Aerosol
hideTechnically, an aerosol is a suspension of fine solid particles or liquid droplets in a gas. Examples are smoke, oceanic haze, air pollution, smog and CS gas. In general conversation, aerosol usually refers to an aerosol spray can or the output of such a can. The word aerosol derives from the fact that matter "floating" in air is a suspension (a mixture in which solid or liquid or combined solid-liquid particles are suspended in a fluid). To differentiate suspensions from true solutions, the term sol evolved—originally meant to cover dispersions of tiny (sub-microscopic) particles in a liquid. With studies of dispersions in air, the term aerosol evolved and now embraces both liquid droplets, solid particles, and combinations of these.
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News tagged with aerosols
Researchers show how organic carbon compounds emitted by trees affect air quality
Aug 06, 2009 |
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A previously unrecognized player in the process by which gases produced by trees and other plants become aerosols—microscopically small particles in the atmosphere—has been discovered by a research team led ...
Salt block unexpectedly stretches in new experiments
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Jun 24, 2009 |
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To stretch a supply of salt generally means using it sparingly.
Aerosols May Drive a Significant Portion of Arctic Warming
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Apr 08, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Though greenhouse gases are invariably at the center of discussions about global climate change, new NASA research suggests that much of the atmospheric warming observed in the Arctic since ...
New approach to emissions makes climate and air quality models more accurate, major study finds
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 10, 2009 |
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It's no secret that the emissions leaving a car tailpipe or factory smokestack affect climate and air quality. Even trees release chemicals that influence the atmosphere. But until now, scientists have struggled to know where ...
Aircraft emissions could influence climate change through cloud formation
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Aircraft emissions can affect the properties of cirrus clouds, contributing to climate change. This was a key finding from PNNL scientist Dr. Xiaohong Liu and his colleagues from a recent ...
Missing link of cloud formation
Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry
Aug 11, 2009 |
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The discovery of an unknown hitherto chemical compound in the atmosphere may help to explain how and when clouds are formed. The discovery of the so called dihydroxyepoxides (an aerosol-precursor), is reported ...
Cosmic meddling with the clouds by seven-day magic
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Aug 01, 2009 |
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Billions of tonnes of water droplets vanish from the atmosphere, as if by magic, in events that reveal in detail how the Sun and the stars control our everyday clouds. Researchers of the National Space Institute in the Technical ...
Sulfate lens enhances climate warming properties of atmospheric soot
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jun 29, 2009 |
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Particulate pollution thought to be holding climate change in check by reflecting sunlight instead enhances warming when combined with airborne soot, a new study has found.
The mystery of particles
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jun 19, 2009 |
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Particles cool down the climate, but to which extent? This has remained an unanswered question for scientists. A new article in Science by Gunnar Myhre at CICERO, Norway, brings the scientific community a step closer to sol ...
Summer haze has a cooling effect in southeastern United States
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 18, 2009 |
2.4 / 5 (8) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Global warming may include some periods of local cooling, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. Results from satellite and ground-based sensor data show that sweltering ...
New aerosol observing technique turns gray skies to blue (w/Video)
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Mar 12, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Tiny, ubiquitous particles in the atmosphere may play a profound role in regulating global climate. But the scientists who study these particles -- called aerosols -- have long struggled to ...
Dust deposited in oceans may carry elements toxic to marine algae
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Mar 09, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Dust blown off the continents and deposited in the open ocean is an important source of nutrients for marine phytoplankton, the tiny algae that are the foundation of the ocean food web. But ...
Science paper examines role of aerosols in climate change
Sep 05, 2008 |
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A group of scientists affiliated with the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) have proposed a new framework to account more accurately for the effects of aerosols on precipitation in climate models. Their work ...
Study Improves Ability to Predict Aerosols' Effect on Cloud Cover
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Aug 14, 2008 |
5 / 5 (5) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Using a novel theoretical approach, researchers from NASA and other institutions have identified the common thread that determines how aerosols from human activity, like the particles from ...
Scientists search for answers from the carbon in the clouds
Jul 25, 2008 |
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An aerosol mass spectrometer developed by chemists from Aerodyne Research Inc. and Boston College is giving scientists who study airborne particles the technology they need to examine the life cycles of atmospheric ...
