New research from the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) quantifies the potential impacts of increasing wind and solar power generation on the operators of fossil-fueled power plants in the West. To accommodate higher amounts of wind and solar power on the electric grid, utilities must ramp down and ramp up or stop and start conventional generators more frequently to provide reliable power for their customers – a practice called cycling.
Tech
COLUMBIA, Mo. – New research from the University of Missouri indicates escapism, social interaction and rewards fuel problematic video-game use among "very casual" to "hardcore" adult gamers. Understanding individual motives that contribute to unhealthy game play could help counselors identify and treat individuals addicted to video games.
Anyone who's stuffed a smart phone in their back pocket would appreciate the convenience of electronic devices that could bend. Flexible electronics could spawn new products: clothing wired to cool or heat, reading tablets that could fold like newspaper, and so on.
Alas, electronic components such as chips, displays and wires are generally made from metals and inorganic semiconductors -- materials with physical properties that make them fairly stiff and brittle.
Researchers from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), and Brookhaven National Laboratory, have discovered a new family of non-precious metal catalysts. These catalysts exhibit better performance than platinum in oxygen-reduction reaction (ORR) only with 10 % of the production cost of a platinum catalyst.
Is there any connection between wine and biodiesel? The answer is yes, however surprising it may seem. Acetals are chemical compounds found in many wines, like port, for example, which give it a unique, sweet smell. However if acetals are blended with biodiesel, they improve its properties.
A new study shows that exposure to diesel exhaust particles from traffic pollution leads to increased asthma severity in children. Moreover, the study finds that this is due to increased blood levels of IL-17A, a protein associated with several chronic inflammatory diseases, in children with high diesel exposure.
The study by researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center is published online in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
San Francisco, CA. -- Do you have a smartphone in your pocket or purse? If so, you may be carrying the future of mobile medical monitoring technology, according to a special article in the October issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).
Researchers are conducting a clinical trial to help determine the best timing of delivery in preterm pregnancies complicated by poor fetal growth. Preliminary results from the trial, which are published early online in Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology, demonstrate better than expected health outcomes in this high-risk group of fetuses.
Scientists have moved closer to developing a universal flu vaccine after using the 2009 pandemic as a natural experiment to study why some people seem to resist severe illness.
Researchers at Imperial College London asked volunteers to donate blood samples just as the swine flu pandemic was getting underway and report any symptoms they experienced over the next two flu seasons.
They found that those who avoided severe illness had more CD8 T cells, a type of virus-killing immune cell, in their blood at the start of the pandemic.
Researchers at Saint Louis University School of Medicine have discovered a novel interaction between prostacyclin (PGI2) analogs and phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) inhibitors, two groups of drugs used in the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). They found that, in combination, these drugs stimulate enhanced release of a potent vasodilator adenosine triphosphate (ATP) from human red blood cells (RBCs). Their study appears in the September 2013 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine.
Alexandria, VA - The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) has released two final reports on the results of an April 2012 workshop for a cohort made up of underrepresented minority individuals seeking careers in academia. The workshop was hosted by AGI and the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) to disseminate information about opportunities available to future geoscience faculty from member societies, the federal government and by developing campus leadership.
MINNEAPOLIS (September 19, 2013) –Algae-derived biofuel can reduce life cycle CO2 emissions by 50 to 70 percent compared to petroleum fuels, and is approaching a similar Energy Return on Investment (EROI) as conventional petroleum according to a new peer-reviewed paper published in Bioresource Technology. The study, which is the first to analyze real-world data from an existing algae-to-energy demonstration scale farm, shows that the environmental and energy benefits of algae biofuel are at least on par, and likely better, than first generation biofuels.
According to a recent study published by the National Science Foundation (NSF), businesses spent more on research and development (R&D) in 2011 than they did in 2010.
Companies spent $294 billion on R&D performed in the United States during 2011, compared with $279 billion during 2010. Data are from the Business and R&D and Innovation Survey (BRDIS), which is co-sponsored by NSF and the U.S. Census Bureau.
Berkeley — Calcium can do much more than strengthen bones. The mineral is a critical nutrient for healthy tree growth, and new research shows that adding it to the soil helps reverse the decades-long decline of forests ailing from the effects of acid rain.
The paper, published today (Thursday, Sept. 19), in the journal Environmental Science and Technology (EST) Letters, and led by John Battles, professor of forest ecology at the University of California, Berkeley, also presents strong evidence that acid rain impairs forest health.
Earthworms are a welcomed sight in many gardens and yards since they can improve soil structure and mixing. But they are hard to find in the drier soils of eastern Colorado where water and organic matter is limited. Adding earthworms to fields where they are not currently found could help enhance the health and productivity of the soil. In areas where droughts are common, though, can earthworms survive? A new study suggests that they can.