Cloud radioactive ruthenium in autumn 2017 came from Russian nuclear plant The Russian reprocessing plant Mayak has already repeatedly led to the release of radioactivity. In the fall of 2017, it could have been the source of a cloud of radioactive ruthenium that swept across Europe. © Ecodefense / Heinrich Boell Foundation Russia / Slapovskaya / Nikulina Read out Source limited: In the fall of 2017, a cloud of radioactive ruthenium-106 swept across Europe.

On the border of Texas and New Mexico is one of the largest lfelder ever discovered Fracking plant in the USA. Thanks to this technology, a newly discovered oil and gas field could supply enormous quantities of raw materials in the future. © grandriver / iStock Read out Huge amounts of crude oil and natural gas: In the US, geologists have discovered a huge new supply of oil and gas.

Up to 25 percent fewer premature births in the neighborhood after closure If coal-fired power plants are shut down, the number of premature births in their environment drops. © Danicek / thinkstock Read out Positive effect: Not only does the climate benefit when old coal-fired power stations are shut down.

Soil and water microparticles contain long-lived uranium and zirconium nuclides Researcher taking samples in the exclusion zone around Fukushima Daiichi © Gareth Law Read out Long-lasting fallout: The Fukushima nuclear accident could have released more uranium than expected. In microparticles from the fallout researchers have now detected two different uranium compounds.

Light pollution increases almost everywhere - only in Th ringen it gets darker Satellite image of Central Europe at night - light pollution is increasing almost everywhere © NASA / SVS Read out The light pollution in Germany is increasing - but not everywhere: While the nights have become much brighter in most federal states since 2012, the nocturnal flare in Thuringia has even decreased.

Replacing cement with ash reduces energy consumption Ash from volcanic eruptions is suitable as a climate-friendly building material - if it is added to the concrete as a replacement for cement. © USGS Read out According to the Romans' recipe: Concrete could become more stable and environmentally friendly by adding volcanic ash.

Possible decrease in wind yields in the north, increase in the southern hemisphere The changing temperatures also affect the wind currents. How this could affect the yields of future wind turbines, researchers have now determined. © Gary Kavanagh / thinkstock Read out Windy climate effect: Climate change could affect future yields of wind turbines.

Global emissions of the greenhouse gas could climb to 41 billion tonnes Global CO2 emissions are increasing again. © Tibu / thinkstock Read out Bad news about the Climate Summit: Global CO2 emissions are likely to rise this year. As current estimates show, humanity is expected to blow around 41 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the earth's atmosphere in 2017.

Iceland's pilot project combines direct air capture with mineralization for the first time At the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant in Iceland, CO2 is being converted from the air to stone for the first time. © Arni Saeberg / Carbfix Read out Captured and fossilized: In Iceland, carbon dioxide will in future be converted from air into carbonate rock - and thus removed from the climate system.

18 percent of renewable energy by 2020 is unlikely to be achieved Germany was once the pioneer of energy from the sun and the wind - we are now lagging behind. © petmal / thinkstock Read out From the star pupil to the bottom bracket: If things go on like this, Germany will miss the EU target for renewable energies in 2020.

Study confirms nitrogen oxide reduction of city air by a maximum of seven percent A study confirms that a software update on these cars will only reduce city air pollution by a maximum of seven percent. © olando o / thinkstock Read out Now it is official: The software summit decided at the diesel summit is not enough.

Exotic titanium oxide nanoparticles could pose a health hazard For coal combustion, it appears that undetected exotic titanium suboxide nanoparticles have been formed for decades. © Danicek / thinkstock Read out Disquieting discovery: The burning of coal apparently releases large amounts of previously unrecognized mineral nanoparticles.

More consumption due to the summer heat in the future requires expensive investments in the electricity grid The hotter the summers are, the higher the electricity consumption for air conditioning systems and the like - and brings power grids to their limits. © digihanger / pixabay Read out Expensive retrofitting: If US President Donald Trump does not join in climate protection, he could bring his country some extra costs.

But a blackout in the US could cause billions of dollars in damage An extraterrestrial solar storm strikes the Earth once every 100 bsi 200 years on Earth © NASA Read out Consequential blackout: Should a strong solar storm hit the earth, the consequences could be worse than previously thought. In the US alone, up to two-thirds of the population could be affected by power and telecommunications failures, researchers said.

A look into the black hole, the XFEL and China as a climate protection pioneer If Einstein's theory of relativity is correct, then the first image of the black hole in the heart of the Milky Way would have to look similar to the one on the right. Whether this is the case will turn out in April 2017

Fungal colonies extract valuable metals from old lithium-ion batteries Batteries, especially lithium-ion batteries, contain valuable metal raw materials - molds can help to regain them. © Farzin Salimi / thinkstock Read out Helpers from nature: In the future, mold fungi could help to recover valuable metals from old batteries.

Granules of molten reactor material enclose the radioactive csium Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on March 14, 2011: Radioactive smoke is rising. © Digital Globe Read out Radioactive glass granules: In the nuclear accident in Fukushima, the radioactive cesium was released in a more durable form than previously thought.

Greenhouse gas dissolved in water turns into carbonate rock in basalt with surprising rapidity Porous basalt rocks act as a catalyst for the mineralization of CO2 to carbonate. © Kevin Krajick / Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Read out Petrifying instead of liberating: The greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) could in future be stored more safely in the underground - by dissolving it in water and pumping it into porous basalt rock.

Bitumen fumes produce more organic aerosols than previously thought View of an oil sands mining facility in Canada - hydrocarbon bottoms rise from the processing piles and ponds - largely invisible. © Environment Canada Read out Large-scale contamination: The extraction of oil sand not only contaminates the immediate environment, the rising vapors also lead to the formation of huge clouds of organic suspended matter.

New absorber materials can extract dissolved uranium from the seawater The microtomograph shows the structure of the uranium catcher line © DOE / PNNL Read out Cords as uranium catchers: more than four billion tonnes of uranium are dissolved in the waters of the oceans. Now, US researchers have developed a method to capture this valuable resource.