Around 250 million years ago, Earth experienced its most severe mass extinction event. Over 80% of marine animals became extinct, but the impact of this event on terrestrial ecosystems is less understood—until now. New findings published in GSA Bulletin unveil how this extinction impacted plant communities and shaped their recovery. 

Risky human behavior, not aggression by gators, is the leading cause of alligator bites, according to a groundbreaking new study.

A new study has raised alarms over the potential health risks of recycled paper food contact materials (FCMs), showing that they can release dangerous levels of toxic metals—including lead, arsenic, cadmium, and aluminum—into food.

A recent study shows that low-oxygen storage significantly enhances the health-promoting compounds in broccoli rabe, such as γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and lactic acid (LA). 

Researchers at the LKS Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed) have made a breakthrough in cancer treatment by developing a new therapy, called photosensitive hybrid γδ-T exosomes (hybrid γδ-T-Exos). This therapy targets and destroys cancer cells, while promoting the release of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) and boosting the subsequent antigen-specific immune response. In laboratory tests and animal studies, this innovative hybrid therapy showed a significant reduction in melanoma growth, leading to more effective and safer treatments for cancers. The findings were published in the scientific journal ACS Nano.

Catalyst–support interaction plays a crucial role in improving the catalytic activity of oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Here we modulate the catalyst–support interaction in polyaniline-supported Ni₃Fe oxide (Ni₃Fe oxide/PANI) with a robust hetero-interface, which significantly improves oxygen evolution activities with an overpotential of 270 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² and specific activity of 2.08 mA cmECSA⁻² at overpotential of 300 mV, 3.84-fold that of Ni3Fe oxide. It is revealed that the catalyst–support interaction between Ni₃Fe oxide and PANI support enhances the Ni–O covalency via the interfacial Ni–N bond, thus promoting the charge and mass transfer on Ni₃Fe oxide. Considering the excellent activity and stability, rechargeable Zn-air batteries with optimum Ni₃Fe oxide/PANI are assembled, delivering a low charge voltage of 1.95 V to cycle for 400 h at 10 mA cm⁻². The regulation of the effect of catalyst–support interaction on catalytic activity provides new possibilities for the future design of highly efficient OER catalysts.

Barrier islands, which cover a majority of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, protect coastal infrastructure, beach towns and ecosystems — such as marshes, mangroves and seagrass meadows — from damaging storms and high-energy waves. In a recent study, researchers from Texas A&M University led by Dr. Orencio Duran Vinent gained a better understanding of what makes a barrier island a “barrier.”