Feed aggregator

MIT researchers turn waste gas into liquid fuel

The Guardian - Tue, 2016-03-08 06:00

Successful trial at a pilot plant in China using bacteria to convert exhaust emissions to oil will now be tested at a larger scale

Turning the emissions of power stations, steel mills and garbage dumps into liquid fuels has been demonstrated by MIT researchers using engineered microbes.

The process has been successfully trialled at a pilot plant in China and a much bigger facility is now planned.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Octopus dubbed Casper the friendly ghost could be new species

The Guardian - Sat, 2016-03-05 17:31

Small, ghostly-white octopus was found in the deep sea off Hawaii and has been likened to the beloved cartoon character

Scientists say they have discovered what might be a new species of octopus while searching the Pacific Ocean floor near the Hawaiian Islands.

On 27 February, a team found a small light-coloured octopus at a depth of about 2.5 miles.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Hubble Space Telescope observes most distant galaxy ever seen

ABC Science - Fri, 2016-03-04 17:33
FAR AWAY IN TIME: Astronomers have discovered a galaxy that formed just 400 million years after the Big Bang explosion - the most distant galaxy found to date.

Roman fort, wolves and bears lost to time

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-03-04 15:30
Llangurig, Powys, Wales Cae Gaer in the Cambrians endures as a pale pattern in the landscape, a footnote of history

High in the Cambrian mountains of mid Wales, perched on a slope above the chaotically youthful river Afon Tarenig, the bleak aspect of the Roman fort at Cae Gaer speaks of military expediency and urgent purpose.

In the sunshine of early spring it looks almost serene. But to a newly arrived legionary, in the depths of winter, immersed in an alien landscape still home to wolves and bears, it must have felt like the edge of the world.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Oregon becomes first state to pass law to completely eliminate coal-fired power

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-03-04 08:43
  • Coal currently provides a third of the state’s electricity supply
  • State also aims to double amount of renewable energy produced by 2050

Oregon has become the first US state to pass laws to rid itself of coal, committing to eliminate the use of coal-fired power by 2035 and to double the amount of renewable energy in the state by 2040.

Legislation passed by the state’s assembly, which will need to be signed into law by Governor Kate Brown, will transition Oregon away from coal, which currently provides around a third of the state’s electricity supply.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Yellowstone grizzly bears face end of endangered species protection

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-03-04 08:25

US federal government says recovery of national park population to more than 700 is a ‘historic success’ but conservationists say move is premature

The federal government is proposing to strip endangered species protections from Yellowstone’s famed grizzly bears, with officials claiming a “historic success” in the recovery of the bear population.

Related: Rangers catch grizzly bear suspected in Yellowstone hiker death

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

US agency reaches 'holy grail' of battery storage sought by Elon Musk and Gates

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-03-03 23:00

Breakthrough in next generation of storage batteries could transform the US electrical grid within five to 10 years, says research agency, Arpa-E

A US government agency says it has attained the “holy grail” of energy – the next-generation system of battery storage, that has has been hotly pursued by the likes of Bill Gates and Elon Musk.

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (Arpa-E) – a branch of the Department of Energy – says it achieved its breakthrough technology in seven years.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Monster volcano may have given Mars an extreme makeover

ABC Science - Thu, 2016-03-03 10:40
SHAPE SHIFTER: A massive volcano on Mars spewed so much lava 3.5 billion years ago that the weight displaced the Red Planet's outer layers, according to a study that reconstructs the planet's geologic history.

New satellite mapping a 'game changer' against illegal logging

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-03-02 23:30

System that provides hard evidence of logging crimes in almost real time gives new hope of combating tropical deforestation

Taken from outer space, the satellite images show illegal loggers cutting a road into a protected area in Peru, part of a criminal enterprise attempting to steal millions of dollars worth of ecological resources.

With the launch of a new satellite mapping system on Wednesday, governments and environmentalists will have access to hard evidence of these types of crimes almost in real time as part of a push by scientists to improve monitoring of tropical deforestation.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Smallest of giant flowers ‘accidentally’ discovered in the Philippines

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-03-02 20:26

On Luzon Island, scientists have accidentally discovered the smallest of the giant Rafflesia flowers, a species that may be critically endangered, reports Mongabay

In the rainforests of southeastern Asia, a parasitic plant called Rafflesia produces the world’s largest flowers. Some Rafflesia flowers, for instance, can be a meter and a half in diameter, and can weigh up to 22 pounds (or 10 kilograms). These flowers, called “corpse flower” locally, often smell like rotting flesh.

Now, on Luzon Island in the Phillipines, a team of scientists have discovered the smallest of these giant flowers.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Oldest-known fossil of a land-dwelling organism is a fungus

ABC Science - Wed, 2016-03-02 19:40
EARLY ADOPTERS: The beautifully preserved filaments from a fungus that lived 440 million years ago are the oldest-known fossils of a land-dwelling organism yet found, according to a new study

Chronic stress speeds up spread of cancer through lymphatic system

ABC Science - Wed, 2016-03-02 09:54
CANCER MECHANISM: Stress acts as a "fertiliser" for cancer, helping it to spread through the body's lymphatic system, according to a study on mice.

Alarm over lead found in drinking water at US schools

The Guardian - Tue, 2016-03-01 23:00

In the wake of the Flint water crisis several schools have shut off their drinking water due to high levels of lead, raising the question: ‘How big is this issue?’

Several schools across the US have either discovered or acted upon evidence of high levels of lead in their drinking water in the wake of the crisis in Flint, Michigan, with one leading expert warning the cases could mark “the tip of the iceberg”.

Related: 'It's all just poison now': Flint reels as families struggle through water crisis

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Tiger country? Scientists uncover wild surprises in tribal Bangladesh

The Guardian - Tue, 2016-03-01 18:47

Partnering with indigenous groups, conservationists discover a wealth of wildlife in Bangladesh’s most remote region. Including maybe, just maybe, tigers

The locals said there were tigers in the forest. They also said there were sun bear, gaur, dhole and clouded leopard. Few took note, but it turned out, not surprisingly, that locals were right. Conservationists surveying the super-remote, little-known Chittagong Hills Tract region of Bangladesh have taken the country’s first ever photos of sun bear and gaur. And last month they discovered a 13-centimetre pugmark (or pawprint) of a feline, which experts believe is a tiger.

“Despite the tremendous challenges [facing] the natural heritage of Bangladesh – all hope is not lost yet,” said Shahriar Caesar Rahman, the co-founder of the new group, Creative Conservation Alliance (CCA). Rahman and his group, which organized the wildlife survey that employed camera traps, have been working in the Chittagong Hills Tract region for five years by partnering with the local tribes and securing support from Bangladesh’s forest department.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Release of Sensitive Ecological Species Data Access and Management Policy

Department of the Environment - Tue, 2016-03-01 13:34
The Sensitive Ecological Data Access and Management Policy provides a process for identifying and managing sensitive ecological data.
Categories: Around The Web

The awesome origins of gravitational waves

ABC Science - Tue, 2016-03-01 11:35
GREAT MOMENTS IN SCIENCE: The recently discovered gravitational waves were created under mind-boggling circumstances. Dr Karl goes into the beautiful and awe-inspiring story of their creation.

Nervous system found in 520-million-year-old crustacean like animal

ABC Science - Tue, 2016-03-01 09:59
OLD NERVES: A fossil of a 520-million-year-old animal is so well preserved that its individual nerve fibres are still visible, according to a new study on the crustacean-like creature that once lived in southern China.

Groupthink: too much connectivity may stifle innovation

ABC Science - Tue, 2016-03-01 09:54
CULTURAL CREATIVITY: Completely breaking down 'silos' could actually be the enemy of innovation, a study has found.

World's biggest floating solar farm powers up outside London

The Guardian - Mon, 2016-02-29 21:44

Five years in planning and due to be finished in early March, more than 23,000 solar panels will be floated on the Queen Elizabeth II reservoir near Heathrow and used to generate power for local water treatment plants

On a vast manmade lake on the outskirts of London, work is nearing completion on what will soon be Europe’s largest floating solar power farm – and will briefly be the world’s biggest.

But few are likely to see the 23,000 solar panels on the Queen Elizabeth II reservoir at Walton-on-Thames, which is invisible to all but Heathrow passengers and a few flats in neighbouring estates.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Former Tepco bosses charged Fukushima meltdown

The Guardian - Mon, 2016-02-29 17:52

First criminal action to be taken after 2011 disaster, in which three nuclear reactors went into meltdown after earthquake

Three former executives from Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) have been charged with contributing to deaths and injuries stemming from the triple meltdown in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Their indictment on Monday marks the start of the first criminal action to be taken in connection with the disaster, which forced the evacuation of 160,000 residents, many of whom are still unable to return to their homes.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Pages

Subscribe to Sustainable Engineering Society aggregator