RESEARCH NEWS TIP SHEET: STORY IDEAS FROM JOHNS HOPKINS

The June 4, 2020, issue of the weekly Johns Hopkins Medicine research newsletter on topics NOT related to COVID19. Stories this week: study shows pollutant may be more hazardous than previously thought; psilocybin tampers the brain’s ego center; and getting urban youth to wear bike helmets.

Sustainable Recovery of Nutrients from Urine

Most ammonia capture is done through the Haber-Bosch (HB) process, an energy-intensive technique used to produce fertilizer that accounts for 1-2% of the world’s annual energy consumption. Columbia engineers report they have recovered ammonia through a new method with a very low level of energy, approx 1/5 of the energy used by HB. And because the technique recycles ammonia in a closed loop, the ammonia can be recaptured for reuse in fertilizer, household cleaners, etc.