EurekAlert! News by Subject: Chemistry & Physics - News by Subject: Chemistry & Physics

Chemistry & Physics

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 11-Sep-2025 20:10 ET (12-Sep-2025 00:10 GMT/UTC)

10-May-2025

Five minutes exposure to junk food marketing results in children consuming 130 kcals more per day, regardless of media advertising type

European Association for the Study of Obesity
Reports and Proceedings

*Please mention the European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2025, Malaga, Spain, 11-14) if using this research*

Exposure to junk food advertisements (relative to non-food) results in children and adolescents consuming significantly more calories during the day, regardless of the type of media advertising, according to a randomised crossover trial being presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Malaga, Spain (11-14 May).

Meeting: European Congress on Obesity (ECO2025)

9-May-2025

What NASA is learning from the biggest geomagnetic storm in 20 years

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

On May 10, 2024, the first G5 or “severe” geomagnetic storm in over two decades hit Earth. The event, named the Gannon storm in memory of leading space weather physicist Jennifer Gannon, did not cause any catastrophic damages. But a year on, key insights from the Gannon storm are helping us understand and prepare for future geomagnetic storms.

Journal: Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics

9-May-2025

Ultrasound unlocks a safer, greener way to make hydrogels

McGill University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at McGill University, in collaboration with Polytechnique Montréal, pioneered a new way to create hydrogels using ultrasound, eliminating the need for toxic chemical initiators. This breakthrough offers a faster, cleaner and more sustainable approach to hydrogel fabrication, and produces hydrogels that are stronger, more flexible and highly resistant to freezing and dehydration. The new method also promises to facilitate advances in tissue engineering, bioadhesives and 3D bioprinting.

Journal: Advanced Science

9-May-2025

Self-assembly of a large metal-peptide capsid nanostructure through geometric control

Institute of Science Tokyo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A significant advancement in molecular engineering has produced a large, hollow spherical shell nanostructure through the self-assembly of peptides and metal ions, report researchers from Japan. This dodecahedral link structure, measuring 6.3 nanometers in diameter, was achieved by combining geometric principles derived from knot theory and graph theory with peptide engineering. The resulting structure demonstrates remarkable stability while featuring a large inner cavity suitable for encapsulating macromolecules, opening pathways for producing complex artificial virus capsids.

Journal: Chem
Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan Science and Technology Agency

9-May-2025

A smarter way to make sulfones: Using molecular oxygen and a functional catalyst

Institute of Science Tokyo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

As a recent leap in green chemistry, scientists from Japan have unveiled a new catalyst that enables high yields of sulfones using molecular oxygen—close to room temperature. By fine-tuning the structure of oxygen vacancies in perovskite oxide catalysts, the researchers successfully reduced the reaction temperature from 80–150°C to nearly 30°C, offering improved energy efficiency. The study marks a significant milestone in advancing complex sulfide oxidation reactions, offering sustainability with excellent efficiency.

Journal: Advanced Functional Materials
Funder: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

9-May-2025

Heat- and oxygen-stable biocatalyst for hydrogen production

Ruhr-University Bochum
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In the absence of air, microorganisms produce hydrogen using an enzyme called [FeFe]-hydrogenase, one of the most efficient hydrogen-producing biocatalysts known and a promising tool for green hydrogen energy. However, these enzymes are rapidly destroyed when exposed to air, which has so far limited their industrial use. Joint efforts led by scientists from the Photobiotechnology group and the Center for Theoretical Chemistry at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, isolated a new type of oxygen-stable [FeFe]-hydrogenase and revealed its “tricks” for this oxygen-stability. The results are published in “Journal of American Chemical Society” on April 23, 2025.

Journal: Journal of the American Chemical Society
Funder: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst

9-May-2025

German satellite measures CO2 and NO2 simultaneously from power plant emissions for the first time

Max Planck Institute for Chemistry
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A research team from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz and Heidelberg University has, for the first time, used the German environmental satellite EnMAP (Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program) to simultaneously detect the two key air pollutants carbon dioxide (CO₂) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) in emission plumes from power plants – with an unprecedented spatial resolution of just 30 meters. The newly developed method allows for tracking of industrial emissions from space with great precision and enables atmospheric processes to be analyzed in detail. The results were published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

Journal: Environmental Research Letters