A new study reports that the Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) has become saltier and denser since 2015, with implications for the ocean’s structure and circulation.

The Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) – a vast layer of fresh water spanning much of the Southern Hemisphere’s ocean – has rapidly reversed its long-term trends in salinity and density, according to new research. The AAIW helps store carbon, supply oxygen and drive global ocean currents.

Designing the right microwave pulses for complex spin systems can overwhelm even powerful computers. Aarhus University researchers instead let an AI-controlled spectrometer learn directly from the sample – rather like trying to guide a crowd of sugar-fuelled children through an amusement park by watching how they react and adjusting along the way.

- KAIST, KRICT, Konkuk University, and KBSI develop an “atom-layer neighbor” catalyst that groups a few ruthenium atoms in a single atomic layer

- Achieves hydrogen production performance comparable to that of a commercial platinum catalyst while using 75% less precious metal

Oxoboranes have been synthetic targets for more than 60 years and were thought to be too unstable to be isolated. In a new publication, Würzburg chemists have now shattered this paradigm.

To limit further climate change, researchers are exploring technologies that can convert atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) into useful products. In collaboration with BOKU University in Vienna (Austria), researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) have demonstrated that electrochemical and microbial processes can be combined to capture CO₂ and produce itaconic acid, a bio-based chemical used in industry. According to the researchers, this new process demonstrates how CO₂ emissions can be converted into sustainable bio-based products, with the potential to produce a wider range of valuable chemicals by using different microorganisms. The study was published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.