Researchers use stalagmites to study past climate change

May 3 | News

Existing historical climate records are typically biased to the high latitudes, where polar ice and ocean sediments lock in the atmosphere’s past. Yet a main driver of climate variability today is El Niño, which is a completely tropical phenomenon. Scientists at the California Institute of Technology believe they have found the ice core of the tropics, however.

Data shows spring advancing faster than experiments suggest

May 3 | News

To help predict the rate at which plants respond to changing climate conditions, researchers use experiments that manipulate the temperature surrounding small plots of plants to gauge how specific plants will react to higher temperatures. But wild plants are leafing out and flowering sooner each year than predicted by results from these experiments, according to data from a major new archive of historical observations.

Nuisance seaweed found to produce compounds with biomedical potential

21 hours ago | News

A seaweed considered a threat to the healthy growth of coral reefs in Hawaii may possess the ability to produce substances that could one day treat human diseases, a new study led by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California, San Diego has revealed.

Forensics link crystal growth to volcano seismicity

22 hours ago | News

Using forensic-style chemical analysis, scientists in the U.K. and Germany have directly linked seismic observations of the deadly 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption to crystal growth within the magma chamber, the large underground pool of liquid rock beneath the volcano. Building direct links between observations at the surface and processes occurring underground has been an ongoing problem for volcanologists.

Obama taps Yucca Mtn critic to lead nuclear agency

May 24 | News

Moving quickly to stem a controversy, President Barack Obama on Thursday nominated an expert on nuclear waste to lead the federal agency that regulates the nation's nuclear power plants.Allison Macfarlane, who served on a presidential commission that studied new strategies to manage nuclear...

Modified nanoparticle opens window on future gene editing technologies

May 24 | News

The scientific and technological literature is abuzz with nanotechnology and its manufacturing and medical applications. But it is in an area with a less glitzy aura—plant sciences—where nanotechnology advancements are contributing dramatically to agriculture. Researchers at Iowa State University have now demonstrated the ability to deliver proteins and DNA into plant cells, simultaneously.

Feds approve operational changes to Arizona dam

May 23 | News

The federal government has approved two programs to further test the impact of flooding the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon and to help boost the native fish population.Since the 1960s, Glen Canyon Dam near the Arizona-Utah border has blocked 90 percent of sediment from the river from...

Pollution teams with thunderclouds to warm atmosphere(2)

May 21 | News

According to a recent computational study, pollution is warming the atmosphere by intensifying summer thunderstorm clouds. The effect, say researchers, outweigh any cooling factors provided by clouds, and global climate models don't see this effect because thunderstorm clouds simulated in those models do not include enough detail.

Oxygen-separation membranes could aid in carbon dioxide reduction

May 21 | News

Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology are evaluating a system that efficiently eliminates nitrogen from the combustion process, delivering a pure stream of carbon dioxide after removing other combustion byproducts such as water and other gases.

Research focused on underground solution to greenhouse gas challenges

May 18 | News

While many are focusing on atmospheric solutions to reduce greenhouse gases, some researchers are setting their sights on the ground—deep underground. Li Li, an assistant professor of energy and mineral engineering at Penn State University, is investigating geologic carbon sequestration as a way to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Plants grow without light

May 17 | News

Plants rely on photoreceptors to activate internal chemical processes like germination and leaf growth. Theorizing that the light-absorbing component of the photoreceptor may be replaced by a chemically similar synthetic substance, scientist have for the first time shown that full growth of plants is possible in the complete absence of light.

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Wanted: 2011's Top Technologies

8/15/2011 | RDBlog

The editors of R&D Magazine have opened the nominations for the 2012 R&D 100 Awards competition, which will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the awards. If your organization introduced a new product this year, or is planning to, you can begin the entry process now.

Hello and welcome to the new R&D Daily

4/29/2011 | RDBlog

There’s nothing wrong with your watch. This is the same R&D Daily you received every afternoon. But after nearly three-and-half years and more than 5,000 stories, the R&D Daily is undergoing a mitosis of sorts, evolving to a.m. and p.m. editions. You will get the same high-technology content as before, just more of it, in a more timely manner.

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Introducing The HYDRA

5/25/2010 | Videos

The Essential Element™ has developed a revolutionary next-generation mobile power plant and water purification solution. The Hydra incorporates new patent pending advancements that make it feasible for its mobile water purification system In the world today over 1 billion people do not...

Presentation & Artwork Binders

5/24/2010 | Videos

Univentures Presentation Binder is perfect for delivering a memorable presentation for a meeting with a potential client, like this landscaping layout that allows you to easily navigate between all of a customers options. Its also great to use as a portfolio for designers and artists to...