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 ...
more
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 ...
more
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 ...
more
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 ...
more
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 ...
more
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 ...
more
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 ...
more
Rice rolls 'neat' nanotube fibers
Houston TX (SPX) Sep 18, 2014 -
The very idea of fibers made of carbon nanotubes is neat, but Rice University scientists are making them neat - literally. The single-walled carbon nanotubes in new fibers created at Rice line up like a fistful of uncooked spaghetti through a process designed by chemist Angel Marti and his colleagues.
The tricky bit, according to Marti, whose lab reported its results this month in the jou ...
more
'Squid skin' metamaterials project yields vivid color display
Houston TX (SPX) Sep 18, 2014 -
The quest to create artificial "squid skin" - camouflaging metamaterials that can "see" colors and automatically blend into the background - is one step closer to reality, thanks to a breakthrough color-display technology unveiled this week by Rice University's Laboratory for Nanophotonics (LANP).
The new full-color display technology uses aluminum nanoparticles to create the vivid red, ...
more
Wastewater injection is culprit for most quakes in Colorado and New Mexico
San Francisco CA (SPX) Sep 18, 2014 -
The deep injection of wastewater underground is responsible for the dramatic rise in the number of earthquakes in Colorado and New Mexico since 2001, according to a study to be published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (BSSA).
The Raton Basin, which stretches from southern Colorado into northern New Mexico, was seismically quiet until shortly after major fluid injec ...
more
Moving silicon atoms in graphene with atomic precision
Vienna, Austria (SPX) Sep 18, 2014 -
Richard Feynman famously posed the question in 1959: is it possible to see and manipulate individual atoms in materials? For a time his vision seemed more science fiction than science, but starting with groundbreaking experiments in the late 1980s and more recent developments in electron microscopy instrumentation it has become scientific reality.
However, damage caused by the electron bea ...
more
Tornadoes occurring earlier in "Tornado Alley"
Washington DC (SPX) Sep 17, 2014 -
Peak tornado activity in the central and southern Great Plains of the United States is occurring up to two weeks earlier than it did half a century ago, according to a new study whose findings could help states in "Tornado Alley" better prepare for these violent storms.
Tornado records from Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and northern Texas - an area of high tornado activity dubbed "Tornado Al ...
more
Global carbon cycle may require reappraisal of historical climate events
Miami FL (SPX) Sep 17, 2014 -
A recent study of the global carbon cycle offers a new perspective of Earth's climate records through time. Scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science suggest that one of the current methods for interpreting ancient changes in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and oceans may need to be re-evaluated.
The UM Rosenstiel S ...
more
Creation of Vuoksi River preceded significant cultural shift
Helsinki, Finland (SPX) Sep 17, 2014 -
The creation of the Vuoksi River and the subsequent rapid decrease in the water level of Lake Saimaa approximately 6,000 years ago revealed thousands of square kilometres of new, fertile land in eastern Finland. A multidisciplinary research project organised by University of Helsinki researchers has studied the role that the decrease in water levels has played in the interaction between nature a ...
more
Sea Shepherd to switch campaign from whales to toothfish
Sydney (AFP) Sept 17, 2014 -
Conservation group Sea Shepherd Australia said Wednesday it will switch its Southern Ocean campaign from whales to toothfish - a rare species famed as "white gold" - if Japan cancels this year's hunt in Antarctica.
Sea Shepherd, which has spent a decade harassing the Japanese harpoon ships during the southern hemisphere summer, said it would still keep its eye on any whaling vessels.
B ...
more
6.7-magnitude quake strikes off Guam: USGS
Wellington (AFP) Sept 17, 2014 -
A 6.7-magnitude earthquake hit off the Pacific island of Guam Wednesday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, but no tsunami warning was issued as the tremor was too deep.
The agency initially said the quake was 7.1 magnitude, but later revised down the tremor which struck in the sea at a depth of 136 kilometres (84 miles) some 49 kilometres northwest of the US territory's capital Hagatna. ...
more
Rising sea levels to cost Australia billions: study
Sydney (AFP) Sept 17, 2014 -
Rising sea levels could threaten infrastructure worth more than Aus$226 billion (US$205 billion) in Australia if climate change is left unchecked, a study warned Wednesday.
The Climate Council report said the most serious consequences of rising seas would be an increase in the frequency of coastal flooding and the retreat of shorelines.
Both these threats could cause massive damage in A ...
more
Chimps are natural-born killers, say scientists
Paris (AFP) Sept 17, 2014 -
Chimpanzees can be lethally violent to each other but this stems from an inherent streak and not, as some have suggested, from human interference, a study said on Wednesday.
Zoologists, led by the famed Jane Goodall, have speculated for years on the causes of "chimpanzee wars" among Man's genetically-closest relatives.
One theory is that the apes are made more aggressive as a result of h ...
more
World will 'change course' on climate at UN summit: envoy
United Nations, United States (AFP) Sept 17, 2014 -
A UN summit on climate change will see the world "change course" and begin to seriously tackle global warming, UN climate envoy Mary Robinson said Wednesday.
More than 120 leaders are to attend the summit on Tuesday called to inject new momentum in efforts to address climate change ahead of a crucial conference in Paris next year.
"The message from the climate summit and the message goin ...
more
Far more displaced by disasters than conflict: study
United Nations, United States (AFP) Sept 17, 2014 -
Disasters last year displaced three times more people than violent conflicts, showing the urgent need to improve resilience for vulnerable people when fighting climate change, according to a study issued Wednesday.
The Norwegian Refugee Council, an independent group that focuses on emergency aid, released the findings ahead of a United Nations summit on Tuesday aimed at building momentum for ...
more
Poachers turn gamekeeper to guard Rwandan gorillas
Kinigi, Rwanda (AFP) Sept 17, 2014 -
For four decades Leonidas Barora was a renowned hunter, tracking animals in the lush forests of Rwanda. Now he only fires arrows to impress tourists, and to help protect the wildlife.
Hundreds of ex-poachers have been persuaded to put down their weapons and support efforts to protect endangered mountain gorillas in the Volcanoes National Park, where thick jungle hills are shrouded in mist. ...
more
Wildfires rage across drought-hit California
Los Angeles (AFP) Sept 17, 2014 -
As many as 6,000 firefighters were battling Tuesday a wave of wildfires raging across California, which is gripped by a historic drought and near-record temperatures.
Thousands of residents have been evacuated and buildings ravaged in at least one of the fires in northern California, while southern California has been hit by power blackouts as people turn their air conditioning up to full bl ...
more
Floating bodies, shallow graves in flood-hit Kashmir
Srinagar, India (AFP) Sept 17, 2014 -
Parminder Singh carefully lifted one of the bloated bodies from his boat as he described the horrors confronting Indian Kashmir residents after the worst floods in a century.
After days of trying and with waters receding, Singh finally managed to return to his house in Indian Kashmir's main city of Srinagar on Tuesday, but his heart sank on arrival.
"My house was collapsed, gone, and I s ...
more
Daughters of Chinese activists demand meeting with Obama
Washington (AFP) Sept 17, 2014 -
Daughters of detained Chinese activists on Wednesday demanded a meeting with President Barack Obama, saying he must double down on efforts to win their release when he meets Chinese leaders.
Gathered on Washington's sun-kissed Capitol lawn alongside Congressional allies, the women insisted the United States can and must do more to get their dads out of jail.
"I believe that high-level di ...
more
Material mimicking shark skin combats hospital superbugs
Washington (UPI) Sep 17, 2014 -
A shark skin-like material called Sharklet can be used to combat superbugs in hospitals, according to a new study.
The material emulates shark skin in that it has microscopic ridges and grooves that don't hold bacteria that tends to cling to surfaces in hospitals. A sample of the bacteria Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was sprayed on the surface, mimicking a human's ...
more
