A new study provides fresh insight into traditional acid-base chemistry by revealing that the mutual neutralization of isolated hydronium (H₃O⁺) and hydroxide (OH⁻) ions is driven by electron transfer rather than the proton transfer that is expected in bulk liquid water. Using deuterated water ions and advanced 3D coincidence imaging of the neutral products, researchers found two electron-transfer mechanisms that produce hydroxyl radicals (OH), which are crucial in atmospheric chemistry. These findings reshape our understanding of fundamental reaction dynamics and help explain the surprising finding of high OH and H2O2 concentrations at water microdroplet surfaces. This discovery is significant because OH radicals play a key role in air quality, climate science, and even biochemical processes in the human body. By uncovering unexpected chemical reaction pathways, the study could influence future research on planetary and interstellar medium chemistry, as well as pollution control and medical applications.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s (NRL) Narrow Field Imager (NFI) was launched into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as a part of NASA’s Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission on March 11 and deployed from Falcon 9 on March 12.

A new AI weather prediction system, Aardvark Weather, can deliver accurate forecasts tens of times faster and using thousands of times less computing power than current AI and physics-based forecasting systems, according to research published today (Thursday 20 March) in Nature.