Scientists unravel ancient evolutionary history of photosynthesis
...lants use the energy of sunlight to convert carbon dioxide into hydrocarbons that promote plant growth while generating oxygen from water and releasing the oxygen to the atmosphere. All animals including humans depend either directly or indirectly on this source of food and oxygen. Consequently, photosynthes......eathe more slowly if it'll help reduce your carbon dioxide burden on the poor overheated planet. But the temp...ys, since other factors like the amount of sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere have been shown to have a local effect. Industrial pollution, created more in the ...Bio-X awards $3 million in grants for imaginative interdisciplinary research and education projects
...lobal warming by releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide into the oceans, while others contend that reefs actually absorb huge quantities of CO2 from the sea. ``Although significant research effort has been directed toward resolution of this problem during the past 10 years,`` say Koseff and Dunbar, ``th...Impurities in biominerals reveal key to understanding climate change, will lead to novel materials
...o form the minerals in their shells removes carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, which is a greenhouse gas thought to cause global warming. Magnesium is the principal impurity in seawater that interferes with the growth of the calcium carbonate minerals so critical to the survival of many organisms. H...Changes in North American land use have had major impact on global environment
...estion of how to reduce the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Scientists have been trying for more than a decade to track the fate of carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere as a result of burning fossil fuels. Early studies showed that despite si...Laser surgery halts chest pain over the long-term; scientists also looking into non-surgical TMR
...l form of the laser procedure. TMR uses a carbon dioxide laser to make multiple channels in the heart for blood to flow through. Although no one is sure exactly why or how the procedure helps to reduce chest pain, it has proven to be effective over the short-term. Now the results of a new study indicate ......ural water purifiers, oxygen generators and carbon dioxide scrubbers. In short, little life-support machines. But what kind of plants should we take into space? Some cereals, a few salad leaves and something pretty to spruce up the capsule? Probably not. It's true that plants have been doing a bang-up job of...Scientists track phosphate to better understand global warming
...plants, which through photosynthesis remove carbon dioxide - the greenhouse gas most responsible for global w...ess the sun's energy to convert atmospheric carbon dioxide and water into sugar and oxygen. Through photosynthesis, organisms as tiny as algae and as mighty as...First-ever complete plant genome sequence is announced
...ow photosynthesis converts solar energy and carbon dioxide into biomass, helping scientists develop better plants for fuel and chemical uses. The Arabidopsis initiative also demonstrates how information technology (IT) is revolutionizing biology research. Without advanced computers and networks, the genome'...7,000 feet under the Sea: LSU scientists take geology to great depths
...to the greenhouse effect 20 times more than carbon dioxide does, Aharon said. If the Earths oceans warm up as they are predicted to with global warming, increasing amounts of hydrates will become unstable and release methane. The release of gas would contribute to further global warming, and a dangerous cy...Scientists find that grasslands can act as 'carbon sinks'
...inks," absorbing more of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide than they release. Now, a team of researchers has ...ds can act as carbon sinks when atmospheric carbon dioxide is elevated. The research described in the Nature paper, however, identified a mechanism through whi...Story tips from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, January 2001
...Oceanic phytoplankton remove nearly as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year as all land-based plants, so a better understanding of the relationship between iron coming from the deserts through the atmosphere into the ocean could prove useful. The study used two new technologies satellite remote...Scientist searches Yellowstone Park for carbon dioxide-eating microbe
... Above all, must have a hearty appetite for carbon dioxide and a tolerance for scalding temperatures. This i...team looking for ways of naturally lowering carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants. Besides Cooksey, the threesome includes David Bayless, a me...Atmospheric aerosols impact on smog formation being reassessed
...decomposition of chemical species such as nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde by sunlight. The photolysis rates are variable because the amount of light reaching the lower atmosphere -- called the solar actinic flux -- is variable. Aerosols, particles in the atmosphere, can extinguish light through scattering ...New study reveals a major cause of global warming - ordinary soot
... - just behind the infamous greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2). ``Soot - or black carbon - may be responsib... on human-produced greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, which also are byproducts of fossil fuel burning. But according to IPCC scientists, a...Plants as plants: gene could convert crops to plastics factories
...s that you get your nutrients for free the carbon dioxide and sunlight are there for the plants, Meyer says. With microbes, on the other hand, you have a high capital investment because you have to build factories to produce and feed them. Because plants produce such a wide variety of natural products, Chap...Research determines how plants tell which way is up
... missions, we'll need to use plants to turn carbon dioxide into oxygen, to cleanse water and to provide food," said Dr. Wendy Boss, an NC State professor of botany who is one of 10 principal investigators on the project. "Before we create such long-term life-support systems, we need to know how gravity affec...Volcano helps meteorologists find answer to climate change mystery
...no in the Philippines spewed 30 megatons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. The airborne debris became sulfate aerosols that resulted in cooler temperatures around the world, including the southeastern United States and eastern China. While looking at temperature data from both regions, the meteorologist...Stowaways from space provide link between impact, biggest extinction in Earth history
...is and causing food chains to collapse. Or, carbon dioxide could have trapped the sun's heat, sending temperatures on Earth soaring. The coupling of a massive impact and widespread volcanic activity also occurred in the more widely publicized extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years...Scientists map biological changes in Earth's tropical forests
... on tropical forests, measure the amount of carbon dioxide being absorbed by rainforests and provide a reference for scientists in search of particular medicinal plants," Thomas says. Dozens of new tree species have also been discovered through the detailed process of identifying almost every plant species o...