Environment
Antarctic ice core contains unrivaled detail of past climate
February 5, 2013 2:37 pm | News | CommentsA team of U.S. ice-coring scientists and engineers in Antarctica, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), have recovered from the ice sheet a record of past climate and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that extends back 68,000 years.
Study: Gases work with particles to promote cloud formation
February 5, 2013 8:02 am | News | CommentsResearchers at Columbia University and the Georgia Institute of Technology have published a study showing, for the first time, that certain volatile organic gases can promote cloud formation in a way never considered before by atmospheric scientists.
Affordable sensor could detect a single molecule of carbon dioxide
February 4, 2013 9:20 am | News | CommentsCurrent sensors used to detect CO2 at surface sites are either very expensive or they use a lot of energy. And they’re not as accurate as they could be. Researchers in Canada are working on single nanowire transistors that could bring sensor technology up to speed with other technologies required for carbon capture and storage.
Study: Hydraulic fracturing produces less wastewater per unit of gas
February 1, 2013 7:55 am | News | CommentsHydraulically fractured natural gas wells are producing less wastewater per unit of gas recovered than conventional wells would. But the scale of fracking operations in the Marcellus shale region is so vast that the wastewater it produces threatens to overwhelm the region's wastewater disposal capacity, according to new analysis by researchers at Duke and Kent State universities.
Study finds substantial microorganism populations in the troposphere
January 29, 2013 7:57 am | News | CommentsIn what is believed to be the first study of its kind, researchers used genomic techniques to document the presence of significant numbers of living microorganisms—principally bacteria—in the middle and upper troposphere, that section of the atmosphere approximately four to six miles above the Earth's surface.
Study explores the potential benefits, threats of nanotechnology research
January 28, 2013 10:49 am | News | CommentsEvery day scientists learn more about how the world works at the smallest scales. While this knowledge has the potential to help others, it's possible that the same discoveries can also be used in ways that cause widespread harm. A new article tackles this complex "dual-use" aspect of nanotechnology research.
Team samples Antarctic lake 2,600 feet below ice sheet surface
January 28, 2013 10:41 am | News | CommentsIn a first-of-its-kind feat of science and engineering, a research team has successfully drilled through 800 m (2,600 feet) of Antarctic ice to reach a subglacial lake and retrieve water and sediment samples that have been isolated from direct contact with the atmosphere for many thousands of years. The samples may contain microbes from an ecosystem isolated for thousands of years, with implications for the search for life elsewhere in extreme environments.
Study: Distant rural areas may feel cities' heat
January 28, 2013 8:33 am | by Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer | News | CommentsHeat rising up from cities such as New York, Paris and Tokyo might be remotely warming up winters far away in some rural parts of Alaska, Canada, and Siberia, a new study theorizes. In an unusual twist revealed by computer modeling, that same urban heat from buildings and cars may be slightly cooling the autumns in much of the Western United States, Eastern Europe, and the Mediterranean. The finding stems from the ability of “heat island” energy to change high-altitude currents.
Analysis of Greenland ice cores may provide glimpse into climate’s future
January 25, 2013 11:10 am | News | CommentsA new study that provides surprising details on changes in Earth's climate from more than 100,000 years ago indicates that the last interglacial—the period between "ice ages"—was warmer than previously thought and may be a good analog for future climate, as greenhouse gases increase in the atmosphere and global temperatures rise.
Some carbon nanotubes deplete beneficial microbes in certain soils
January 24, 2013 1:53 pm | News | CommentsSome types of carbon nanotubes used for strengthening plastics and other materials may have an adverse effect on soil microbiology and soil microbial processes, a Purdue University study shows. Specifically, these raw, non-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes were shown to damage the active microbiology in low-organic soil.
The “rebound” effect of energy-efficient cars overplayed
January 24, 2013 8:18 am | News | CommentsThe argument that those who have fuel-efficient cars drive them more and hence use more energy is overplayed and inaccurate, a University of California, Davis economist and his co-authors say in a comment article published in Nature.
In perceiving climate change, feeling the heat counts
January 23, 2013 11:24 am | News | CommentsHuman beings around the world are observing and accurately detecting changes in their local climates, according to a new study led by Yale University researchers. The finding provides the first global evidence for the phenomenon and could have meaningful implications for attempts to combat climate change, they say.
Bisphenol A substitute could spell trouble
January 23, 2013 8:35 am | News | CommentsIn the same week that a team of researchers in France announced the harmful effects of bisphenol A (BPA) on hormone levels in human tissue, researchers in Texas have demonstrated through experiments that the BPA substitute bisphenol S also disrupts hormone activity at an extremely low level of exposure, and in an even more problematic way.
Obama pledges to deal with climate change
January 21, 2013 2:53 pm | by MATTHEW DALY - Associated Press - Associated Press | News | CommentsEnvironmental groups hailed President Barack Obama's warning about climate change in his second inauguration speech, but said the president's words will soon be tested as he decides whether to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada. Obama pledged Monday to respond to what he called "the threat of climate change," saying the failure to do so would be a betrayal of the nation's children and future generations.
Study: Warmer soils release additional carbon dioxide into atmosphere
January 21, 2013 8:41 am | by Beth Potier, University of New Hampshire | News | CommentsWarmer temperatures due to climate change could cause soils to release additional carbon into the atmosphere, thereby enhancing climate change—but that effect diminishes over the long term. The new study sheds new light on how soil microorganisms respond to temperature and could improve predictions of how climate warming will affect the carbon dioxide flux from soils.
Treaty aimed at reducing mercury emissions signed
January 19, 2013 4:35 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsU.N. officials say more than 130 nations have adopted the first legally binding international treaty aimed at reducing mercury emissions. The U.N. Environment Program says the treaty was adopted Saturday morning, after all-night negotiations that capped a week of talks.
Experiment to reshape future of atmospheric science
January 17, 2013 8:38 am | by Kathryn Hansen, NASA | News | CommentsNASA scientists and engineers are working now to lay the groundwork for the Aerosol-Cloud-Ecosystem (ACE) mission, which will change what we can learn about clouds and aerosols. To that end, the Polarimeter Definition Experiment (PODEX) in Southern California will soon commence, testing a new class of polarimeters that are especially suited for finding the type, shape, and size of particles in the upper atmosphere.
Marginal lands: Prime fuel source for alternative energy
January 16, 2013 2:21 pm | News | CommentsMarginal lands—those unsuited for food crops—can serve as prime real estate for meeting the nation's alternative energy production goals. In Nature, a team of researchers led by Michigan State University shows that marginal lands represent a huge untapped resource to grow mixed species cellulosic biomass, plants grown specifically for fuel production, which could annually produce up to 5.5 billion gallons of ethanol in the Midwest alone.
Reduce greenhouse gas by exporting coal?
January 16, 2013 9:36 am | News | CommentsWestern U.S. coal companies looking to expand sales to China will likely succeed, according to Stanford University economist Frank Wolak. But, due to energy market dynamics in the United States, those coal exports are likely to reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases.
New effort to create green electronics, workforce
January 15, 2013 10:18 am | by Emil Venere, Purdue University | News | CommentsThe world's love affair with gadgets—many of which contain hazardous materials—is generating millions of tons of electronic waste annually. Now, Purdue and Tuskegee universities are leading an international effort to replace conventional electronics with more sustainable technologies and train a workforce of specialists to make the transition possible.
Scientists find “bipolar” marine bacteria, refuting biological theory
January 15, 2013 9:46 am | News | CommentsIn another blow to the "Everything is Everywhere" tenet of bacterial distribution in the ocean, scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory have found "bipolar" species of bacteria that occur in the Arctic and Antarctic, but nowhere else. And, surprisingly, they found even fewer bipolar species than would turn up by chance if marine bacteria were randomly distributed everywhere.
Study reveals gas that triggers ozone destruction
January 14, 2013 9:28 am | News | CommentsScientists at the Universities of York and Leeds have made a significant discovery about the cause of the destruction of ozone over oceans. They have established that the majority of ozone-depleting iodine oxide observed over the remote ocean comes from a previously unknown marine source.
The high value of water
January 14, 2013 7:54 am | by Peter Dizikes, MIT News Office | News | CommentsIf you're reading this, odds are you've already used running water in your home today. But you're in a minority: Globally, at least a billion people have no nearby source of water, while of the remaining six billion or so, only 42% have running water in their homes or a tap in the yard, according to the World Health Organization. Now a new field experiment shows just how much access to clean water matters to people.
Airborne pods seek to trace nuclear bomb’s origins
January 10, 2013 9:11 am | News | CommentsIf a nuclear device were to unexpectedly detonate anywhere on Earth, the ensuing effort to find out who made the weapon probably would be led by aircraft rapidly collecting airborne radioactive particles for analysis. Relatively inexpensive UAVs—equipped with radiation sensors and specialized debris-samplers—could fly right down the throat of telltale radiation over a broad range of altitudes without exposing a human crew to hazards. A Sandia National Laboratories-developed airborne particulate-collection system demonstrated those kinds of capabilities.
Giant squid captured on video in ocean depths
January 9, 2013 6:24 pm | by Malcolm Foster, Associated Press | News | CommentsAfter years of searching, scientists and broadcasters say they have captured video images of a giant squid in its natural habitat deep in the ocean for the first time. Japanese public broadcaster NHK released photographs of the giant squid this week ahead of Sunday's show about the encounter. The Discovery Channel will air its program on Jan. 27.
