oil
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Chemistry
Unfamiliar faces of the most unfamiliar substances: extraordinary activity of interfacial water on oil droplets
Raman-MCR spectroscopy of oil droplets in water. Credit: Nature (2025). doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08702-y Water behavior at hydrophobic interfaces has been baffling scientists for over a century, ranging from chemistry, biology, materials science, geology, and engineering. Recent discoveries highlight the pivotal role of interfacial water, including the unusual chemistry of water microdopplets and contact with electrocatalytics. A new study published in Nature systematically…
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Environment
Oil spills on the Ecuador River bring about emergency declarations
This handout from the Equadra Municipality in Esmeraldas shows the impact of an oil spill on the Esmeraldas River. The oil spill in northwestern Ecuador caused black rivers to turn the river, urging authorities to declare an environmental emergency and order residents to drink food. The spill, believed to have been caused when landslides burst a major oil pipeline, contaminated…
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Chemistry
Changing essential oils increases the emulsification efficiency and antibacterial properties of clove oil
This study revealed how waste from clove oil can be converted to a powerful antibacterial emulsifier. Credit: Jungkang from Donggukku University Clove essential oils are promising antibacterial substances. In a recent study, researchers at the University of Tokyo explore sustainable ways to create carbon quantum dots (CQDs) from the clove residue left after extracting essential oils. These CQDs were tested…
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Nanotechnology
Nano materials have emerged as a powerful tool for purification of coastal oil flow.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public domain Cleaning after large -scale oil flow is a long and expensive process, and damage to the coastal area is important. This is especially true to the Arctic Circle in the world where the newly opened sea lanes are increasing risk due to an increase in maritime traffic. Currently, even in areas with a large population, it…
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Science
Oil drilling may have caused small earthquake in Surrey, research suggests
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A series of more than 100 small earthquakes in Surrey in 2018 and 2019 may have been caused by oil drilling from nearby wells, a new study by UCL researchers suggests. It was done. Earthquakes that occurred in Newdigate and surrounding areas between April 2018 and early 2019 have been recorded with magnitudes between 1.34 and…
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Environment
Proximity to oil and gas wells linked to increased mortality from COVID-19
The life cycle stages of oil, gas, and coal, and their associated air pollutants and greenhouse gases. Credit: Energy Research and Social Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2023.103104 From December 2019 to May 2022, 82 million coronavirus cases were reported in the United States, with approximately 1 million deaths related to the disease. Some communities have been particularly hard hit, including those…
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Chemistry
Chemists discover easy way to make biodiesel from waste oil
Graphical summary. Credit: Energy and Fuels (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.4c03643 Chemists at the University of California, Santa Cruz have discovered a new way to make biodiesel from waste oil that simplifies the process and requires relatively mild heat. The discovery has the potential to make alternative fuel sources more attractive to the large industrial sector that is the backbone of the…
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Environment
North Sea oil pollution is ‘significantly underestimated’, new report suggests
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Growing up in Aberdeen, Scotland, the shadow of the Piper Alpha disaster loomed large over our community. A tragic explosion on an oil drilling platform in 1988 claimed the lives of 167 people. At that time, I was fortunate not to know about the impact that disaster would have on the ecosystem. However, the 670 tonne…
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