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Plants have been using a green pigment for billions of years to capture sunlight, turning it into a flow of electrons and storing its energy in the chemical bonds of big organic molecules (also known as food). Given that successful history, chemist Michael Graetzel of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne and his colleagues turned to a compound similar in shape and color to chlorophyll when they set out to build a better solar cell....

It all began late one night in June 2004, with a small dot swimming into view through the optics of the Kitt Peak National Observatory in the mountains of Arizona. Astronomer Fabrizio Bernardi and two of his colleagues flagged the dot as a possible newly discovered asteroid and confirmed its space-rock status in short order. Initially designated 2004 MN4, the asteroid was intriguing but unremarkable—an object with a width of a few hundred meters (now estimated at 340 meters) about 170 million kilometers from Earth....

Samsung’s curved Galaxy Round smartphone.(Credit:Samsung)Samsung has won the race to be the first phone manufacturer to launch a flexible smartphone. The company announced late Tuesday evening that the Galaxy Round incorporates the latest in flexible screen technology, along with other unique features.The device resembles the Galaxy S3 and S4, but it has slight dip in the middle that causes the phone to curve along a vertical axis. The phone’s body itself is rigid, so it doesn’t exactly flex or bend – but rather has a stationary curve that is said to fit the contours of a person’s face....

Heat waves are the deadliest weather threat in the United States, killing more people each year than hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and earthquakes combined. They’re also expected to become more frequent and more severe with climate change. One way to minimize the negative effects of heat waves is to predict them earlier. This gives people and cities more time to prepare: to purchase air conditioners and do things like set up access to cooler environments for the elderly and homebound, people who are disproportionately affected by heat waves....

DETROIT – The spring rains came bursting down this year, and down again and yet again. And in this bankrupt city, the aging sewage system couldn’t keep up – just like it couldn’t in 2011 and 2009. So on a Thursday morning in April, Detroit’s wastewater managers opened 11 pipes and sent 110 million gallons of raw sewage spewing into the Detroit River. They poured another 3.5 million into the nearby Rouge River....

Treatments for diabetes, smoking, Alzheimer’s disease and lung cancer are just a few of the potentially lifesaving cures Scientific American has chosen to highlight in this year’s roundup of drugs you’ve never heard of, despite their potentially huge impact on global health. These 10 treatments, all of which could significantly impact global health and wellness, are currently running the last gauntlet a pharmaceutical must run before it becomes available to the public–the clinical trial....

Take a deep breath and hold it. You are now engaging in a surprisingly mysterious activity. On average, we humans breathe automatically about 12 times per minute, and this respiratory cycle, along with the beating of our heart, is one of our two vital biological rhythms. The brain adjusts the cadence of breathing to our body’s needs without our conscious effort. Nevertheless, all of us also have the voluntary ability to deliberately hold our breath for short periods....

The world’s oceans have long helped to stave off climate change by absorbing heat and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But that is changing, with devastating consequences for humanity in the coming decades, leading researchers warn in a high-level report commissioned by the United Nations. The rate at which oceans are warming has more than doubled since the early 1990s, and marine heat waves are becoming more frequent and intense—trends that are reshaping ocean ecosystems and fuelling more powerful storms....

When British voters go to the polls Thursday to decide whether or not to withdraw from the European Union they may also be determining the fate of their country’s climate legacy and its burgeoning green technology industry. That’s because if the United Kingdom exits the European Union following next week’s referendum it will go from being a dominant voice and second-largest economy in the 28-nation compact to being an outsider. As such, it will have to negotiate with Brussels for access to the European Union’s consumer and energy markets—a situation that opponents say will give the United Kingdom less power over its own destiny than it currently has....

Women who live in areas with polluted air are up to twice as likely to have an autistic child than those living in communities with cleaner air, according to a new study published today. Building on two smaller, regional studies, the Harvard University research is the first to link air pollution nationwide with autism. It also is the first to suggest that baby boys may be more at risk for autism disorders when their mothers breathe polluted air during pregnancy....

As many as 35 million people worldwide have Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia among adults over 60 years of age. That figure could reach 115 million by 2050, concludes the nonprofit Alzheimer’s Disease International. In the U.S., about 5 percent of adults 65 to 74 have Alzheimer’s, and nearly half of those age 85 and older may have it, according to figures of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention....

Dear EarthTalk: I recently saw an article extolling the virtues of natural gas as an abundant, inexpensive and domestically produced automotive fuel. Is this going to be the automotive fuel of the future and how green is it?—Jason Kincaide, New Bedford, Mass. It is difficult to say which of the growing number of fuel options will power the cars of the future. But natural gas, given its domestic abundance, low price and lesser carbon footprint, is certainly a contender, at least as far as researchers at the federally funded Argonne National Laboratory are concerned....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. Art is an essential aspect of any civilization. Once the basic human needs have been taken care of such as food, shelter, some form of community law, and a religious belief, cultures begin producing artwork, and often all of these developments occur more or less simultaneously. This process began in the Predynastic Period in Egypt (c....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. The medieval Ryukyu castles on the island of Okinawa, Japan are impressive testimony to the kingdom’s power and wealth from the 12th to 16th century CE. Notable castles include Shuri Castle, the royal residence, and four excellent examples of medieval fortresses built in the Okinawa style: Nakijin, Zakimi, Katsuren, and Nakagusuku....

Why, wonders University of Maryland psychology professor Michele Gelfand, are the clocks in Brazil so often wrong, while in Germany the clocks can be counted on? What explains the difference between New Zealand, where prostitution is legal, and Singapore, where chewing gum brings severe sanctions? In Rule Makers, Rule Breakers, Gelfand traces all of this, and so much more, to a single variable: the “tightness” of a culture. She explains the origins of tight (or loose) cultures in countries, in states, in companies, even in families—and then takes readers through the myriad implications, from politics to parenting....

People in the U.S. who suspect they have COVID may now be able to get tested and treated much more quickly, thanks to a new federal program announced by President Joe Biden in his March 1 State of the Union address. The initiative, known as Test to Treat, allows people to take a COVID test at certain pharmacies and other sites—or send in the results of an at-home test—and receive a prescription for antiviral pills from medical providers at the same location Early this month participating pharmacies began distributing two antiviral medications: Pfizer’s Paxlovid and Merck’s molnupiravir, which are respectively 88 and 30 percent effective at preventing hospitalization and death from COVID when given within five days of symptom onset....

By Quirin SchiermeierArctic sea ice has declined slightly less dramatically this year than in the past couple of years. But the seasonal minimum, reached this week, is still the third-lowest on record since satellite radar measurements began in 1979, reinforcing a marked 30-year downward trend in summertime ice extent.Scientists with the University of Colorado’s National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder announced yesterday that the 5.1 million square kilometres sea-ice extent observed on 12 September is the lowest point of the year....

The International Space Station may have to start operating without a crew in November if Russian engineers don’t figure out soon what caused a recent rocket failure, NASA officials announced today (Aug. 29). The unmanned Russian cargo ship Progress 44 crashed just after its Aug. 24 launch to deliver 2.9 tons of supplies to the orbiting lab. The failure was caused by a problem with the Progress’ Soyuz rocket, which is similar to the one Russia uses to launch its crew-carrying vehicle — also called Soyuz — to the station....

As vaccine-makers gear up for the winter flu season, one biotech company is reporting success with an alternative method of developing a flu preventative that it says could work more effectively and be produced more quickly than traditional inoculations prepared in fertilized chicken eggs. This moves Rockville, Md.–based Novavax, Inc., a step closer to submitting its seasonal flu vaccine candidate to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval, and at the same time helping the company move forward with its efforts to develop a vaccine against the H1N1 “swine” flu....

ERDOS, China – Shenhua Group Corp., one of China’s coal giants, has built much of its success at the cost of climate change. Every year, the company digs hundreds of million of tons of coal out of the ground and sells this carbon-intensive energy source throughout China. Meanwhile, its own plants consume a few million tons to generate power and chemicals, releasing a massive amount of climate-harming gas into the air....