Seagrass has the potential to be one of the world's most effective sponges at soaking up and storing carbon, but we don't yet know how nutrient pollution affects its ability to sequester carbon.
Plants & Animals
Sep 3, 2025
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1
Tile drainage is a common practice used in agricultural fields to remove excess water, but it also transports harmful nutrients into water bodies, contributing to algal blooms that deprive aquatic life of oxygen. Woodchip ...
Biotechnology
Aug 11, 2025
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0
Quantum distance refers to a measure of quantum mechanical similarity between two quantum states. A quantum distance of one means that the two quantum states are the same, whereas a quantum distance of zero implies that they ...
Condensed Matter
Aug 6, 2025
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90
A vital nutrient underpinning the world's food systems—and increasingly vital to green technologies—is the focus of a major international summit in Ghana this September, as scientists, policymakers and industry leaders ...
Agriculture
Aug 5, 2025
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0
Tipping points are the death of ecosystems. So scientists watch as warning signs gradually worsen until an ecosystem reaches the point of no return, when animal populations suddenly collapse. While tipping points can sometimes ...
Ecology
Jun 16, 2025
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0
Researchers have created an inexpensive hydrogel that can filter phosphorus from contaminated surface waters, drinking water supplies or wastewater streams to reduce phosphorus pollution and reuse the phosphorus for agricultural ...
Polymers
Jun 11, 2025
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57
Plants require phosphorus to grow and survive. In environments with low levels of available soil phosphorus, plants need to adjust to stay alive.
Molecular & Computational biology
May 23, 2025
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7
A new study has dug deep into the past of the coastal dunes of an iconic Queensland location in a bid to better understand how microscopic processes in the soil support some of the most biodiverse landscapes on Earth.
Earth Sciences
May 12, 2025
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101
Along with nitrogen and carbon, phosphorus is an essential element for life on Earth. It is a central component of molecules such as DNA and RNA, which serve to transmit and store genetic information, and ATP (adenosine triphosphate), ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 25, 2025
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16
The oceans teem with photosynthesizing bacteria, tiny-tailed dinoflagellates gobbling other plankton, algae surrounded by intricate glass skeletons. In the 1960s, the ecologist G. Evelyn Hutchinson pointed out something confusing: ...
Ecology
Mar 20, 2025
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15
Phosphorus (pronounced /ˈfɒsfərəs/) is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus is commonly found in inorganic phosphate rocks. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms - white phosphorus and red phosphorus. Although the term "phosphorescence", meaning glow after illumination, derives from phosphorus, glow of phosphorus originates from oxidation of the white (but not red) phosphorus and should be called chemiluminescence.
Due to its high reactivity, phosphorus is never found as a free element in nature on Earth. The first form of phosphorus to be discovered (white phosphorus, discovered in 1669) emits a faint glow upon exposure to oxygen — hence its name given from Greek mythology, Φωσφόρος meaning "light-bearer" (Latin Lucifer), referring to the "Morning Star", the planet Venus.
Phosphorus is a component of DNA, RNA, ATP, and also the phospholipids which form all cell membranes. It is thus an essential element for all living cells. The most important commercial use of phosphorus-based chemicals is the production of fertilizers.
Phosphorus compounds are also widely used in explosives, nerve agents, friction matches, fireworks, pesticides, toothpaste and detergents.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
