Science, Space, GIS News: 05/30/16

Monday, 30 May 2016

Single-step hydrogen peroxide production could be cleaner, more efficient

Single-step hydrogen peroxide production could be cleaner, more efficient

Madison WI (SPX) May 30, 2016 - Bottles of dilute hydrogen peroxide sit on shelves in medicine cabinets across the world, yet synthesizing the chemical at the large scale requires a surprisingly complicated process that is economically unfeasible for all but a few industrial facilities. Chemists and engineers have long been working on simpler approaches. A significant challenge can be stabilizing hydrogen peroxide once i ... more

Thermal modification of wood and a complex study of its properties by magnetic resonance

Thermal modification of wood and a complex study of its properties by magnetic resonance

Kazan, Russia (SPX) May 30, 2016 - Heat treatment has proved to be an effective method of improving some of the useful properties of wood. Recent developments of the technology have allowed to achieve, among other things, increased hydrophobic properties, better elasticity, and improved dimensional stability. The corresponding chemical modifications depend on the heating regimes and the heating atmosphere and involve degrad ... more

Carnegie Mellon transparency reports make AI decision-making accountable

Pittsburgh PA (SPX) May 30, 2016 - Machine-learning algorithms increasingly make decisions about credit, medical diagnoses, personalized recommendations, advertising and job opportunities, among other things, but exactly how usually remains a mystery. Now, new measurement methods developed by Carnegie Mellon University researchers could provide important insights to this process. Was it a person's age, gender or education l ... more

Investment in energy storage vital if renewables to achieve full potential

Norwich, UK (SPX) May 30, 2016 - Government subsidies should be used to encourage investment in energy storage systems if renewable power is to be fully integrated into the sector, according to researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA). Variable output renewable energy systems, such as wind turbines and solar panels, are growing across Europe and contribute to supply and price volatility in electricity markets. ... more

Beating the limits of the light microscope, one photon at a time

Fort Collins CO (SPX) May 30, 2016 - The world's most advanced light microscopes allow us to see single molecules, proteins, viruses and other very small biological structures. But even the best microscopes have their limits. Colorado State University scientists are pushing the limits of a technique called super-resolution microscopy, opening potential new pathways to illuminating, for example, individual cell processes in living t ... more

New concept turns battery technology upside-down

Boston MA (SPX) May 30, 2016 - A new approach to the design of a liquid battery, using a passive, gravity-fed arrangement similar to an old-fashioned hourglass, could offer great advantages due to the system's low cost and the simplicity of its design and operation, says a team of MIT researchers who have made a demonstration version of the new battery. Liquid flow batteries - in which the positive and negative electrod ... more

Finding a new formula for concrete

Boston MA (SPX) May 30, 2016 - Researchers at MIT are seeking to redesign concrete - the most widely used human-made material in the world - by following nature's blueprints. In a paper published online in the journal Construction and Building Materials, the team contrasts cement paste - concrete's binding ingredient - with the structure and properties of natural materials such as bones, shells, and deep-sea sponges. As ... more

The next generation of carbon monoxide nanosensors

Washington DC (SPX) May 29, 2016 - The detection of carbon monoxide (CO) in the air is a vital issue, as CO is a poisonous gas and an environmental pollutant. CO typically derives from the incomplete combustion of carbon-based fuels, such as cooking gas and gasoline; it has no odour, taste, or colour and hence it is difficult to detect. Scientists have been investigating sensors that can determine CO concentration, and a team fro ... more

Top-down design brings new DNA structures to life

Tempe AZ (SPX) May 30, 2016 - Among the valuable holdings in London's Wellcome Library is a rough pencil sketch made in 1953 by Francis Crick. The drawing is one of the first to show the double-helix structure of DNA - Nature's blueprint for the design of sea snails, human beings, and every other living form on earth. Few could have predicted however, that DNA's simple properties of self-assembly, and its versatile informati ... more

Engineers discover a new gatekeeper for light

Buffalo NY (SPX) May 30, 2016 - Imagine a device that is selectively transparent to various wavelengths of light at one moment, and opaque to them the next, following a minute adjustment. Such a gatekeeper would enable powerful and unique capabilities in a wide range of electronic, optical and other applications, including those that rely on transistors or other components that switch on and off. In a paper in the journa ... more

Scientists create 'magnetic charge ice'

Argonne IL (SPX) May 30, 2016 - A team of scientists working at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has created a new material, called "rewritable magnetic charge ice," that permits an unprecedented degree of control over local magnetic fields and could pave the way for new computing technologies. The scientists' research report on development of magnetic charge ice is published in the May 2 ... more

Could optical clocks redefine the length of a second

Washington DC (SPX) May 30, 2016 - GPS-based navigation, communication systems, electrical power grids and financial networks all rely on the precise time kept by a network of around 500 atomic clocks located around the world. In The Optical Society's journal for high impact research, Optica, researchers present a way to use optical clocks for more accurate timekeeping than is possible with today's system of traditional atomic cl ... more

Doubling down on Schrodinger's cat

New Haven CT (SPX) May 30, 2016 - Yale physicists have given Schrodinger's famous cat a second box to play in, and the result may help further the quest for reliable quantum computing. Schrodinger's cat is a well-known paradox that applies the concept of superposition in quantum physics to objects encountered in everyday life. The idea is that a cat is placed in a sealed box with a radioactive source and a poison that will ... more

NIST, partners create standard to improve sustainable manufacturing

Washington DC (SPX) May 30, 2016 - Anyone who's ever covered a wall with sticky notes to clearly map all of the steps in a process knows how valuable that exercise can be. It can streamline workflow, increase efficiency and improve the overall quality of the end result. Now, a public-private team led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has created a new international standard that can "map" the critically ... more

Mars Webcam goes pro

Paris (ESA) May 30, 2016 - A modest 'webcam' on Mars Express has proven useful for outreach, education and citizen-science. Now ESA have decided to adopt it as a professional science instrument. Mars Express was launched in 2003 with a simple, low-resolution camera to provide visual confirmation that its Beagle 2 lander had separated. Once that was done, the camera was switched off, and the craft got on with its main miss ... more

Study: Appalachian coal ash filled with rare earth elements

Raleigh, N.C. (UPI) May 27, 2016 - Of all the coal ash produced in the United States, the waste generated by Appalachian coal operations is the richest in rare earth elements. Researchers from Duke University collected coal ash samples from power plants throughout the United States, including those in the largest coal-producing regions: the Appalachian Mountains; southern and western Illinois; and the Powder River Basin ... more

New concept turns battery technology upside-down