The rapid accumulation of plastic waste is currently posing significant risks for both human health and the environment on Earth. A possible solution to this problem would be to recycle plastic waste, breaking it into smaller molecules that can be used to produce valuable chemicals.
As people contemplate their holiday plans, they may find themselves in an environmental quandary, asking: Which is more sustainable, a real or artificial Christmas tree?
In the best possible news for people who like pizza, researchers report that high-fat cheese may protect brain health and reduce dementia risk. Ancient hunter-gatherer DNA could explain why some people live 100 years or more. And one philosopher believes that we may never be able to tell whether an AI has become conscious.
As Europe seeks to curb its dependence on China for rare earths, plans to mine the continent's biggest deposit have hit a roadblock over fears that mining operations could harm endangered beetles, mosses and mushrooms.
A research team at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) is the first ever to observe a beta-delayed neutron emission from fluorine-25, a rare, unstable nuclide. Using the FRIB Decay Station Initiator (FDSi), the team found contradictions in prior experimental findings. The results led to a new line of inquiry into how particles in exotic, unstable isotopes remain bound under extreme conditions. Led by Robert Grzywacz, professor of physics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), the team included Jack Peltier, undergraduate student at UTK, Zhengyu Xu, postdoctoral researcher at UTK, Sean Liddick, professor of chemistry at FRIB and interim chairperson of MSU's Department of Chemistry, and Rebeka Lubna, scientist at FRIB.
A woman's early career pregnancy decision may shape her financial future for decades, according to new research co-led by Eden King, the Lynette S. Autrey Professor of Psychology at Rice University, and Nicola Lawrence-Thomas, a lecturer in work psychology at the University of Sheffield. The study, one of the first to examine long-term earnings across different early reproductive paths, found that women who became mothers early in life earned significantly less over time than those who had an abortion or never became pregnant.
