Reusing the major greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial plants — rather than releasing its warming potential into the environment — is on the verge of becoming a commercial reality. Several large chemical companies in Germany and small start-ups in the U.S. are leading the way, according to an article in Chemical & Engineering News, the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society.
Heavens
The researchers, from the University of Sheffield's Faculty of Engineering, have shown that mixing plutonium-contaminated waste with blast furnace slag and turning it into glass reduces its volume by 85-95 per cent. It also effectively locks in the radioactive plutonium, creating a stable end product.
The approach could also be applicable to treating large volume mixed wastes generated during the eventual clean-up of the damaged Fukushima plant.
Last year when a team of astronomers led by a Michigan State University professor discovered two black holes in a collection of stars known as a globular cluster, they weren't sure if their presence was a common occurrence or a unique stroke of luck.
Researchers are now thinking it was the former, as evidence of yet another black hole has been found in a globular cluster by an MSU-led team of researchers.
As published in the recent issue of Astrophysical Journal, a new black hole candidate has been found in a globular cluster known as M62.
WOODS HOLE, MA—The vast sagebrush landscapes of the western United States are one of the largest ecosystems in North America. Long, cold winters and hot, dry summers characterize these cold desert ecosystems and create bone-dry soils during seasonal droughts. New research published this week from MBL (Marine Biological Laboratory) senior scientist Zoe Cardon, John Stark (Utah State University), and their two former students, sheds light on how desert plants gain nutrients they desperately need—even in the driest circumstances.
NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the South China Sea and revealed that warm sea surface temperatures and low wind shear enabled Tropical Depression 30W to strengthen into a tropical storm.
As Typhoon Haiyan has been strengthening, NASA's TRMM satellite investigated how much rain was falling throughout the storm. Typhoon Haiyan is now closing in on Yap and Palau with a forecast to move through the central Philippines, so all of those areas are under warnings and watches.
NASA's Aqua satellite detected many bushfires in Wollemi National Park, located in the Australian state of New South Wales, outside of Sydney. Sydney is the state capital and the most populated city in Australia.
BOSTON -- Researchers at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis say one way to gauge the extent of prescription opioid pain reliever abuse in any Indiana county is to count the number of health care providers, particularly dentists and pharmacists.
In a study of opioid use and abuse, the researchers said they found that access to health care increases the availability of prescription opioids, which, in turn, is associated with higher rates of opioid abuse and associated consequences.
Boston−November 4, 2013 - Parents and doctors assume eating disorders very rarely affect males. However, a study of 5,527 teenage males from across the U.S., published Nov.4 in JAMA Pediatrics, challenges this belief. Boston Children's Hospital researchers found 17.9 percent of adolescent boys were extremely concerned about their weight and physique. These boys were more likely to start engaging in risky behaviors, including drug use and frequent binge drinking.
Tropical Depression 30W formed and moved through Visayas, Philippines. NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image of the depression that showed it had some potential for heavy rain while moving through the central Philippines.
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– Semiconductors have had a nice run, but for certain applications, such as astrophysics, they are being edged out by superconductors. Ben Mazin, assistant professor of physics at UC Santa Barbara, has developed a superconducting detector array that measures the energy of individual photons. The design and construction of an instrument based on these arrays, as well as an analysis of its commissioning data, appear in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
Recent data show that helicopter and fixed-wing commercial air tour operations in the U.S. have high crash rates compared with similar commercial aviation operations, and crash rates increase with less regulated standards of operation. The findings raise concerns about the public health impact of less-regulated commercial air tour operations, such as paid hot-air balloon rides.
"Some may have thick atmospheres, making it so hot at the surface that DNA-like molecules would not survive. Others may have rocky surfaces that could harbor liquid water suitable for living organisms," Marcy said. "We don't know what range of planet types and their environments are suitable for life."
NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm Haiyan on Nov. 4 and infrared data showed a large area of powerful thunderstorms affecting Micronesia. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center has forecast newborn Tropical Storm Haiyan to strengthen to a powerful typhoon before making landfall in the Philippines on Nov 8.
Tropical Storm Sonia formed on Friday, Nov. 1 from the eighteenth tropical depression of the Eastern Pacific Ocean hurricane season. Sonia became a tropical storm on Nov. 2 and by Nov. 4 made landfall in western Mexico. Sonia's brief life was captured in a NASA animation of imagery from NOAA's GOES-West satellite.