Upgrading raw biogas into pipeline-quality methane is a critical step for expanding renewable energy, but current purification methods can be costly and energy-intensive. A team of researchers led by scientists at Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah has developed a novel solution by transforming a common agricultural waste—eggshells—into a high-performance filter that efficiently separates carbon dioxide (CO₂) from methane (CH₄). This innovative approach offers a low-cost, environmentally friendly pathway to cleaner energy.

The research focuses on creating advanced mixed matrix membranes (MMMs), which combine the processability of polymers with the selective properties of filler materials. While high-tech fillers like metal-organic frameworks can be effective, their high cost limits widespread use. The Malaysian-led team turned to eggshells, an abundant and inexpensive source of calcium carbonate. By applying a simple, chemical-free heating process called calcination, they converted the eggshells into nanostructured calcium oxide (CaO) particles with a uniquely high surface area.

Soil salinization is one of the world’s most pressing threats to agriculture, especially in dry and semi-dry regions where salts and high pH can build up in the soil. These harsh conditions limit root growth, reduce nutrient uptake, and weaken crop productivity. Now, a new study shows that carefully designed biochar amendments can do more than improve soil chemistry. They can also guide plant metabolism and reshape beneficial microbial communities around the roots.

Soil pollution and degradation are threatening food security, crop productivity, and the long-term health of agricultural land worldwide. A new review published in Biochar suggests that one promising solution may come from pairing two powerful natural tools: biochar and beneficial microbes.

A Boston College-led study suggests that enhanced mid-ocean-ridge volcanism may have released hydrothermal iron that fertilized plankton in the eastern equatorial Pacific during ice-age transitions. The work reveals a hidden connection among sea level, deep-sea volcanism, ocean productivity, carbon storage, and climate.

Raman spectroscopy is a powerful tool, but it lacks data on how isotopes from natural materials affect results. To bridge this gap, a researcher from Kyushu University studied how oxygen isotopes affect the results of Raman spectroscopy on forsterite. They found that higher oxygen isotopes result in lower wavenumbers; where the isotopes are located can cause peak splitting and new vibrational modes; and peak broadening due to a decrease in symmetry of the material.

When using the world's most precise scales, interesting phenomena become visible: Physicists have to take into account that the scale itself changes during the measurement process. Only by taking that into account, accurate measurments become possible.

Zeolite-catalyzed methanol-to-hydrocarbons (MTH) reactions inherently exhibit multiscale spatiotemporal heterogeneity, which is crucial to catalyst design and product selectivity. This review integrates recent advances in spectroscopy, molecular imaging and spatially resolved techniques to connect molecular diffusion, acidity, temperature distribution and coke deposition across molecular, crystal, particle and reactor scales. By clarifying how nonuniform microenvironments emerge, interact and propagate, this review provides insights for the development to guide more efficient and selective MTH catalysis.