Adventure Ausrama Blog

Carbon dioxide changes behavior. Higher carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could be making us stupid. Research has shown that greater concentration s of CO 2  c auses neurological impairment in fish. Sea water stores the dangerous element - the ocean has become more acidic because of its increased presence. The test subjects were Damsel fish  (Acathochromis polyacanthus) , which live in coral reefs. Half were kept in a normal atmosphere. The other half were put in an atmosphere with elevated CO 2 . Brain chemistry, blood and behavior were measured. The behavior test involved the fish choosing between entering normal sea water or going to water containing injured fish. The smell of the injured fish should have stopped the damselfish from choosing to enter that water. However, the fish exposed to higher CO 2   ignored or did not pick up the chemical warning : the injured fish didn't bother them. This is ground breaking stuff. It could show what will happen to hu

A long, long time ago there was a supercontinent on the planet Earth called Rodinia. The continent broke up and gigantic rivers flowed across its landscape. Consequently, the chemistry of the sea was changed. High CO2 levels in the atmosphere fell. Heat was no longer trapped by the greenhouse effect. A very long iceage began with temperatures falling to -50°C. The iceage went on for a long time because the now white planet reflected the sun's energy. Time stood still for rocks. Weathering did not occur. Volcanic activity began but it did not increase C02 by very much. Sea ice stopped sea water from taking up CO2 as it continued to reflect heat away. Some explosive activity must have happened: the change from iceage to greenhouse was sudden. glassy hyaloclastite fell into the ocean releasing phosphorus. This released oxygen into the ocean and the atmosphere. Cataclysms destroy life so life can begin anew. ◆ Chemistry by Ty Buchanan   ◆ Adventure Australi

Turning carbon dioxide in carbon monoxide may seem like a silly thing to do, considering carbon monoxide is a deadly poison. However, if this can be done easily and cheaply it could reduce pollution: it is used to produce fuels and plastics. A catalyst has been made that does the conversion into carbon dioxide. It does the task rapidly. Last year the world's first commercial capture process at a coal power plant began operating. Waste gases were bubbled up through vats of amine solution. This is very expensive though. The new process became possible when it was made to work in water. Electrocalysts have been used for two decades to take an oxygen molecule from a CO 2 atom. As it now safely functions in water a whole new horizon opens up to clean up the environment. conversion occurs at a rate of 290,000 atoms a second, an improvement of 26 times the pre-water process. Little maintenance of the system is needed. It has only been done in the lab so far. Plans