{
  "id": 13128469,
  "title": "Where does Earth's nitrogen go? Two atoms offer a clue",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/09/where-does-earths-nitrogen-go-two-atoms-offer-a-clue",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-09T14:00:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Phys.org",
    "slug": "phys-org",
    "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-10-earth-nitrogen-atoms-clue.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Nitrogen is a crucial component for life, but too much in water can lead to deteriorating water quality and the death of aquatic organisms. Microorganisms remove nitrogen by converting it into a gas that escapes into the atmosphere. However, determining the exact amount of nitrogen removed in this manner is difficult. Researchers at UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, and other institutions have discovered that a rare form of nitrogen gas can serve as a natural fingerprint for microbial nitrogen conversion. This study, published in Science, highlights the use of a rare nitrogen gas molecule as a marker for microbial nitrogen loss, which conventional methods often overlook. The technique involves advanced machinery, making it unsuitable for routine field monitoring initially. Nevertheless, it presents a novel tool to enhance water quality assessments and global nitrogen budget estimations. The researchers explain that nitrogen gas, or N2, consists of two nitrogen atoms bonded together. These atoms come in two weights or isotopes: nitrogen-14, which is common, and nitrogen-15, which is heavier due to an extra neutron. Most N2 molecules comprise two nitrogen-14 atoms, while some contain one of each, and rarely, both atoms are nitrogen-15. The majority of atmospheric nitrogen gas contains the heavier nitrogen-15 atoms more than expected by chance. Microbial-produced nitrogen gas, on the other hand, pairs nitrogen atoms nearly randomly. When microbial nitrogen gas mixes with atmospheric nitrogen, it reduces the excess of heavy nitrogen pairs. Consequently, the relative abundance of the rare nitrogen molecule can reveal the amount of nitrogen gas produced by microbial activity. The researchers measured nitrogen gas extracted from water and sediment samples using UCLA's Panorama mass spectrometer, an instrument that separates molecules based on their mass and charge. The team applied this approach to groundwater, lakes, and marine environments in Texas, Antarctica, Minnesota, coastal California, the Bay of Bengal, and deep-sea sediments off Alaska. Recently, human activities such as fertilizer runoff, wastewater discharge, and other sources have significantly impacted the nitrogen cycle, leading to water quality degradation and harmful algal blooms. Studying the nitrogen cycle helps scientists identify ways to mitigate environmental harm. By measuring microbial nitrogen removal naturally, this new technique can assist in assessing fertilizer and wastewater inputs, enabling efforts to protect water quality.",
  "summary": "Nitrogen is one of life's building blocks, but it's only helpful in the right amounts. Too much nitrogen in water, for example, can lead to poor water quality and the gradual death of aquatic organisms. Microbes remove nitrogen from water by converting it to a gas that escapes into the atmosphere. But scientists have difficulty determining how much nitrogen is removed this way.",
  "key_points": [
    "Rare nitrogen gas molecule identifies microbial nitrogen conversion",
    "Nitrogen-15 atoms in atmospheric N2 higher than expected",
    "Technique measures microbial nitrogen removal in various environments"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}