US House approves plan to train Syria rebels in IS fight
Washington (AFP) Sept 17, 2014 -
US lawmakers voted Wednesday to authorize training and arming of Syrian rebels to combat Islamist radicals, a crucial step in President Barack Obama's bid to thwart extremism surging across Iraq and Syria.
Despite misgivings by war-weary Democrats that the move could open the door to full-blown American military intervention in the Middle East, and concern by conservatives that the plan fall ...
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Gas leaks from faulty wells linked to contamination in some groundwater
Columbus OH (SPX) Sep 18, 2014 -
A study has pinpointed the likely source of most natural gas contamination in drinking-water wells associated with hydraulic fracturing, and it's not the source many people may have feared. What's more, the problem may be fixable: improved construction standards for cement well linings and casings at hydraulic fracturing sites.
A team led by a researcher at The Ohio State University and co ...
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Scientists twist radio beams to send data
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 18, 2014 -
Building on previous research that twisted light to send data at unheard-of speeds, scientists at USC have developed a similar technique with radiowaves, reaching high speeds without some of the hassles that can go with optical systems.
The researchers, led by electrical engineering professor Alan Willner of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, reached data transmission rates of 32 gigab ...
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Boosting armor for nuclear-waste eating microbes
East Lansing MI (SPX) Sep 18, 2014 -
A microbe developed to clean up nuclear waste and patented by a Michigan State University researcher has just been improved.
In earlier research, Gemma Reguera, MSU microbiologist, identified that Geobacter bacteria's tiny conductive hair-like appendages, or pili, did the yeoman's share of remediation. By increasing the strength of the pili nanowires, she improved their ability to clean up ...
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Assessing the environmental costs and benefits of fracking
Stanford CA (SPX) Sep 18, 2014 -
A strange thing happened on the way to dealing with climate change: Advances in hydraulic fracturing put trillions of dollars' worth of previously unreachable oil and natural gas within humanity's grasp.
The environmental costs - and benefits - from "fracking," which requires blasting huge amounts of water, sand and chemicals deep into underground rock formations, are the subject of new re ...
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Scientists come closer to the industrial synthesis of a material harder than diamond
Moscow, Russia (SPX) Sep 18, 2014 -
Researchers from the Technological Institute for Superhard and Novel Carbon Materials in Troitsk, MIPT, MISiS, and MSU have developed anew method for the synthesis of an ultrahard material that exceeds diamond in hardness. An article recently published in the journal Carbon describes in detail a method that allows for the synthesis of ultrahard fullerite, a polymer composed of fullerenes, or sph ...
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Nanoribbon film keeps glass ice-free
Houston TX (SPX) Sep 18, 2014 -
Rice University scientists who created a deicing film for radar domes have now refined the technology to work as a transparent coating for glass. The new work by Rice chemist James Tour and his colleagues could keep glass surfaces from windshields to skyscrapers free of ice and fog while retaining their transparency to radio frequencies (RF). The technology was introduced this month in the Ameri ...
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