Where you live could mean 'greener' alternatives do more harm than good
Toronto, Canada (SPX) Mar 06, 2015 -
Whether it's swapping your car for an electric vehicle, or your natural gas furnace for geothermal heating, transitioning from fossil fuels to electric-powered technology is widely believed to be the best way to lower carbon emissions.
But according to U of T civil engineer Chris Kennedy, knowing where the electricity comes from to power those "eco-alternatives" is critical. If that electr ...
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Research Suggests Mars Once Had More Water than Earth's Arctic Ocean
Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 06, 2015 -
A primitive ocean on Mars held more water than Earth's Arctic Ocean, according to NASA scientists who, using ground-based observatories, measured water signatures in the Red Planet's atmosphere.
Scientists have been searching for answers to why this vast water supply left the surface. Details of the observations and computations appear in Thursday's edition of Science magazine.
"Our ...
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Scientists report breakthrough in detecting methane
Toronto, Canada (SPX) Mar 06, 2015 -
Methane is one hot gas. It's a prominent component of natural gas, an important atmospheric gas, and a product of both biology and chemical reactions. Its presence was recently confirmed in the atmosphere of Mars by NASA's Curiosity Rover and it has made the news both as a critical greenhouse gas and as a groundwater contaminant resulting from fracking.
Yet, while methane seems to be every ...
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Opportunity Examining Odd Mars Rocks at Valley Overlook
Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 06, 2015 -
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity climbed last month to an overlook for surveying "Marathon Valley," a science destination chosen because spectrometer observations from orbit indicate exposures of clay minerals.
Near the overlook, it found blocky rocks so unlike any previously examined on Mars that the rover team has delayed other activities to provide time for a thorough investigati ...
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Mars Colonization Edges Closer Thanks to MIT's Oxygen Factory
Moscow (Sputnik) Mar 06, 2015 -
Scientists at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are building an instrument, which will turn carbon dioxide on Mars into oxygen, with NASA planning to use it on their 2020 mission to Mars, according to information provided by the 46th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.
MOXIE (the Mars Oxygen In-situ Resource Utilisation Experiment), turns carbon dioxide into oxygen in a n ...
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Mars: The Planet that Lost an Ocean's Worth of Water
Munich, Germany (SPX) Mar 06, 2015 -
A primitive ocean on Mars held more water than Earth's Arctic Ocean, and covered a greater portion of the planet's surface than the Atlantic Ocean does on Earth, according to new results published this week. An international team of scientists used ESO's Very Large Telescope, along with instruments at the W. M. Keck Observatory and the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, to monitor the atmosphere ...
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Miscanthus-based ethanol boasts higher profits
Urbana IL (SPX) Mar 06, 2015 -
A recent study simulated a side-by-side comparison of the yields and costs of producing ethanol using miscanthus, switchgrass, and corn stover. The fast-growing energy grass miscanthus was the clear winner. Models predict that miscanthus will have higher yield and profit, particularly when grown in poor-quality soil. It also outperformed corn stover and switchgrass in its ability to reduce green ...
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