science news 26.4.2019

Today's selection of science news. Links are normally to press releases on EurekAlert (at the bottom end I may also add a couple of newspaper stories). I include quotes from the summary (using quotation marks) in cases where the title alone doesn't reveal what the story is about. My own thoughts appear without quotation marks, if I have any.



earth

Diamonds reveal how continents are stabilized, key to Earth's habitability

New view of how ocean 'pumps' impact climate change
"A new Rochester study has found that factors such as wind, currents, and even small fish play a larger role in transferring and storing carbon from the surface of the ocean to the deep oceans than was previously thought."


ecology

Pole-to-pole study of ocean life identifies nearly 200,000 marine viruses
"An international team has conducted the first-ever global survey of the ecological diversity of viruses in the oceans during expeditions aboard a single sailboat. They identified nearly 200,000 marine viral species, which vastly exceeds the 15,000 known from prior ocean surveys of these waters and the approximately 2,000 genomes available from cultured viruses of microbes. Their findings, appearing April 25 in the journal Cell, have implications for understanding issues ranging from evolution to climate change."



This image shows the Tara sailing on its Polar Circle expedition in 2013.
Credit: A. Deniaud Garcia/ Fondation Tara Ocean


environment

Unravelling the complexity of air pollution in the world's coldest capital city
"A joint Mongol-Japanese research team from the National University of Mongolia and Kanazawa University conducted the first detailed study of organic air pollutants in Ulaanbaartar city. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contents of airborne particulates were determined, and indicated that the degree of air pollution varies markedly by district and season."


sustainable technology

Caffeine gives solar cells an energy boost
a joke during a coffee break turned into a real improvement of the technology ...

Using DNA templates to harness the sun's energy

How to take the 'petro' out of the petrochemicals industry
"University of Toronto Engineering researchers chart a course for how an alternative technology -- renewable electrosynthesis -- could usher in a more sustainable chemical industry, and ultimately enable us to leave much more oil and gas in the ground."


humans

MRC researchers discover how eating feeds into the body clock
"The Medical Research Council (MRC)-funded study, published today in the journal Cell, is the first to identify insulin as a primary signal that helps communicate the timing of meals to the cellular clocks located across our body, commonly known as the body clock."


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From the news media:

The report about reading speach intention from neurons in the brain made the front page of the Guardian yesterday.