DURHAM, N.H. – Communities of microbial organisms -- species such as nematodes, protists and fungi -- on beaches along the Gulf of Mexico changed significantly following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in April 2010, research from the University of New Hampshire's Hubbard Center for Genome Studies (HCGS) and partners found. The findings, which analyzed marine sediments from five Gulf Coast sites prior to and several months following shoreline oiling, are published in the June 6, 2012, issue of the journal PLoS ONE.
Tech
For millennia, mankind has discovered new drugs either through educated guesswork or blind luck. But with the proliferation of advanced computing, a new paradigm has emerged whereby one can find drug targets through simulation and modeling.
A combination of modeling, simulation, analysis and visualization, the process is accomplished through the expert application of biophysical algorithms and the high-performance, parallel-processing supercomputers of the Texas Advanced Computing Center's (TACC).
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - U.S. researchers are perfecting simulations that show a nuclear weapon's performance in precise molecular detail, tools that are becoming critical for national defense because international treaties forbid the detonation of nuclear test weapons.
The simulations must be operated on supercomputers containing thousands of processors, but doing so has posed reliability and accuracy problems, said Saurabh Bagchi, an associate professor in Purdue University's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
The transformation of a fertilized egg into a functioning animal requires thousands of cell divisions and intricate rearrangements of those cells. That process is captured with unprecedented speed and precision by a new imaging technology developed at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Farm Research Campus, which lets users track each cell in an embryo as it takes shape over hours or days.
UPTON, NY - Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have identified key elements in the biochemical mechanism plants use to limit the production of fatty acids. The results suggest ways scientists might target those biochemical pathways to increase the production of plant oils as a renewable resource for biofuels and industrial processes.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A new Purdue University-developed process for creating biofuels has shown potential to be cost-effective for production scale, opening the door for moving beyond the laboratory setting.
A Purdue economic analysis shows that the cost of the thermo-chemical H2Bioil method is competitive when crude oil is about $100 per barrel when using certain energy methods to create hydrogen needed for the process. If a federal carbon tax were implemented, the biofuel would become even more economical.
Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a technique to efficiently divide the bandwidth of the wireless spectrum in multi-hop wireless networks to improve operation and provide all users in the network with the best possible performance.
It is not very fun to ride a bicycle on a street plastered with cobblestones. At least the bike has a saddle seat filled with silicone. That lessens the shocks and bumps, and counteracts some of the annoying vibrations. In a professional's eyes, the material in the saddle is an "elastomer" – a material that is yielding and malleable, like a rubber band.
The new microscope, called Multi-View SPIM, or MuVi-SPIM for short, enables scientists to image rapid biological processes in thick samples at unprecedented detail. It builds upon the Selective-Plane Illumination Microscopy (SPIM) technology developed at EMBL a few years ago. Like SPIM, the new microscope shines a thin sheet of light on the embryo, illuminating one layer of a sample like this embryo at a time, to obtain an image of the whole sample with minimal light-induced damage. But MuVi-SPIM takes four full images from different angles, eliminating the need to rotate the sample.
Higher water temperatures and reduced river flows in Europe and the United States in recent years have resulted in reduced production, or temporary shutdown, of several thermoelectric power plants, resulting in increased electricity prices and raising concerns about future energy security in a changing climate.
Thermoelectric (nuclear or fossil-fuelled) power plants, supply 91% and 78% of total electricity in the US and Europe respectively, thus disruption to their operation is a significant concern for the energy sector.
Warmer water and reduced river flows in the United States and Europe in recent years have led to reduced production, or temporary shutdown, of several thermoelectric power plants. For instance, the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Alabama had to shut down more than once last summer because the Tennessee River's water was too warm to use it for cooling.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Altitude training is a popular technique among athletes preparing for a competition, especially expert runners. Much research has been conducted on how to do it, at what altitude to train, how to modify workouts and how long to stay at altitude. However, a major unanswered question is when should an athlete return from altitude to compete?
Coaches of elite runners generally take one of two sides.
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—The U.S. had the second-lowest proportion of students who used tobacco and alcohol compared to their counterparts in 36 European countries, a new report indicates.
The results originate from coordinated school surveys about substance use from more than 100,000 students in some of the largest countries in Europe like Germany, France and Italy, as well as many smaller ones from both Eastern and Western Europe.
Too often, communication barriers exist between those who can hear and those who cannot. Sign language has helped bridge such gaps, but many people are still not fluent in its motions and hand shapes.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M — Sandia National Laboratories researcher Steve Dai jokes that his approach to creating materials whose properties won't degenerate during temperature swings is a lot like cooking — mixing ingredients and fusing them together in an oven.