Ukrainian President Zelenksyy has accused Russia of using a "phosphorus bomb" on civilians in Ukraine. Here's what that is and why it would constitute a serious war crime.

Experiments published in Food and Energy Security by scientists at Queen Mary University of London and Royal Botanic Gardens suggest that we are globally wasting huge amounts of phosphorus.

The state has mined and abused the Devil's Element for decades, and now it is increasingly fouling precious coastal waters

Phosphorus is an important raw material, especially as a fertilizer for agriculture. But in water bodies, it deteriorates the water quality. Since the 1980s, phosphate precipitation has therefore been one of the core processes in municipal wastewater treatment plants. Phosphorus is bound with salts in the sewage sludge. However, because this raw material is also becoming increasingly scarce, it should be recovered…

Physicists have been trying to identify reliable strategies to manipulate quantum states in solid-state materials, cold atoms and other systems, as this could inform the development of new technologies. One of these strategies is Floquet engineering, which entails the periodic driving of quantum states of matter.

On this episode of Generation Anthropocene, we dive into one of the most underappreciated elements on the periodic table

Phosphorus is an essential ingredient in thousands of products, including herbicides, lithium-ion batteries, and even soft drinks. Most of this phosphorus comes from an energy-intensive process that contributes significantly to global carbon emissions.

A international team of scientists has made a groundbreaking discovery, finding phosphorus, an essential chemical element for life, locked inside salt-rich ice grains ejected into space from Saturn's moon Enceladus.

A promising new form of ammonium phosphate fertilizer has been field-tested by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers. The fertilizer, struvite, offers a triple win for sustainability and crop production, as it recycles nutrients from wastewater streams, reduces leaching of phosphorus and nitrogen in agricultural soils, and maintains or improves soybean yield compared to conventional phosphorus…

One of humankind's most precious fertilizers is slipping away.

When it comes to food, plants can "eat" more than they need—just like the diner who can't resist another stop at the buffet line despite already feeling full. Indeed, with respect to phosphorus, corn plants will keep taking up the nutrient 25% to 80% beyond what's needed to reach their full grain yield, scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in West Lafayette, Indiana, have found.

Phosphorus use in the U.K. needs to be better managed and used in a much more sustainable way to reduce river pollution and increase resilience over rising fertilizer prices, say researchers.

A new study finds that most phosphorus stakeholders—representing a wide swath of industry, agriculture, environmental and policy interests—have significant doubts about the long-term sustainability of existing phosphorus management systems. The study underscores the complex challenges facing policymakers and other decision-makers as they attempt to ensure our continued access to a critical resource that is finite…

The problem of how phosphorus became a universal ingredient for life on Earth may have been solved by researchers from the University of Cambridge and the University of Cape Town, who have recreated primordial seawater containing the element in the lab.

Russian Su-30 fighter jets flew two sorties over Snake Island dropping phosphorus bombs a day after 'goodwill' retreat.

Northwestern University-led researchers have discovered a new way that nature cycles phosphorus, a finding that uncovers a missing piece of Earth's puzzling phosphorus cycle.

Israel's use of the deadly chemical would violate international norms.

The quest for thermoelectric materials that efficiently convert changes in temperature into electric voltage is challenging. For optimal performance, a material must conduct small amounts of heat and large amounts of electricity. However, crystal structure and electrons that carry electricity also carry heat. Researchers have identified black phosphorus (BP) as a candidate for novel applications. Doping BP with…

Phosphorus is a natural mineral that is essential for plant growth and development, and Earth's agricultural-grade phosphorus reserves are expected to be depleted in 50 to 100 years. A new discovery by researchers at Michigan State University and the Carnegie Institution for Science is changing their understanding of iron toxicity in plants caused by low phosphorus levels.

Host-killing by hemiepiphytes is an endemic phenomenon in the tropics. Many fig species—keystone plants in tropical forests—have evolved the hemiepiphytic ecotype. However, the benefits and adaptive strategies of their special life history remain poorly understood.