The mainstream view has held that the reptiles emerged on the southern portion of the ancient supercontinent Pangea called Gondwana millions of years before spreading to the northern half named Laurasia. But now, a newly described dinosaur whose fossils were uncovered by University of Wisconsin-Madison paleontologists is challenging that narrative, with evidence that the reptiles were present in the northern hemisphere millions of years earlier than previously known. The UW-Madison team has been analyzing the fossil remains since they were first discovered in 2013 in present-day Wyoming, an area that was near the equator on Laurasia. The creature, named Ahvaytum bahndooiveche, is now the oldest known Laurasian dinosaur, and with fossils estimated to be around 230 million years old, it’s comparable in age to the earliest known Gondwanan dinosaurs.

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/

A Cornell University-led research team has developed a method for extracting gold from electronics waste, then using the recovered precious metal as a catalyst for converting carbon dioxide (CO₂), a greenhouse gas, to organic materials. The method could provide a sustainable use for some of the approximately 50 million tons of e-waste discarded each year, only 20% of which is recycled, according to Amin Zadehnazari, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Alireza Abbaspourrad, professor of food chemistry and ingredient technology. Zadehnazari synthesized a pair of vinyl-linked covalent organic frameworks (VCOFs) to remove gold ions and nanoparticles from circuit boards in discarded electronic devices. One of his VCOFs was shown to selectively capture 99.9% of the gold and very little of other metals, including nickel and copper, from the devices.

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/