Growing baby corals in the nursery and corn on steep hillsides
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Progress roundup: Success for coral raised in the nursery, corn grown on steep hillsides, and a new powder that captures CO2 from the atmosphere.
Researchers developed a powder that efficiently absorbs carbon dioxide from the air Carbon capture is one way to lower CO2 levels in the atmosphere, but scientists have struggled to find materials that hold up to repeated use. Chemists at the University of California, Berkeley have discovered a covalent organic framework they named COP-999. The porous, crystalline material captures 100 times its mass in carbon in a year. That's about the same carbon capture capacity of a tree. When outdoor air was passed through the yellow powder, it removed all the CO2. Why We Wrote This In our progress roundup, patient preparation yields success for coral raised from embryos, and terrace-grown crops in Rwanda. And in science that advances past research, a lab creates a powder that absorbs carbon dioxide. Omar Yaghi, a senior author of the research, is credited with developing the class of materials that includes COP-999. "There's nothing like it out there in terms of performance," he said. "It breaks new ground in our efforts to address the climate problem." Sources: Nature, Good Good Good Corals nurtured as cells and then planted on reefs survived a historic heat wave A record marine heat wave in 2023 caused the worst coral bleaching ever seen in the Caribbean, with reefs turning white and dying across the region. But some corals resisted. Specimens of six species remained 90% healthy, compared with just 24% of wild corals. David J. Phillip/AP/File A diver pulls staghorn coral from a nursery to be transplanted to a reef in Jamaica. A newer restoration technique…