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Paris (AFP) - Global warming has triggered an array of apocalyptic scenarios for future generations, from worsening drought, storms and floods to melted ice sheets and rising seas.Now a new study, published Tuesday and coinciding with the UN climate talks in Paris, adds to the grim tableau: the risk that warming at the far end of the scale could rob our planet of oxygen. "We have identified another possible consequence of ... global warming that can potentially be more dangerous than all others," say a pair of scientists from Britain's University of Leicester.

A schematic showing the formation of lithium hydroxide (LiOH) on the graphene electrode on discharging a non-aqueous lithium-oxygen battery in the presence of the redox mediator, lithium iodide, and trace water. On charging, the iodide is oxidized to iodine, which helps to remove the LiOH and reform the bare graphene electrode. Credit: Tao Liu, Gabriella Bocchetti and Clare P. Grey ========================================================================================================================================== Scientists have developed a working laboratory demonstrator of a lithium-oxygen battery which has very high energy density, is more than 90% efficient, and, to date, can be recharged more than 2000 times, showing how several of the problems holding...

This single frame Rosetta navigation camera image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken on 7 July 2015 from a distance of 154 km from the comet centre. The image has a resolution of 13.1 m/pixel and measures 13.4 km across. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stunned scientists announced Wednesday the unexpected discovery of large quantities of oxygen on a comet which streaked past the Sun in August with a European spacecraft in tow. The find came as a "big surprise", and challenges mainstream theories on the formation of our Solar System, said scientist Andre Bieler of the University of Michigan. Measurements suggested that...

Whether, how, and why forest stands have changed their growth patterns over the last century are still hotly disputed questions The world’s great forests have long been recognized as the lungs of the earth. They fix carbon and produce oxygen. So it should come as a pleasant surprise to hear that there are over three trillion trees on earth, according to a new assessment. The figure is more than seven times as big as the previous best estimate, which counted perhaps 400 billion at most. It has been produced by Thomas Crowther and colleagues, from Yale University, who combined a...

The Indiana-based company has developed a "Mars room," which plays host to a test chamber capable of emulating the inhospitable conditions prevailing on the red planet. In the Mars room, Chief scientist Eugene Boland at Techshot Inc is exploring the potential of using ecosystem-building pioneer organisms such as bacteria or algae as oxygen factories. The organisms would use Mars' ample supply of regolith as fuel, and may even serve a dual purpose in removing nitrogen from the M ..

Imagine a glass window that's tough like armor, a camera lens that doesn't get scratched in a sand storm, or a smart phone that doesn't break when dropped. Except it's not glass, it's a special ceramic called spinel {spin-ELL} that the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has been researching over the last 10 years. "Spinel is actually a mineral, it's magnesium aluminate," says Dr. Jas Sanghera, who leads the research. "The advantage is it's so much tougher, stronger, harder than glass. It provides better protection in more hostile environments—so it can withstand sand and rain erosion." As a more durable...

Like Earth, the interior of Mars has undergone a process known as differentiation. This is where a planet, due to its physical or chemical compositions, forms into layers, with denser materials concentrated at the center and less dense materials closer to the surface. In Mars’ case, this translates to a core that is between 1700 and 1850 km (1050 – 1150 mi) in radius and composed primarily of iron, nickel and sulfur. This core is surrounded by a silicate mantle that clearly experienced tectonic and volcanic activity in the past, but which now appears to be dormant. Besides silicon and...

Asteroid sourced hydrogen and oxygen will literally and figuratively fuel expansion of the space economy by providing a locally sourced fuel resource that will change how industry operates in space. While existing satellites cannot be refueled directly today, space tugs fueled by asteroids that are currently being developed, will maneuver Geostationary satellites into their assigned orbit. Thus, keeping them operating and generating revenue far beyond their current life expectancy. Water from asteroids can also be used for a plethora of other applications beyond fuels in space. It can be consumed, used as a radiation shield for humans during deep space...

An elderly man was run over after two people stole his car in Ferguson during Monday night’s disturbances. The aftermath of the incident was captured by a St. Louis news crew and shows the chaotic scene in the parking lot of Faraci Pizza. The victim is shown lying face down on the pavement with his oxygen tank beside him.

A fossil discovered in Montana has given new momentum to the hypothesis that dinosaurs were thriving right up until a devastating meteor hit Earth 65 million years ago, causing their extinction. Scientists from Yale University have found what is believed to be the youngest dinosaur fossil ever found, thought to be from just before the mass extinction took place. The discovery, described in a study published in the online edition of the journal Biology Letters, contradicts the theory that the dinosaurs slowly went extinct before the cosmic impact. The fossil -- a 45-centimetre horn believed to be from a triceratops...

Around 300 million years ago, dragonflies with the wingspans of hawks flitted above coal-producing swamps. Such giants don't exist today, partly because oxygen levels in the atmosphere are much lower. But another reason is that the evolution of birds and their increasing agility in the air forced flying insects to shrink, according to a new study. Like all multicellular animals, insects fuel their metabolism by taking in oxygen. Unlike creatures with lungs, however, insects draw in air through holes in their shell-like exoskeletons. The oxygen diffuses from those holes to the creatures' tissues through a dense network of tubes. Because...

The water-dwelling ancestors of modern-day mammals, reptiles and birds emerged onto land millions of years earlier than previously believed, researchers report. A set of fossilized footprints show that the first tetrapods — a term applied to any four-footed animal with a spine — were treading open ground 397 million years ago, well before scientists thought they existed. An expert unconnected with the research said the find would force experts to reconsider a critical period in evolution when sea-based vertebrates took their first steps toward becoming dinosaurs, mammals and — eventually — human beings. "It blows the whole story out of the water, so to speak," said Jenny...

Charles Darwin worried about a possible hole in his theory of evolution, but some American scientists may just have plugged it. For about a billion years after the dawn of life on Earth, organisms didn't evolve all that much. Then about 600 million years ago came the "Cambrian explosion." Everything changed relatively quickly, with all kinds of plants and animals emerging—which doesn't quite seem to fit with Darwin's theory of slow change, hence "Darwin's dilemma." Now, within a few days of each other, two new studies have appeared that could explain the shift, ABC News reports. One, by scientists at...

A UK man was killed after his device misfired and ignited his oxygen equipment, reports the BBC. Fire officials say David Thomson, 62, was charging his e-cig in his bedroom when it "exploded, caught fire, and ignited the oxygen tube of an oxygen concentrator, which may have been in use by the occupier."

New Medical Discovery A team of scientists at the Boston Children’s Hospital have invented what is being considered one the greatest medical breakthroughs in recent years. They have designed a microparticle that can be injected into a person’s bloodstream that can quickly oxygenate their blood. This will even work if the ability to breathe has been restricted, or even cut off entirely. This finding has the potential to save millions of lives every year. The microparticles can keep an object alive for up to 30 min after respiratory failure. This is accomplished through an injection into the patients’ veins. Once...

Chinese businessman sells canned air to smog-choked citizens Recently, we told you about the horrendous air pollution problems in Beijing that have forced the Chinese government to advise citizens to stay indoors and has residents wearing facemasks in an attempt to protect their lungs from the smog. In the true spirit of Chinese entrepreneurialism, a Chinese businessman has decided to cash in on the "airpocalypse" by selling his own brand of canned air. Chen Guangbiao, a local entrepreneur known for his publicity stunts, claims he's selling the cans of air in part as a way to bring attention to the...

Just like a comic book super hero, you could say that the enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD1) has a secret identity. Since its discovery in 1969, scientists believed SOD1's only role was to protect living cells against damage from free radicals. Now, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have discovered that SOD1 protects cells by regulating cell energy and metabolism. The results of their research were published January 17, 2013, in the journal Cell. Transforming oxygen to energy for growth is key to life for all living cells, which happens either through respiration or fermentation. When oxygen...

(CBS News) A new valve to regulate oxygen flow to a pilot's inflatable vest could be the fix to help F-22 pilots overcome their feeling of disorientation due to lack of oxygen (or hypoxia), while flying, CBS News has learned. Correspondent David Martin reported Tuesday that Gen. Charles Lyon, the head of the task force investigating the cause of hypoxia in F-22 pilots, gave a briefing today which restated the Air Force's belief that they have identified the problem that was causing pilots to lose oxygen. Lyon believes the Air Force has found the cause -- an inflatable vest which...

ScienceDaily (May 9, 2012) — A detailed description of development of the first practical artificial leaf -- a milestone in the drive for sustainable energy that mimics the process, photosynthesis, that green plants use to convert water and sunlight into energy -- appears in the ACS journal Accounts of Chemical Research. The article notes that unlike earlier devices, which used costly ingredients, the new device is made from inexpensive materials and employs low-cost engineering and manufacturing processes.Daniel G. Nocera points out that the artificial leaf responds to the vision of a famous Italian chemist who, in 1912, predicted that scientists...

The [FAA] ecently required the nation’s airlines to disable the oxygen generators located in all aircraft lavatories to eliminate a potential safety and security vulnerability. The FAA, along with other federal agencies, identified and validated the potential threat, then devised a solution that could be completed quickly. Air Worthiness Directive 2011-04-09. That’s the name of the new FAA rule that may kill you one day. It dictates that all emergency oxygen masks should be removed from lavatories in every commercial plane in the United States. The new rule has just been made public by the FAA after a long delay....