Science, Space and Technology News 2024
Researchers identified key factors that determine if soil traps carbon or releases it as CO2, highlighting the role of molecular interactions and soil chemistry, potentially aiding climate change mitigation efforts. Smectite clay holds clay minerals known to sequester carbon in natural soils. Credit: Francesco UngaroWhen carbon molecules from plants make their way into the soil, they hit a definitive fork in the road.
An expert in the dynamics of organics in environmental processes, Aristilde is an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering. Jiaxing Wang, a Ph.D. student in Aristilde’s laboratory, is the paper’s first author. Rebecca Wilson, an undergraduate student at Northwestern, is the paper’s second author.Holding 2,500 billion tons of sequestered carbon, soil is one of Earth’s largest carbon sinks — second only to the ocean.
“There are instances where two molecules are both positively charged, yet one has a better interaction with the clay than the other,” Aristilde said. “It’s because the structural features of the binding are also important. A molecule has to be flexible enough to adopt a structural arrangement that can position itself in a way that aligns its positively charged components with the clay. The lysine, for example, has a long arm with a positive charge that it can use to anchor itself.
Although the researchers initially thought the biomolecules would compete with one another to interact with the clay, they instead discovered unexpected behaviors. In a surprising twist, even positively charged biomolecules with flexible structures were inhibited from binding to the clay minerals. While they easily bonded to the clay when alone, the biomolecules’ urges to bond with one another appears to supersede their attraction to the clay.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Juvenile sustains serious head trauma after falling out of moving vehicle in Spanish ForkA boy sustained serious head trauma after he fell out of a friend's vehicle while traveling along a Spanish Fork roadway Friday night.Officers with the Spanish
Read more »
Armed man accused of freeing his impounded car from American Fork tow yardAmerican Fork Police are searching for a man they allege used a gun to break a lock and free his impounded car from a tow yard.According to a Facebook post by t
Read more »
Small plane makes crash landing in Spanish Fork, narrowly missing houseAs a digital content producer, Spencer writes, edits and manages website content and helps run FOX 13's social media channels.
Read more »
Police identify car theft suspect located in South Salt Lake and shot by several officersThe suspect of an American Fork vehicle burglary is expected to surive after
Read more »
Evacuation orders and road closures in effect Tuesday in Southern CaliforniaHere are areas in L.A., Ventura, Orange, San Bernardino and Santa Barbara counties with evacuation orders or warnings in place. Sand and sand bags are available.
Read more »
The Long Road to a Juneteenth MuseumArchitects have made a Fort Worth neighborhood’s history part of the plan for this unique Juneteenth museum.
Read more »