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The use of salt to melt ice is a common and important practice to keep roadways safe during winter months. However, various subtypes of salt differ in their chemical and physical properties, as well as their environmental impact. In this study, the authors measure the effectiveness of different salts at disrupting ice structures and identify calcium chloride as the most effective.

The authors looked at the ability of eggshells to slow ice melting. They found that eggshells were able to increase ice melting time when crushed showing that they were an effective thermal barrier.

Heating of DNA-containing solutions is a part of many experiment protocols, but it can also cause damage and degradation of the DNA molecules, potentially leading to error in the experimental results. The authors of this paper investigate whether the presence of certain cations during heating can stabilize the DNA polymer and aid the preservation of the molecule.

In the age of global warming, these authors studied which of the four major greenhouse gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide) change the most with increased temperature.

Here, recognizing the recognizing the growing threat of non-biodegradable plastic waste, the authors investigated the ability to use a modified enzyme identified in bacteria to decompose polyethylene terephthalate (PET). They used simulations to screen and identify an optimized enzyme based on machine learning models. Ultimately, they identified a potential mutant PETases capable of decomposing PET with improved thermal stability.

Counterintuitive in nature, the Mpemba effect asserts that hot liquid freezes faster than cold liquid. While noted throughout history by scientific minds like Aristotle, the phenomenon remains in contention with varying hypotheses for the effect proposed alongside the effect’s rise in popularity. Contributing to the research efforts surrounding the Mpemba effect, the authors in this article explore the effect in different liquids ranging in physical properties and intermolecular forces to determine potential parameters attributable to producing the Mpemba effect.

The authors tested the effects of reiki on stress levels in middle schoolers.

In this study, the authors surveyed a number of students in Singapore to determine how their experiences changed after the implementation of home-based learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here, the authors used machine learning to analyze microscopic images of hair, quantifying various features to distinguish individuals, even within families where traditional DNA analysis is limited. The Discriminant Analysis (DA) model achieved the highest accuracy (88.89%) in identifying individuals, demonstrating its potential to improve the reliability of hair evidence in forensic investigations.