Clean Smell Doesn't Always Mean Clean Air
Philadelphia PA (SPX) Oct 31, 2014 -
Some of the same chemical reactions that occur in the atmosphere as a result of smog and ozone are actually taking place in your house while you are cleaning. A researcher in Drexel's College of Engineering is taking a closer look at these reactions, which involve an organic compound -called limonene- that provides the pleasant smell of cleaning products and air fresheners.
His research wi ...
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Saving lots of computing capacity with a new algorithm
Walferdange, Luxembourg (SPX) Oct 31, 2014 -
The control of modern infrastructure such as intelligent power grids needs lots of computing capacity. Scientists of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) at the University of Luxembourg have developed an algorithm that might revolutionise these processes. With their new software the SnT researchers are able to forego the use of considerable amounts of computing ...
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Fewer Chinese couples want second child than expected: media
Beijing (AFP) Oct 30, 2014 -
Far fewer Chinese couples applied to have a second child than expected after a relaxation of the country's "one child" policy, state-run media reported Thursday, highlighting the ageing nation's demographic challenges.
The world's most populous country has restricted most families to a single child since the late 1970s, but the Communist party said in November that couples would be allowed t ...
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Reverse engineering materials for more efficient heating and cooling
Washington DC (SPX) Oct 31, 2014 -
If you've ever gone for a spin in a luxury car and felt your back being warmed or cooled by a seat-based climate control system, then you've likely experienced the benefits of a class of materials called thermoelectrics. Thermoelectric materials convert heat into electricity, and vice versa, and they have many advantages over more traditional heating and cooling systems.
Recently, research ...
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Magma pancakes beneath Lake Toba
Potsdam, Germany (SPX) Oct 31, 2014 -
The tremendous amounts of lava that are emitted during super-eruptions accumulate over millions of years prior to the event in the Earth's crust. These reservoirs consist of magma that intrudes into the crust in the form of numerous horizontally oriented sheets resting on top of each other like a pile of pancakes.
A team of geoscientists from Novosibirsk, Paris and Potsdam presents these r ...
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'Nanomotor lithography' answers call for affordable, simpler device manufacturing
San Diego (SPX) Oct 31, 2014 -
What does it take to fabricate electronic and medical devices tinier than a fraction of a human hair? Nanoengineers at the University of California, San Diego recently invented a new method of lithography in which nanoscale robots swim over the surface of light-sensitive material to create complex surface patterns that form the sensors and electronics components on nanoscale devices.
Their ...
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Emerging disease could wipe out American, European salamanders
College Park MD (SPX) Oct 31, 2014 -
A deadly disease that is wiping out salamanders in parts of Europe will inevitably reach the U.S. through the international wildlife trade unless steps are taken to halt its spread, says University of Maryland amphibian expert Karen Lips.
The recently described fungus, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, has caused a crash in wild populations of fire salamanders in the Netherlands. After th ...
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