The UK Health and Safety Executive, the UK Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions, the UK Department of health,
#Silly Putty component helps build carpet for stem cells The sponginess of the environment where human embryonic stem cells are growing affects the type of specialized cells they eventually become, a new study shows.
Fu says his findings could also provide insights into how embryonic stem cells differentiate in the body. ur work suggests that physical signals in the cell environment are important in neural patterning,
The other end of each tube is open to the environment allowing chemicals dissolved in the water to seep into the capsule.
and use them to map chemical and physical environments deep underground. he capsules would have to be small enough to fit through the cracks in rock layers
and harsh chemical environment below groundtang says. In addition to making the time capsule technology smaller the engineers also plan to experiment with different gels
#Iron-rich biochar filters arsenic from water Biochar may be a fast inexpensive and easy way to remove arsenic one of the world s most common pollutants from water.
and has been shown to cause cancer. ecause biochar can be produced from various waste biomass including agricultural residues this new technology provides an alternative and cost-effective way for arsenic removalsays Bin Gao associate professor of agricultural
The discovery points to new ways to create mart materialscutting-edge materials that adapt to their environment by taking new forms
#This fusion reactor could be cheaper than coal University of Washington Posted by Michelle Ma-Washington on October 16 2014fusion energy almost sounds too good to be true#zero greenhouse gas emissions no long-lived radioactive waste a nearly unlimited fuel supply.
from the environment. The US Department of energy Office of Basic energy Sciences and National Science Foundation funded the project.
Normally mice placed in a new environment will nose around and explore. But when placed in a cage where they have received previously a shock the mice freeze will in place in a ear response. n this study the scientists used mice genetically modified
The program uses the smartphone s built-in camera to register its environment. It does not evaluate depth or color.
Similar patterns to those in solar flares can also be found in earthquakes avalanches or the stock market. olar explosions do not of course have any connection with stock exchange ratessays Hermann
The pile continues to grow until every now and then an avalanche is triggered. Smaller landslides occur more frequently than larger ones.
By organizing itself around a so-called critical state the pile maintains its original height when viewed over an extended period of time.
or biochar to soil to both boost crop yields and counter global climate change the study offers the first detailed explanation for this mystery. nderstanding the controls on water movement through biochar-amended soils is critical
and reduced greenhouse gas emissionssays lead author Rebecca Barnes an assistant professor of environmental science at Colorado College who began the research as a postdoctoral research associate at Rice university.
and gardening buffs took off after archaeological studies found that biochar added to soils in the Amazon more than 1000 years ago was still improving the water-and nutrient-holding abilities of those poor soils today.
The Lifshitz transition does not apply to objects in our normal environment; rather the physicists are researching an abstract topology of surfaces with
The topology of quantum states for example offers a way of decoupling them from their environment
and the transcriptional network work could allow scientists to breed plants that are better able to deal with stressful environments#crucial in a world where farmers attempt to feed an increasing population amid urban development of arable land
and a rising global temperature. lobal climate change suggests that it s going to get warmer and since plants cannot run away from the heat they re going to have to adapt to a changing environmentnagel says. his study suggests one mechanism for us to understand how this interaction works. oth plants
and an inability to move in a crowded environment Martã says. They re forced to align a defining property of liquid crystals
and is particularly significant as climate change brings more moderate winter temperatures. In the United states alone the disease costs the cattle and sheep industry an estimate $125 million annually. y conducting this epidemiological study on a commercial dairy farm in Northern California we were able to demonstrate that the virus overwinters
and temperature fluctuations happen around us all the time in the environment which could provide another source of energy for certain applicationssays Shwetak Patel associate professor of computer science and engineering and of electrical engineering at the University of Washington.
The hydrogen gas could power fuel cells in zero emissions vehicles. The battery sends an electric current through two electrodes that split liquid water into hydrogen and oxygen gas.
which emits carbon dioxide a greenhouse gas. Most of these vehicles will run on fuel manufactured at large industrial plants that produce hydrogen by combining very hot steam and natural gas an energy-intensive process that releases carbon dioxide as a byproduct.
Although touted as zero emissions vehicles most of the cars will run on hydrogen made from natural gas a fossil fuel that contributes to global warming.
Principal funding came from by the Global climate and Energy project the Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford and by the US Department of energy.
and materials science at Michigan State university. t makes for a very colorful environment like working in a disco.
and chair of the school of plant sciences with a joint appointment in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology. ice will play a key role in helping to solve what we call the 9 billion-people question. he 9 billion people question refers to predictions that the world
and the hardiness of African rice. frican rice is once more at the forefront of cultivation strategies that aim to confront climate change
and more resistant to environmental stress in West african environments than Asian varieties Wing says. African rice already has been crossed with Asian rice to produce new varieties under a group known as NERICA which stands for New Rice for Africa.
but will have less of an environmental impact such as varieties that require less water fertilizer and pesticides. ardy high-yield crops will become increasingly vital for human survival as the world faces the environmental effects of climate change and an ever-growing global population.
Wing s research group specializes in developing what geneticists call physical maps a tool that enables scientists to understand the structure of the genome.
Production of lithium-7 was banned in the United states due to environmental concerns. It unclear whether the current sources, found in China
also has less potential for environmental effects than the chemical process used in producing lithium-7, which has been linked to mercury contamination.
and sustainability, Prakash says. Renewable energy The batteries could pave the way for renewable energy sources to make up a greater share of the nation energy generation.
Such a system would create a minimal impact on the environment and would likely be figured cheap,
For the average person this means more sophisticated weather satellites remote controllers satellite communication or pollution detectors. his is a material innovation that s the first part
#Material snags CO2 from natural gas Rice university rightoriginal Studyposted by Mike Williams-Rice on June 9 2014scientists have created an Earth-friendly way to separate carbon dioxide a greenhouse gas from natural gas right
and this week set new rules to cut carbon pollution from the nation s power plants. ur technique allows one to specifically remove carbon dioxide at the source.
The new material a nanoporous solid of carbon with nitrogen or sulfur is inexpensive and simple to produce compared with the liquid amine-based scrubbers used now Tour says. mines are corrosive
and produces energy as a byproductnd couples that with an ultrafiltration, air stripping, and a reverse osmosis system. f you have 1, 000 cows on your operation,
and pathogens that can have an environmental impact if not properly managed. While turning the manure into clean water makes environmental sense
It does this by extracting nutrients from the manure that can be harmful to the environment
biodiesel plants may be able to stop creating hazardous wastes and eliminate fossil fuel from their production process.
At the same time, they are taking care of their hazardous waste problem. AIRYBACTERIA The results, which appear in the journal Environmental science
and Technology, show that the key to Reguera platform is patented her adaptive-engineered bacteriaeobacter sulfurreducens.
and eliminate all of the waste. Together, the bacteria appetite for the toxic byproducts is inexhaustible. hey feast like theye at a Las vegas buffet
she adds. ne bacterium ferments the glycerol waste to produce bioethanol, which can be reused to make biodiesel from oil feedstocks.
Geobacter removes any waste produced during glycerol fermentation to generate electricity. It is a win-win situation.
#Small tuning fork lets device find greenhouse gas Scientists have created a highly sensitive portable sensor to test the air for the most damaging greenhouse gases.
greater compared with the most prevalent greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, over a 100-year period. For these reasons, methane and nitrous oxide detection is crucial to environmental considerations.
the team installed it on a mobile laboratory used during NASA DISCOVER-AQ campaign, which analyzed pollution on the ground and from the air last September.
Tittel says a smaller QEPAS device will be added this year to the mobile monitoring van currently carrying out a Rice university of Houston survey of pollutants in the city.
and they don t function outside their natural environment whereas DNA-based motors are more stable and might be switched on and off Choi explains. e are in the very early stages of developing these kinds of synthetic molecular motorshe says.
which leads to a current flow in the external load allowing the charge to be used. his generator can convert random mechanical energy from our environment into electric energy. ince their first publication on the research Wang
Such sensors could be used for monitoring in traffic security environmental science health care and infrastructure applications. or the future Wang and his research team plan to continue studying the nanogenerators
With hot gas still expanding at high speeds after the explosion a supernova remnant is a harsh hot and hostile environment
The quantum well as before consisted of stacked blocks of an indium gallium arsenide compound separated by barriers of gallium arsenide. t s a unique solid-state environment where many-body effects completely dominate the dynamics of the systemkono says. hen a strong magnetic field is applied electrons
and yellow hues. o-author Shane Penny a postgraduate student at Charles darwin University says o correctly describe the new species now becomes critical as the effects of getting it wrong can be profound for fisheries ecology
Overconsumption by humans has depleted giant clams populations in many areas and most giant clam species are on the International union for conservation of nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Keyse says the discovery of a new species had implications for management of giant clams. hat we thought was one breeding group
has turned out to be two making each species even less abundant than previously thoughtshe says.
which can act as molecular ievesto separate liquids and gases one molecule at a timeâ##a property that shows promise for applications such as water purification water desalination and gas storage.
and are less hazardous to the environment than traditional lighting. Already utilized in devices such as street lighting
and release it when the demand peaks in the afternoon. ll the things that define us in a modern environment require electricitysays Pint. he more that we can integrate power storage into existing materials
and other classes of materials that haven t been considered. tanford s Global climate and Energy project and the Department of energy s Light-Material Interactions in Energy conversion Center supported the work along with the National Science Foundation and the Research Triangle Solar fuels Institute.
when the brain does most of its wiring affected largely by the environment in which the animal is being raised.
#Drop an internet in the ocean to detect tsunamis University at Buffalo rightoriginal Studyposted by Cory Nealon-Buffalo on October 14 2013a deep-sea internet network is expected to improve the way scientists detect tsunamis monitor pollution
and the projectâ#lead researcher. aking this information available to anyone with a smartphone or computer especially when a tsunami or other type of disaster occurs could help save lives. elodia will present his paper at the Association for Computing Machineryâ
For example NOAA relies on acoustic waves to send data from tsunami sensors on the sea floor to surface buoys.
A deep-sea internet has many applications Melodia says including linking together buoy networks that detect tsunamis.
It may also help collect oceanographic data and monitoring pollution. The framework will encourage collaboration among researchers
or in the soil where it through a nanoporous membrane exchanges moisture with its environment and maintains an equilibrium pressure that the chip measures.
and on the interaction between genotypes and the environment as they have tried to breed wheat that is resistant to PHS but with little success so far.
when lava and water meet in aerial environments the water instantly flashes to steamsays Gregg associate professor of geology. hatâ#a volume increase of eight timesâ##boom.?
and remain standing even after volcanic eruptions end and lava levels fall again. In a new study published in the Journal of Volcanology
and underwater or in other harsh environments where minimal size and weight would be an advantage.
and found it withstood high temperature in an oxygen-rich environment. They also grew h-BN on graphene
#To avert mass extinction, is genetic engineering the best option? Cornell University rightoriginal Studyposted by Blaine Friedlander-Cornell on September 30 2013with estimates that 15 to 40 percent of the world s species will be lost over the next 40 years due to warming
and habitat loss researchers are considering the option of a genetic rescue. The technique would involve escuing a target population
or species with adaptive alleles or gene variants using genetic engineeringwrite Josh Donlan Cornell visiting fellow in ecology and evolutionary biology and his colleagues.
To avert mass extinctions the group thinks that three options each with its own set of challenges complications
The Nature commentary draws from a recent workshop cological and Genomic Exploration of Environmental Changethat occurred in March where scientists met to understand issues surrounding climate change adaptation.
Averting climate change altogether would be a preferableâ##albeit unlikelyâ##outcome. The scientists fear that implementing genetic solutions could potentially deter other climate change action. serious concern is that even the possibility of using genetic-engineering tools to rescue biodiversity will encourage inaction with regard to climate change.
Before genetic engineering can be entertained seriously as a tool for preserving biodiversity conservationists need to agree on the types of scenario for which facilitated adaptation managed relocation
#Is this mineral to blame for deep earthquakes? University of Chicago rightoriginal Studyposted by Steve Koppes-Chicago on September 25 2013scientists are closer to understanding deep earthquakes which occur
when tectonics drive the oceanic crust under continental plates. Their new research is a large step toward replicating the full power of these earthquakesâ##to learn what sets them off
-triggered brittle failures during the olivine-spinel (mineral) phase transformation has many similar features to deep earthquakes. ang
and a team of scientists simulated deep earthquakes by using a pressure of 5 gigapascals more than double the previous studies of 2 GPA.
and erupt into violent earthquakes yet it does. And that has puzzled scientists since the phenomenon of deep earthquakes was discovered nearly 100 years ago.
Interest spiked with the May 24 2013 eruption in the waters near Russia of the world s strongest deep earthquakeâ##roughly five times the power of the great San francisco quake of 1906.
These deep earthquakes occur in older and colder areas of the oceanic plate that gets pushed into the earth s mantle.
It has been speculated that the earthquakes are triggered when a mineral common in the upper mantle olivine undergoes a transformation that weakens the whole rock temporarily causing it to fail. ur current goal is to understand why
and how deep earthquakes happen. We are not at a stage to predict them yet.
More than 20 years ago geologist Harry Green of University of California Riverside and colleagues discovered a high-pressure failure mechanism that they proposed then was sought the long mechanism of very deep earthquakes (earthquakes
and showed that it coincides with the locations of deep earthquakes. In the September 20 issue of Science Green and colleagues explain how to simulate these earthquakes. e confirmed essentially all aspects of our earlier experimental work
and extended the conditions to significantly higher pressuregreen says. The ability to do such experiments allows scientists like Green to simulate the appropriate conditions within the Earth
which earthquakes happen at hundreds of kilometers depth. The origin of deep earthquakes fundamentally differs from that of shallow earthquakes (earthquakes occurring at less than a depth of 50 kilometers/31 miles.
In the case of shallow earthquakes theories of rock fracture rely on the properties of coalescing cracks
and friction. ut as pressure and temperature increase with depth intracrystalline plasticity dominates the deformation regime
and undergoes a transformation resulting in spinel a mineral of higher density. he research team focused on the role that phase transformations of olivine might play in triggering deep earthquakes.
and found the arthquakesonly within a narrow temperature range that simulates conditions where the real earthquakes occur in Earth. sing synchrotron X-rays to aid our observations we found that fractures nucleate at the onset of the olivine to spinel transitiongreen says. urther these fractures propagate dynamically
These phase transitions in olivine we argue in our research paper provide an attractive mechanism for how very deep earthquakes take place. ang says researchers next goal is to study the material silicate olivine which requires much higher pressures.
to produce electricity as they digest plant and animal waste. Scientists hope the icrobial batterycan be used in places such as sewage treatment plants
or to break down organic pollutants in the ead zonesof lakes and coastal waters where fertilizer runoff and other organic waste can deplete oxygen levels
and suffocate marine life. At the moment however the laboratory prototype is about the size of A d-cell battery
Inside that murky vial attached to the negative electrode bacteria feast on particles of organic waste
Scientists have known long of the existence of what they call exoelectrogenic microbesâ##organisms that evolved in airless environments
In the last few decades seismometers measuring earthquakes travelling through the Earth s core have identified an eastwards
and Environment at the University of Leeds. he magnetic field pushes eastwards on the inner core causing it to spin faster than the Earth
which in turn affects the Earth s climate and the size of marine fisheries. Researchers report that during the past 160000 years nitrogen fixation rose
and geophysical sciences at Princeton university. y studying the response of nitrogen fixation to different environmental changes in the Earth s past we have found connections that may ensure that the ocean s fixed nitrogen level will always reboundsigman says. his suggests that an ocean over time has a relatively stable nutrient reservoir
Such diversity underpins evolution enabling organisms to acquire new combinations of traits to adapt to their environment.
and go back to behaving just like their parent did. he key finding he says llustrates how unisexual reproduction introduces limited genetic diversity in clonal populations already well adapted to an environment
and protect the environment while enhancing yieldsshe says. e re on our way there. ource:
The supercapacitor could be useful for powering devices in extreme environments On earth and in space. ur intention is to completely move away from conventional liquid
and release it as needed. esearchers have been trying for years to make energy storage devices like batteries and supercapacitors that work reliably in high-temperature environments,
botanical recycling that ensures the nutrients and proteins in the leaves have been stowed for use in next spring's flowers seeds and leaves.
#In an era of light-weighting for energy and emissions reductions there is a great demand for magnesium alloys in everything from portable electronics to air
That landslide enabled by steep slopes and a slick ice layer creates the DLES telltale two-layered appearance.
A key ingredient The landslide scenario explains several of the distinct features of DLES the researchers say.
Striations are common in landslides On earth Weiss says especially landslides on glaciers. That got Weiss
I realized that the landslide wouldn be expected to happen (on crater rims) unless the ejecta was landsliding on an ice layer Weiss says.
Craters larger than about 25 kilometers probably wouldn have steep enough rims to cause an icy landslide.
and transgenic plants they identified the gene responsible for the resistance. They then inserted the gene into a wheat variety that is susceptible to the diseases engineering a resistance to Ug99.#
Evolution occurs when an individual experiences a spontaneous beneficial mutation in its genome that improves its ability to adapt to its environment.
Neumann says. e needed to create a system that could handle the waste of a family of four with just two treatments per week,
and that of othersncluding the Curiosity rovercientists are finding a rich sedimentary record on Mars that is revealing its past environments,
and potentially oceans, Lamb says. oth the ancient environments on Mars and the planet sedimentary archive of these environments are turning out to be surprisingly Earthlike.
This research was supported by the National Science Foundation NASA, and Caltech
#Graphene#s jagged edge can easily slice cells Brown University right Original Study Posted by Kevin Stacey-Brown on July 10 2013brown (US) the jagged edges of tiny graphene sheets
and ecology, says Elizabeth Chadwick, of the Otter Project at Cardiff University. ontinued work is necessary to help us to better understand their transmission pathways
The embedded fossils are likely planktonic autotrophs free-floating tiny ocean organisms that produce energy from their environment.
The manufacturing of Roman concrete also leaves a smaller carbon footprint than does its modern counterpart.
That process is responsible for seven percent of global carbon dioxide emissions every year. The production of lime for Roman concrete is much cleaner requiring temperatures that are two-thirds of that required for making Portland cement.#
#Roman concrete has remained coherent and well-consolidated for 2000 years in aggressive maritime environments#says Marie Jackson a research engineer in civil and environmental engineering at University of California Berkeley.#
Of particular interest to researchers is how Roman#s underwater concrete endured the unforgiving saltwater environment.
The recipe for Roman concrete was described around 30 BC by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio an engineer for Octavian who became Emperor Augustus. The not-so-secret ingredient is volcanic ash
whether volcanic ash would be a good large-volume substitute in countries without easy access to fly ash an industrial waste product from the burning of coal that is commonly used to produce modern green concrete.#
#Many countries don t have fly ash so the idea is to find alternative local materials that will work including the kind of volcanic ash that Romans used.
Saudi arabia has#mountains of volcanic ash#that could potentially be used in concrete Monteiro says. The Loeb Classical Library Foundation Harvard university and the Department of energy provided additional funding.
#Swarms of tiny drones built to spy on hurricanes University of Florida Posted by Cindy Spence-Florida on June 5 2013u.
and through hurricanes to help predict the strength and path of storms. The autonomous craft#some fly and others dart under the waves#can spy on hurricanes at close range without getting blown to bits
while sensors onboard collect and send in real time the data scientists need to predict the intensity and trajectory of storms:
#Our vehicles don t fight the hurricane; we use the hurricane to take us places#says Kamran Mohseni professor in the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the department of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Florida.
The aerial and underwater vehicles just six inches long and about the weight of an ipod Nano can be launched with commands from a laptop hundreds of miles from the eye of a hurricane.
Mohseni and colleagues use mathematical models to predict regions in the atmosphere and ocean that can give the vehicles a free ride toward their destination.
In essence they can go for a fact-gathering ride on hurricane winds and waters. The devices are a departure from current technology
which uses hurricane reconnaissance aircraft to punch through a storm#s eye wall and release dropsondes sensors that free-fall
although just as important considering that the warm moist air on the ocean surface provides fuel for hurricanes.
The new vehicles which can be launched hundreds at a time also reduce the cost of hurricane reconnaissance.#
#If you want to blast through a hurricane you have to build a bigger airplane#Mohseni says.#(
when they hit something a big consideration in hurricane-force winds and waves. A landing strip to test the aerial vehicles isn t necessary Mohseni just tells them to crash picks them up
With proper funding the vehicles could be tested in a real-world hurricane in two or three years.
In instances where many are lost#as in a hurricane#the data gained outweighs the cost of the lost vehicles Mohseni says.
This feature makes them useful for applications beyond hurricanes. Source: University of Floridayou are free to share this article under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noderivs 3. 0 Unported license n
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