Flower development in 3D: Timing is the key
Vienna, Italy (SPX) Jul 15, 2014 -
In close collaboration with Jurg Schonenberger and Yannick Stadler from the Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research of the Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, 14 developmental stages of the flower of Arabidopsis thaliana from very early meristematic floral initiation to fully developed seeds were monitored with micro-computed tomography in 3D.
From the same set of develo ...
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EN... SO?
Washington DC (SPX) Jul 15, 2014 -
Forecasters at the Climate Prediction Center haven't declared El Nino conditions, even though the Nino3.4 index is currently around 0.5 C above normal, and has been for the past two months. What's the hold up? In short, we're waiting for the atmosphere to respond to the warmer sea-surface temperatures, and give us the "SO" part of ENSO.
SO what? The Southern Oscillation, that's what. The S ...
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A first direct glimpse of photosynthesis in action
Munich, Germany (SPX) Jul 14, 2014 -
An international team of researchers, including scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg, has just a reported a major step in understanding photosynthesis, the process by which the Earth first gained and now maintains the oxygen in its atmosphere and which is therefore crucial for all higher forms of life on earth.
The researchers report the first direct ...
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How speed restricts evolutionary change of the vertebral column
Leiden, Netherlands (SPX) Jul 15, 2014 -
One of the riddles of mammal evolution explained: the strong conservation of the number of trunk vertebrae. Researchers of the Naturalis Biodiversity Center and the University of Utah show that this conservation is probably due to the essential role of speed and agility in survival of fast running mammals.
They measured variation in vertebrae of 774 individual mammal skeletons of both fast ...
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Vibrations enhance efficiency of photosynthesis
Ann Arbor MI (SPX) Jul 15, 2014 -
Biophysics researchers at the University of Michigan have used short pulses of light to peer into the mechanics of photosynthesis and illuminate the role that molecule vibrations play in the energy conversion process that powers life on our planet.
The findings could potentially help engineers make more efficient solar cells and energy storage systems. They also inject new evidence into an ...
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'Nano-pixels' promise thin, flexible, high resolution displays
Cambridge, UK (SPX) Jul 14, 2014 -
A new discovery will make it possible to create pixels just a few hundred nanometres across that could pave the way for extremely high-resolution and low-energy thin, flexible displays for applications such as 'smart' glasses, synthetic retinas, and foldable screens.
A team led by Oxford University scientists explored the link between the electrical and optical properties of phase change m ...
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Chemists develop magnetically responsive liquid crystals
Riverside CA (SPX) Jul 14, 2014 -
Chemists at the University of California, Riverside have constructed liquid crystals with optical properties that can be instantly and reversibly controlled by an external magnetic field. The research paves the way for novel display applications relying on the instantaneous and contactless nature of magnetic manipulation-such as signage, posters, writing tablets, and billboards.
Commercial ...
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China Q2 growth mired at 7.4% on-year: AFP survey
Beijing (AFP) July 14, 2014 -
Chinese growth failed to accelerate in the second quarter despite government stimulus measures, an AFP survey predicts, with the world's second-largest economy forecast to record its worst annual performance in 24 years.
China's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 7.4 percent in the three months to June from the same period last year, according to the median forecast in AFP's survey of 17 ...
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China's Okay Airways buys Boeing jets worth $980mn
Farnborough, United Kingdom (AFP) July 14, 2014 -
Okay Airways, the first privately-owned Chinese carrier, has agreed to buy 10 single-aisle Boeing planes worth $980 million at current list prices, the US planemaker said Monday.
Boeing and Okay Airways announced an order for six 737 MAX 8s and four Next-Generation 737-800s at the Farnborough airshow near London.
Okay Airways is also converting five 737-800s from a previous order into 73 ...
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London gives financial boost to rural renewable energy efforts
London (UPI) Jul 14, 2013 -
More rural communities across the United Kingdom could gain from developing their own sources of renewable energy, the British energy minister said Monday.
The British government said Monday it was investing more than $850,000 in 30 local renewable energy projects. The first 30 projects are receiving the finances as part of the Rural Community Energy Fund, which envisions the local deve ...
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Samsung finds 'evidence' of child labour at China plant
Seoul (AFP) July 14, 2014 -
Samsung said Monday it temporarily suspended business with one of its suppliers in China over the suspected use of child workers, following criticism that its monitoring of illegal labour practices was ineffective.
The South Korean electronics giant launched an investigation into the Dongguan Shinyang Electronics Co. after the rights monitoring group China Labor Watch (CLW) reported the fact ...
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Secret app raises $25 mn, shifts focus
Washington (AFP) July 14, 2014 -
The fast-growing anonymous mobile app Secret said Monday it had raised $25 million in venture capital and would expand as a social network connecting Facebook friends.
A new feature announced by Secret - which up to now was an anonymous messaging board - allows users to log in with Facebook and share with friends without revealing their identities.
"Facebook Login has been our top requ ...
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Scotland investing $3.67 million to make wind development cost effective
Edinburgh, Scotland (UPI) Jul 14, 2013 -
The Scottish government said it was investing more than $3.5 million to cut the cost of offshore wind energy development by at least 10 percent.
The Scottish government announced the investment in the independent Carbon Trust company's offshore wind accelerator program, a research and development project meant to foster widespread international collaboration in wind energy development. ...
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WTO says US anti-dumping duties on Chinese products wrong
Geneva (AFP) July 14, 2014 -
Beijing won a key victory Monday in a trade dispute with Washington, as a WTO panel said the United States was wrong to slap punitive duties on a host of Chinese goods.
The battle covered an array of products including paper, steel, tyres, magnets, chemicals, kitchen fittings, flooring and wind turbines.
The United States had hit them with extra import duties because it argued that they ...
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Researchers discover boron "buckyball"
Providence RI (SPX) Jul 15, 2014 -
The discovery of buckyballs - soccer-ball-shaped molecules of carbon - helped usher in the nanotechnology era. Now, Lai-Sheng Wang's research group and colleagues from China have shown that boron, carbon's neighbor on the periodic table, can form a cage-like molecule similar to the buckyball.
Until now, such a boron structure had only been a theoretical speculation. The researchers dubbed ...
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Rutgers Chemists Develop Clean-Burning Hydrogen Fuel
New Brunswick NJ (SPX) Jul 15, 2014 -
Rutgers researchers have developed a technology that could overcome a major cost barrier to make clean-burning hydrogen fuel - a fuel that could replace expensive and environmentally harmful fossil fuels.
The new technology is a novel catalyst that performs almost as well as cost-prohibitive platinum for so-called electrolysis reactions, which use electric currents to split water molecules ...
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Geothermal helping deliver clean energy future for California
Washington DC (SPX) Jul 11, 2014 -
The Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) will hold its fourth annual National Geothermal Summit Tuesday, August 5 and Wednesday, August 6 in Reno, Nevada. Renewable energy development in California is expected to be at the center of many conversations.
The leading forum for western state policy discussions, the National Geothermal Summit will bring together policy leaders, utilities and ind ...
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Rice's silicon oxide memories catch manufacturers' eye
Houston TX (SPX) Jul 11, 2014 -
Rice University's breakthrough silicon oxide technology for high-density, next-generation computer memory is one step closer to mass production, thanks to a refinement that will allow manufacturers to fabricate devices at room temperature with conventional production methods.
First discovered five years ago, Rice's silicon oxide memories are a type of two-terminal, "resistive random-access ...
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Assessing energy balance of large-scale hydrogen production
Berkeley CA (SPX) Jul 15, 2014 -
In the search for clean energy solutions to displace greenhouse gas emitting fossil fuels, few technological options are as alluring as directly producing hydrogen from sunlight.
If hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, could be produced on earth economically and with a minimum overall environmental impact, it could provide energy to both stationary and transportation applic ...
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The World's First Photonic Router
Rehovot, Israel (SPX) Jul 15, 2014 -
Weizmann Institute scientists have demonstrated for the first time a photonic router - a quantum device based on a single atom that enables routing of single photons by single photons. This achievement, as reported in Science magazine, is another step toward overcoming the difficulties in building quantum computers.
At the core of the device is an atom that can switch between two states. T ...
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Negar Sani solved the mystery of the printed diode
Linkoping, Sweden (SPX) Jul 08, 2014 -
With an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States of America (PNAS), a thirteen-year-long mystery that has involved a long series of researchers at both Linkoping University and Acreo Swedish ICT has finally been solved.
The article presents a diode in printed electronics that works in the GHz band, which opens up a new opportunity to sen ...
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Projecting a Three-Dimensional Future
Tel Aviv, Israel (SPX) Jul 10, 2014 -
Since the 1960s, theatergoers have shelled out for crude 3-D glasses, polarized glasses, and shutter glasses to enhance their viewing experience. These basic devices, used to trick the brain into perceiving an artificial three-dimensional reality, may soon be rendered obsolete with the introduction of new holography technology developed by Tel Aviv University researchers.
Tel Aviv Universi ...
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New study uses blizzard to measure wind turbine airflow
Minneapolis MN (SPX) Jul 14, 2014 -
A first-of-its-kind study by researchers at the University of Minnesota (UMN) using snow during a Minnesota blizzard is giving researchers new insight into the airflow around large wind turbines. This research is essential to improving wind energy efficiency, especially in wind farms where airflows from many large wind turbines interact with each other.
The study by researchers at the UMN ...
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Westinghouse Tech Addresses Nuclear Industry Concern
Pittsburgh PA (SPX) Jul 14, 2014 -
Westinghouse Electric Company has announced the successful installation of its spent fuel pool level instrumentation system at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, operated by Tennessee Valley Authority.
Spent fuel pools are storage pools for spent, or used, nuclear fuel from a nuclear reactor. All U.S. utilities are required by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to install spent fuel pool level i ...
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Illinois study advances limits for ultrafast nano-devices
Urbana IL (SPX) Jul 11, 2014 -
A recent study by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign provides new insights on the physical mechanisms governing the interplay of spin and heat at the nanoscale, and addresses the fundamental limits of ultrafast spintronic devices for data storage and information processing.
"Electrons carry a charge as well as spin-angular momentum. In a typical charge current, e ...
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