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Climate sensitivity to CO2 more limited than extreme projections

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study suggests that the rate of global warming from doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide may be less than the most dire estimates of some previous studies – and, in fact, may be less severe than projected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report in 2007.

Authors of the study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation and published online this week in the journal Science, say that global warming is real and that increases in atmospheric CO2 will have multiple serious impacts.

Ancient environment found to drive marine biodiversity

MADISON – Much of our knowledge about past life has come from the fossil record – but how accurately does that reflect the true history and drivers of biodiversity on Earth?

"It's a question that goes back a long way to the time of Darwin, who looked at the fossil record and tried to understand what it tells us about the history of life," says Shanan Peters, an assistant professor of geoscience at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Supercool

SALT LAKE CITY -- We drink water, bathe in it and we are made mostly of water, yet the common substance poses major mysteries. Now, University of Utah chemists may have solved one enigma by showing how cold water can get before it absolutely must freeze: 55 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.

That's 87 degrees Fahrenheit colder than what most people consider the freezing point of water, namely, 32 F.

Turkey talk: 2 American Chemical Society videos digest Thanksgiving myth and fact

WASHINGTON -- Does tryptophan in turkey really cause the bleary-eyed daze after a Thanksgiving meal? What's inside those pop-up timers that announce the turkey is ready for the table? How can those timers pop up when the turkey reaches exactly the right internal temperature?

Robojelly gets an upgrade

Engineers at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VirginiaTech) have developed a robot that mimics the graceful motions of jellyfish so precisely that it has been named Robojelly. Developed for the Office of Naval Research in 2009, this vehicle was designed to conduct ocean underwater surveillance, enabling it potentially to detect chemical spills, monitor the presence of ships and submarines, and observe the migration of schools of fish.

New design for mechanical heart valves

The heart's valves, which guarantee the unidirectional flow of blood from one chamber to another, are asymmetrical. For example, the two flaps of the heart's mitral valve – which regulates blood flow between the left atrium and the left ventricle – vary in size by up to 70 percent.

New strategy could lead to dose reduction in X-ray imaging

Athens, Ga. – For more than a century, the use of X-rays has been a prime diagnostic tool when it comes to human health. As it turns out, X-rays also are a crucial component for studying and understanding molecules, and a new approach -- just published by researchers at the University of Georgia -- may dramatically improve what researchers can learn using the technique.

Laser removal may be advantageous for treating precancerous skin lesions

CHICAGO – Carbon dioxide laser ablation (removal) may have a role as an alternative treatment for a common precancerous skin lesion known as lentigo maligna when surgery or radiation therapy is not feasible, according to a report in the November/December issue of the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

New medical, research tool possible by probing cell mechanics

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers are making progress in developing a system that measures the mechanical properties of living cells, a technology that could be used to diagnose human disease and better understand biological processes.

The team used an instrument called an atomic force microscope to study three distinctly different types of cells to demonstrate the method's potentially broad applications, said Arvind Raman, a Purdue University professor of mechanical engineering.

Pitt discoveries in quantum physics could change face of technology

PITTSBURGH—Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have made advances in better understanding correlated quantum matter that could change technology as we know it, according to a study published in the Nov. 20 edition of Nature.

Iowa State University scientists genetically increase algae biomass by more than 50 percent

AMES, Iowa - Research at Iowa State University has led to discovery of a genetic method that can increase biomass in algae by 50 to 80 percent.

The breakthrough comes from expressing certain genes in algae that increase the amount of photosynthesis in the plant, which leads to more biomass.

Expressing genes means that the gene's function is turned on.

Public misperception about scientific agreement on global warming undermines climate policy support

FAIRFAX, Va., November 21, 2011—People who believe there is a lot of disagreement among scientists about global warming tend to be less certain that global warming is happening and less supportive of climate policy, researchers at George Mason, San Diego State, and Yale Universities report in a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

A recent survey of climate scientists conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois found near unanimous agreement among climate scientists that human-caused global warming is happening.

Carbon nanotube forest camouflages 3-D objects

Carbon nanotubes, tiny cylinders composed of one-atom-thick carbon lattices, have gained fame as one of the strongest materials known to science. Now a group of researchers from the University of Michigan is taking advantage of another one of carbon nanotubes' unique properties, the low refractive index of low-density aligned nanotubes, to demonstrate a new application: making 3-D objects appear as nothing more than a flat, black sheet.

How ink flows, speedy neutrinos may leave LHC trails, and seeing Schroedinger's cat

Hydrodynamics of writing with ink

Jungchul Kim, Myoung-Woon Moon, Kwang-Ryeol Lee, L. Mahadevan, and Ho-Young Kim

Physical Review Letters (forthcoming)

When it comes to churning out electrons, metal glass beats plastics

Field emission devices, which produce a steady stream of electrons, have a host of consumer, industrial, and research applications. Recent designs based on nanotubes and other nanomaterials embedded in plastics show initial promise, but have a number of drawbacks that hinder their wide-scale application. The embedded nanotubes, which serve as the source for the electrons, also enable the normally inert plastic to conduct electricity. This has the desired effect of producing a versatile and easily manufactured field emission device.