Degraded soils and the burgeoning challenge of agricultural waste pose significant hurdles to global food security. A recent study, published in Carbon Research, unveils a promising solution: using solar radiation to enhance hydrochar, a carbon-rich material derived from biomass, to create a more effective soil amendment. This innovative approach offers a low-energy pathway to transform materials like pig manure and mandarin peels into powerful tools for soil remediation.

The research team prepared hydrochars under varying hydrothermal carbonization temperatures (180 °C and 260 °C), then subjected them to simulated solar aging for 200 hours, including periodic wetting. Comprehensive characterization using advanced techniques such as FTIR, XPS, 3D-EEM, and ESI-FT-ICR MS was employed to track changes in the hydrochar's physicochemical properties and the composition of its dissolved organic matter (DOM). Soil microcosm experiments further evaluated the impact of these modified hydrochars on paddy soil for 45 days, assessing changes in soil properties and microbial communities.

Managing agricultural waste presents a dual challenge: controlling harmful ammonia (NH₃) emissions and preventing the spread of toxic metals from manure. Scientists have now devised a sustainable approach that converts coal tailings, a common industrial byproduct, into a highly effective adsorbent. This innovative material, created through a catalytic oxidation process using silver and titanium dioxide (Ag/TiO₂), simultaneously captures ammonia and neutralizes hazardous metals, offering a cost-effective solution for sustainable farming.

A team from The University of Melbourne, Australia, pioneered the method, modifying coal tailings at a modest 250 °C. Unlike conventional high-temperature treatments, this catalytic process is exothermic, generating its own heat, which significantly reduces energy consumption and leads to lower CO₂ emissions. The core material harnesses Ag/TiO₂ to produce reactive oxygen species that functionalize the coal tailings, creating a network of ultramicropores and oxygen-containing chemical groups on its surface.

Tropical moist forests account for 70 per cent of global living biomass. Deforestation and degradation – that is, the partial damage to tree stands – as well as the subsequent regeneration of forests therefore play a pivotal role in the global carbon cycle. Whilst the effects of large-scale tropical deforestation are well understood, the impacts of forest degradation have remained highly uncertain until now. A large-scale international study led by Dr Viola Heinrich from the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam (Germany) and Dr Amelia Holcomb from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom now synthesises data from 146 studies on tropical moist forests since 1988 and offers one of the most comprehensive assessments to date of carbon dynamics following forest disturbances and regeneration. Among other things, the researchers show and quantify that forest degradation also leads to significant carbon losses in above-ground biomass. However, forests that retain some of their structural integrity sequester carbon much more quickly than areas that have been completely cleared by deforestation. The study is published in the journal Science Advances. The database created as part of the study and the quantitative meta-analysis will help to improve forest carbon modelling, national greenhouse gas inventories and reporting to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Tropical moist forests account for 70 per cent of global living biomass. Deforestation and degradation – that is, the partial damage to tree stands – as well as the subsequent regeneration of forests therefore play a pivotal role in the global carbon cycle. Whilst the effects of large-scale tropical deforestation are well understood, the impacts of forest degradation have remained highly uncertain until now. A large-scale international study led by Dr Viola Heinrich from the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam (Germany) and Dr Amelia Holcomb from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom now synthesises data from 146 studies on tropical moist forests since 1988 and offers one of the most comprehensive assessments to date of carbon dynamics following forest disturbances and regeneration. Among other things, the researchers show and quantify that forest degradation also leads to significant carbon losses in above-ground biomass. However, forests that retain some of their structural integrity sequester carbon much more quickly than areas that have been completely cleared by deforestation. The study is published in the journal Science Advances. The database created as part of the study and the quantitative meta-analysis will help to improve forest carbon modelling, national greenhouse gas inventories and reporting to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The novel idea was invented by Giacomo Sasso, a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Engineering and Materials Science at Queen Mary University of London, and it works by transforming invisible forces into dynamic colour patterns. This enables high-resolution maps to contact, strain and pressure to emerge instantly. When pressure is applied to a soft sensing surface, the material produces spatially varying structural colours that can be captured immediately using a standard camera, removing the need for complex reconstruction algorithms. 

Scientists have grown wheat containing super-sized starch granules — a leap forward in biological engineering with potential benefits for our daily diets and a raft of industrial applications