are both stable and highly efficient at harvesting electricity from sunlight.

Scientists have used a compound made from a starch derivative and baking soda to help convert mechanical to electrical energy. The approach, developed by scientists at Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Technology (DGIST), with colleagues in Korea and India, is cost-effective and biocompatible, and can help charge low-energy electronics like calculators and watches. The details were published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.

Scientists at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, together with colleagues from Boston University (BU) and Wayne State University (WSU), have now succeeded in preventing dendrite formation and thus at least doubling the lifetime of a lithium metal battery. The researchers report on their method in the renowned journal "Advanced Energy Materials".

Using a numerical model that simulates ocean currents, researchers are shedding light on the important "motion of the ocean" in the Straits of Florida. They have conducted a first-of-its-kind study identifying the mechanisms behind the formation of sub-mesoscale eddies, which have important environmental implications and play a significant role in the health of the Florida Keys coral reef ecosystem.