Chinese dream trumps environment as cars sales boom
Shanghai (AFP) April 18, 2014 -
When accountant Ariel Wang bought a new car a few weeks ago, environmental protection was far from her mind even though smog has reached crisis levels in China's commercial hub Shanghai.
She settled on a sturdy sport utility vehicle, the Audi Q5, as the ideal family car for her husband's daily commute to work and transport for her young daughter at the weekends.
"We didn't really think ...
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The role of oceanic carbon reservoir over glacial cycles
Beijing, China (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
Glacial cycles at 104-yr time scale have been the focus of Quaternary paleoclimatology over the last century. In recent years with the emergence of continuous high-resolution records (ice cores, deep-sea sediments etc.) from the longer geological past, increasing evidence underscores the significance of long- duration processes at the time scale of 105-yr or more.
WANG Pinxian and colleagu ...
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N.D. governor questions coal pollution limits
Bismarck, N.D. (UPI) Apr 17, 2013 -
North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple said a "one-size-fits-all" effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions isn't the right tool to control pollution.
Dalrymple hosted officials from major energy-producing states to discuss plans by the Environmental Protection Agency to cut emissions from coal-fired power plants. The Republican governor said any new rules should be practical and based on com ...
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Neanderthals and Cro-magnons did not coincide on the Iberian Peninsula
Madrid, Spain (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
The meeting between a Neanderthal and one of the first humans, which we used to picture in our minds, did not happen on the Iberian Peninsula. That is the conclusion reached by an international team of researchers from the Australian National University, Oxford University, the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country, University of Maryland, Universitat de Girona and the University of Oviedo, af ...
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BOEM extends planning time for OCS renewables
Washington (UPI) Apr 17, 2013 -
Companies now have more time to submit plans to the federal government for offshore renewable energy projects, the Interior Department said.
The department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it extended the time requirement for site assessment plans for renewable energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf.
BOEM Director Tommy Beaudreau said companies now have 12 mont ...
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Greenland ice cores show industrial record of acid rain, success of US Clean Air Act
Seattle WA (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
The rise and fall of acid rain is a global experiment whose results are preserved in the geologic record. By analyzing samples from the Greenland ice sheet, University of Washington atmospheric scientists found clear evidence of the U.S. Clean Air Act. They also discovered a link between air acidity and how nitrogen is preserved in layers of snow, according to a paper published this week in the ...
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Deep sea rocks may be future source for rare earth metals
Bremen, Germany (UPI) Apr 16, 2013 -
Smart phones are ubiquitous, but the materials they're made of are "rare" - at least rare enough to be called rare earth metals.
In recent years, economists and geologists have begun worrying that the world's supply of rare earth metals will be outpaced by demand, driving up the prices of materials vital to the production of popular electronics like the iPhone and Blackberry.
Bu ...
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Faithful allies since the Cretaceous
Munich, Germany (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
Like humans, many animals depend on beneficial microbes for survival. Although such symbioses can persist for millions of years, the factors maintaining their long-term stability remain, in most cases, unknown. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology and the University of Regensburg, in collaboration with researchers in the USA, now discovered that certain wasps tightly con ...
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Fracking study in Pennsylvania finds few water concerns
Harrisburg, Pa. (UPI) Apr 17, 2013 -
Water quality in Pennsylvania hasn't been affected by hydraulic fracturing in the state, a report from state's conservation department said.
The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources published a 265-page document on the ecological and environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing in the state.
Part of the lucrative Marcellus shale natural gas reserve basin ...
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Obama launches measures to support solar energy in US
Washington (AFP) April 17, 2014 -
The White House Thursday announced a series of measures aimed at increasing solar energy production in the United States, particularly by encouraging the installation of solar panels in public spaces.
President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress want laws to fight climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but Republicans, who hold the majority in the House of Repres ...
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Plugging an ozone hole
Boston MA (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
Since the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole, scientists, policymakers, and the public have wondered whether we might someday see a similarly extreme depletion of ozone over the Arctic.
But a new MIT study finds some cause for optimism: Ozone levels in the Arctic haven't yet sunk to the extreme lows seen in Antarctica, in part because international efforts to limit ozone-depleting chemi ...
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Russia may lose energy game over Ukraine, U.S. says
Washington (UPI) Apr 17, 2013 -
Russia has "a lot to lose" if it continues to use energy as a geopolitical tool in the row over Ukraine, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned European energy security was at risk because of disputes over Ukraine's gas debts. Russian company Gazprom suspended a price discount for Kiev following the February upheaval and Ukraine could lose out ...
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Nutrient-rich forests absorb more carbon
Laxenburg, Austria (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
The ability of forests to sequester carbon from the atmosphere depends on nutrients available in the forest soils, shows new research from an international team of researchers, including IIASA.
The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, showed that forests growing in fertile soils with ample nutrients are able to sequester about 30% of the carbon that they take up during ph ...
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CEBAF Accelerator Achieves 12 GeV Commissioning Milestone
Newport News VA (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
Late on April 1, the crown jewel of the Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility ("Jefferson Lab") sparkled its way into a new era. Following an upgrade of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility, the CEBAF accelerator delivered the highest-energy electron beams it has ever produced into a target in an experimental hall, recording the first data of the 12 G ...
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New technique takes cues from astronomy and ophthalmology to sharpen microscope images
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
The complexity of biology can befuddle even the most sophisticated light microscopes. Biological samples bend light in unpredictable ways, returning difficult-to-interpret information to the microscope and distorting the resulting image. New imaging technology developed at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Farm Research Campus rapidly corrects for these distortions and sharpens high- ...
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Researchers bolster development of programmable quantum computers
Chicago IL (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
University of Chicago researchers and their colleagues at University College London have performed a proof-of-concept experiment that will aid the future development of programmable quantum computers. Many complex problems are difficult and slow to solve using conventional computers, and over the last several years, research has grown steadily toward developing quantum computation.
In part ...
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Engineers develop new materials for hydrogen storage
San Diego CA (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
Engineers at the University of California, San Diego, have created new ceramic materials that could be used to store hydrogen safely and efficiently.
The researchers have created for the first time compounds made from mixtures of calcium hexaboride, strontium and barium hexaboride. They also have demonstrated that the compounds could be manufactured using a simple, low-cost manufacturing m ...
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Cork trees offer greener source of polyester
Washington DC (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
On the scale of earth-friendly materials, you'd be hard pressed to find two that are farther apart than polyester (not at all) and cork (very). In an unexpected twist, however, scientists are figuring out how to extract a natural, waterproof, antibacterial version of the first material from the latter. Their new technique, which could have applications in medical devices, appears in the ACS jour ...
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New 'switch' could power quantum computing
Boston MA (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
Using a laser to place individual rubidium atoms near the surface of a lattice of light, scientists at MIT and Harvard University have developed a new method for connecting particles - one that could help in the development of powerful quantum computing systems.
The new technique, described in a paper published in the journal Nature, allows researchers to couple a lone atom of rubidium, a ...
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Scientists achieve first direct observations of excitons in motion
Boston MA (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
A quasiparticle called an exciton - responsible for the transfer of energy within devices such as solar cells, LEDs, and semiconductor circuits - has been understood theoretically for decades. But exciton movement within materials has never been directly observed.
Now scientists at MIT and the City College of New York have achieved that feat, imaging excitons' motions directly. This could ...
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New Self-healing Plastics Developed
Karlsruhe, Germany (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
Scratches in the car finish or cracks in polymer material: Self-healing materials can repair themselves by restoring their initial molecular structure after the damage. Scientists of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Evonik Industries have developed a chemical crosslinking reaction that ensures good short-term healing properties of the material under mild heating. The research results ha ...
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"RoboClam" hits new depths as robotic digger
London, UK (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
A digging robot inspired by the unique mechanisms employed by the Atlantic razor clam has been created by a group of researchers in the US. The robot, dubbed RoboClam, is able to dig with extreme efficiency by transforming the surrounding soil from a solid into a liquid, and could have a variety of applications from anchoring underwater robots to subsea cable installation and mine neutralization ...
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Scientists Capture Ultrafast Snapshots of Light-Driven Superconductivity
Upton NY (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
A new study pins down a major factor behind the appearance of superconductivity-the ability to conduct electricity with 100 percent efficiency-in a promising copper-oxide material.
Scientists used carefully timed pairs of laser pulses at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory's Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) to trigger superconductivity in the material and immediately take x-ray snapshot ...
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Tech giants look to skies to spread Internet
New York (AFP) April 16, 2014 -
The shortest path to the Internet for some remote corners of the world may be through the skies.
That is the message from US tech giants seeking to spread the online gospel to hard-to-reach regions.
Google took a step in that direction this week with the acquisition of Titan Aerospace, a maker of solar-powered drones that can help boost Internet access to remote areas.
"It's still ea ...
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SpaceX launches Dragon capsule to ISS
Washington (AFP) April 18, 2014 -
Private US firm SpaceX launched its unmanned Dragon capsule to the International Space Station on Friday, its third trip carrying supplies and equipment to the orbiting lab.
After three delays, the Falcon 9 rocket and its Dragon capsule finally blasted off as planned at 3:25 pm (1925 GMT) from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
About 10 minutes after liftoff, the capsule separated from the seco ...
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