Scientists map loss of groundwater storage around the world

Phys.org  November 6, 2023 Groundwater overdraft gives rise to multiple adverse impacts including land subsidence and permanent groundwater storage loss. Existing methods are unable to characterize groundwater storage loss at the global scale with sufficient resolution to be relevant for local studies. A team of researchers in the US (Colorado State University, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Desert Research Institute) explored the interrelation between groundwater stress, aquifer depletion, and land subsidence using remote sensing and model-based datasets with a machine learning approach. They developed a model which predicted global land subsidence magnitude at high spatial resolution (~2 km), provided a […]

Researchers develop eco-friendly materials capable of purifying water

Phys.org  December 29, 2022 Current water purification technology shows slow adsorption of micropollutants and requires an energy-intensive process for VOCs removal. Researchers in South Korea have developed an efficient molecularly engineered covalent triazine framework (CTF) for rapid adsorption of micropollutants and VOC-intercepting performance using solar distillation. Supramolecular design and mild oxidation of CTFs (CTF-OXs) enabled hydrophilic internal channels and improve molecular sieving of micropollutants. CTF-OX showed rapid removal efficiency of micropollutants (>99.9% in 10 s) and it could be regenerated several times without performance loss. Uptake rates of selected micropollutants were high. Photothermal composite membrane fabrication using CTF-OX exhibited high […]

Scientists Transformed Pure Water Into a Metal, And There’s Footage

Science Alert  October 20, 2022 By bringing pure water into contact with an alloy of sodium and potassium researchers in Czech Republic converted pure water metallic. They extruded a small blob of sodium-potassium alloy, which is liquid at room temperature, from a nozzle and added a thin film of pure water using vapor deposition. Upon contact, the electrons and metal cations flowed into the water from the alloy. Not only did this give the water a golden shine, but it also turned the water conductive. They confirmed this using optical reflection spectroscopy and synchrotron X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Their study not […]