Posts Tagged ‘science’
Thursday, August 6th, 2009
The concept sounds like spinning fabric out of thin air, but the science is rock solid. Catalyx Nanotech, Inc., a relatively new player in the nanomaterials market, has completed its pilot project to manufacture nanofibers from landfill gas, using a patented cracking process to break down methane into soot free elemental carbon and hydrogen. Based on Catalyx’s success with a similar production facility in Canada, it appears that yet another way to recycle old landfills is right around the corner.
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Tags: Canada, Elemental Carbon, Fabric, Hydrogen, Landfill Gas, Landfills, manufacturing, Methane, Pilot Project, science, Sounds, Success, technology, Thin Air
Posted in Resources - Energy - Environment | No Comments »
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
The swine flu has been widely believed to eventually become resistant to Tamiflu, an antiviral flu drug administered orally. Many people rely on Tamiflu instead of the vaccine for the seasonal flu to avoid contact with thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative found in most types of flu vaccines. (Though the FDA and CDC say Tamiflu is not a replacement for any flu vaccine, but in the case of the swine flu, has been approved for Emergency Use Authorization.)
The swine flu vaccine, in many cases, will also contain thimerosal.
Now, scientists in Denmark have discovered the first strain of H1N1 that is resistant to Tamiflu. Officials there issued a statement, quoted by Reuters:
It does not constitute a risk to public health and does not cause changes to the recommendations for the use of oseltamivir (Tamiflu).
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Tags: Antiviral Flu, Cdc, Contact, denmark, Fda, Flu, Flu Drug, Flu Vaccines, H1n1, Health, Many People, Mercury, Oseltamivir, Parenting, Public Health, Reuters, Risk, science, Scientists, Swine Flu Vaccine, Tamiflu
Posted in Resources - Energy - Environment | No Comments »
Friday, July 31st, 2009
Plant DNA 'barcodes' can help identify plants quickly and easily, without requiring an on-site visual ID from a botanist. Photo by Victoria Porter via Flickr.com.
After four years of research, scientists have decided on a standard 'DNA barcode' for identifying plants. It sounds cool, if you like science (which I do), but is it perhaps one of those findings that's great if you're a researcher, but pretty much useless to the rest of the world? Well, no.
According to a
BBC article, DNA barcodes can be used to investigate illegal trade of
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Tags: Barcodes, Bbc, Bbc Article, biodiversity, botanical, conservation, Dna Barcode, endangered species, Illegal Trade, news, Photo, Plant Dna, Plants, preservation, Research Scientists, Researcher, Rest Of The World, science, Science & Technology, Victoria, Visual Id
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Friday, July 31st, 2009
photo: Phillip Capper via flickr
We all know that the state of the world's fisheries is pretty dire, with
overfishing rampant and
fish stock collapse likely in many places if something isn't done about it. A new paper in the journal
Science gives some hope, saying that management efforts to prevent overfishing are working. H...
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Tags: blue august, Collapse, Fish, Fish Stock, Fisheries Management, fishing, Journal Science, Management Efforts, New Science, oceans, Phillip Capper, Photo, science
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Friday, July 31st, 2009
Plastic bags, the bane of human existence.
They were also a huge annoyance to Daniel Burd, who said that they’d come pouring out of the closet every time he did chores.
One day, I got tired of it and I wanted to know what other people are doing with these plastic bags.
So he did what any teen would do. He experimented with bacteria and decomposed a plastic bag in 3 months, winning top prize in the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Ottawa.
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Tags: Annoyance, Bacteria, Bane, Burd, Canada Wide Science, Chores, Human Existence, Other Environmental Topics, Ottawa, Plastic Bags, science, Science Fair
Posted in Resources - Energy - Environment | No Comments »
Thursday, July 30th, 2009
photo: Matthew McDermott
One criticism/fear of instituting a
cap and trade program to reduce carbon emissions is that once Wall Street gets its fingers into it the whole thing is just going to run amok with speculation, derivatives and all the same sorts of things that led to the recent banking meltdown. Well, though the
Senate's climate bill hasn't even been written yet,
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Tags: Cap, carbon emissions, Climate, congress, Derivatives, economics, Fear, Fingers, global climate change, global warming solutions, Hasn, John Kerry, John Mcdermott, Meltdown, Monkey Business, Photo, science, Senate Bill, Sorts, Speculation, Wall Street
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Thursday, July 30th, 2009
Tasmanian Devil photo: Chen Wu via flickr.
We're in the midst of the
sixth great wave of extinction on this planet, with extinction rates up to 10,000 times those which prevailed over the past 60 million years. A new article in the journal
Conservation Biology did an extensive survey of the literature and found that
Oceania (that's Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands) ...
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Tags: 60 Million, Australia, Bearing, Brunt, conservation, endangered species, Extinction Rates, Journal Conservation Biology, Literature, Midst, Million Years, New Article, New Zealand, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Photo, science, Survey, Tasmanian Devil
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Thursday, July 30th, 2009
Last year,
Enviu, the innovators in sustainability based in Rotterdam (NL), launched
the Hybrid Tuktuk Battle. The challenge was to design a system to make one million auto-rickshaws in India and other developing countries hybrid, in order to improve the living conditions of millions of drivers and their families, and drastically reduce the CO2 emissions. This month the grand prize went to the
HAN’ds On Eco Tuk, a Tuktuk with LPG direct injection designed by the stude...
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Tags: alternative energy, Auto Rickshaw, Cars & Transportation, Co2 Emissions, Developing Countries, Dutch Students, Eco, Efficiency, entrepreneurship, Grand Prize, hybrid, India, Innovators, Lpg, Netherlands, One Million, prototypes, Rickshaws, Rotterdam Nl, science, Science & Technology, social, Stude, Sustainability, Tuktuk
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Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
In a previous post, I listed five of the best things I think you can do in order to live a sustainable lifestyle — #6-10. Now, here is the top five list.
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Tags: Action & Activism, Climate Change, Education, Food & Drink, Health, Lifestyle, Lifestyle Tips, Politics, science, Sustainability, Sustainable Lifestyle, Transport, travel
Posted in Resources - Energy - Environment | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
photo: chadly via flickr
A few months back researchers shows how climate change is going to
shift wildfire hotspots, now scientists are saying that global warming could well burn parts of the Western US to a crisp -- Only a modest increase in average temperatures could nearly triple the area in some places burnt by forest fires:...
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Tags: Average Temperatures, Climate Change, Crisp, Forest Fires, global climate change, global warming, global warming effects, Hotspots, Photo, Rocky Mountain Forest, science, Scientists, united states
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