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An artificial leaf is a solar cell that uses water and an electrical current generated from sunlight to produce hydrogen (for fuel) and oxygen. It is currently in development at laboratories worldwide. If successful, the artificial leaf could serve…

Although sales will continue for as long as inventory remains, worldwide production of incandescent lights (lamps) has mostly been phased out by the push for more energy-efficient lighting and improvements in light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and…

Conifers are predominantly cone-bearing, evergreen trees and shrubs belonging to the order Pinales, as well as a small number of extinct orders, in the class Pinopsida of the division Pinophyta (Coniferophyta). All are woody plants, and they are…

The biflagellate water molds, downy mildews, and other microorganisms classified as members of the Oomycota (also termed Oomycetes) have long puzzled taxonomists. Previously, investigators thought them to constitute a group within the true fungi…

The olive tree (Olea europaea) is an ancient cultivated plant that was originally domesticated by early civilizations in the eastern Mediterranean regions. Today, the major olive-producing countries are Spain, Italy, Greece, and Turkey, which…

One of history’s worst agricultural catastrophes was the great Irish potato famine of 1845–1849, which killed more than a million people in Ireland, forced the emigration of 1.5 million others, and fueled resentments between the Catholic and…

On July 4, 2012, physicists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) beneath Geneva, Switzerland, the most powerful particle accelerator ever built, announced that they had detected one of the most elusive and eagerly sought prizes in all of science: the…

The very weak attractive forces between neutral atoms and molecules are known as van der Waals forces. These forces are important for holding molecules together and influencing materials properties such as boiling and melting points, solubility,…

Loop quantum gravity is one of several concepts under development by theoretical physicists to provide a description of gravity in terms of quantum mechanics.For decades, physicists have sought to reconcile the two major pillars of modern physics…

The historical use of medicinal mushrooms in the traditional therapies of East Asia has been documented for millennia, and biomedical science is now seeking to validate this ancient mycological knowledge through more rigorous evaluation and testing…