New research shows spent coffee grounds can make concrete stronger and greener. RMIT University scientists heated used coffee grounds (about 350°C, no oxygen) to create a fine “biochar”. Adding 15% biochar (replacing the same fraction of sand) boosted concrete's 28-day strength by roughly 30%. A life-cycle analysis found CO₂ emissions fell by up to 26% (with fossil-fuel use down 31%) when biochar was added. Cement production itself accounts for about 8% of global CO₂. Coffee biochar concrete According to the study, RMIT University scientists heated coffee waste to make fine biochar, turning waste into a circular‑economy resource. The charcoal-like biochar, mixed into cement and sand, improves durability and eases reliance on scarce natural sand. The researchers report life-cycle carbon reductions of about 15–26 percent when replacing 5–15 percent of the sand with biochar. The team has already trialled coffee-concrete in a footpath pour and on part of a Victorian highways upgrade. T...
Venus is notorious for extreme weather. Its dense atmosphere carries clouds around the planet at speeds above 100 metres per second — about 60 times faster than the planet's slow rotation. In fact, the atmosphere circles Venus in just four Earth days, even though the planet itself spins once every 243 days. For years, the origin of this super-rotating atmosphere remained unclear. Now researchers say they have identified a key driving force behind these runaway winds. Daily thermal tide identified as key wind driver According to the new study, most momentum driving Venus's fast cloud-top winds comes from a once-per-day (diurnal) thermal tide powered by solar heating. The researchers analysed two decades of data from ESA's Venus Express and JAXA's Akatsuki orbiters, which tracked atmospheric conditions via radio signals, and ran numerical simulations of Venus's circulation. They found that "diurnal tides play a primary role in transporting momentum toward the top...