11 research outputs found
Cement nanotubes: on chemical gardens and cement
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York“Do cement nanotubes exist?” is a question that has recently been asked. The answer is yes, they do exist. The evidence is in the literature, in tens of papers showing in detail chemical garden-type tubes in cement from the nanoscale upwards that were published in the 1970s and 1980s. Here, we present a nano-review of the literature
Chemobrionics: from self-assembled material architectures to the origin of life
Self-organizing precipitation processes, such as chemical gardens forming biomimetic micro- and nanotubular forms, have the potential to show us new fundamental science to explore, quantify, and understand nonequilibrium physicochemical systems, and shed light on the conditions for life's emergence. The physics and chemistry of these phenomena, due to the assembly of material architectures under a flux of ions, and their exploitation in applications, have recently been termed chemobrionics. Advances in understanding in this area require a combination of expertise in physics, chemistry, mathematical modeling, biology, and nanoengineering, as well as in complex systems and nonlinear and materials sciences, giving rise to this new synergistic discipline of chemobrionics
From chemical gardens to chemobrionics
Chemical gardens are perhaps the best example in chemistry of a
self-organizing nonequilibrium process that creates complex
structures. Many different chemical systems and materials can
form these self-assembling structures, which span at least 8
orders of magnitude in size, from nanometers to meters. Key to
this marvel is the self-propagation under fluid advection of
reaction zones forming semipermeable precipitation membranes
that maintain steep concentration gradients, with osmosis and
buoyancy as the driving forces for fluid flow. Chemical gardens
have been studied from the alchemists onward, but now in the
21st century we are beginning to understand how they can lead
us to a new domain of self-organized structures of semipermeable
membranes and amorphous as well as polycrystalline solids
produced at the interface of chemistry, fluid dynamics, and
materials science. We propose to call this emerging field
chemobrionics
On the occurrence of thermal explosion in a reacting gas: The effects of natural convection and consumption of reactant
Acceleration of convective dissolution by an instantaneous chemical reaction: A comparison of experimental and numerical results
Fluid-flow-templated self-assembly of calcium carbonate tubes in the laboratory and in biomineralization: The tubules of the watering-pot shells, Clavagelloidea
Brazilian Flora 2020: Leveraging the power of a collaborative scientific network
International audienceThe shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora
Venoms and Isolated Toxins from Snakes of Medical Impact in the Northeast Argentina: State of the Art. Potential Pharmacological Applications
Growing knowledge: an overview of Seed Plant diversity in Brazil
Abstract An updated inventory of Brazilian seed plants is presented and offers important insights into the country's biodiversity. This work started in 2010, with the publication of the Plants and Fungi Catalogue, and has been updated since by more than 430 specialists working online. Brazil is home to 32,086 native Angiosperms and 23 native Gymnosperms, showing an increase of 3% in its species richness in relation to 2010. The Amazon Rainforest is the richest Brazilian biome for Gymnosperms, while the Atlantic Rainforest is the richest one for Angiosperms. There was a considerable increment in the number of species and endemism rates for biomes, except for the Amazon that showed a decrease of 2.5% of recorded endemics. However, well over half of Brazillian seed plant species (57.4%) is endemic to this territory. The proportion of life-forms varies among different biomes: trees are more expressive in the Amazon and Atlantic Rainforest biomes while herbs predominate in the Pampa, and lianas are more expressive in the Amazon, Atlantic Rainforest, and Pantanal. This compilation serves not only to quantify Brazilian biodiversity, but also to highlight areas where there information is lacking and to provide a framework for the challenge faced in conserving Brazil's unique and diverse flora