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Researchers working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new microscopy technique that uses a process similar to how an old tube television produces a picture—cathodoluminescence—to image nanoscale features. Combining the best features of optical and scanning electron microscopy, the fast, versatile, and high-resolution technique allows scientists to view surface and subsurface features potentially as small as 10 nanometers in size. This technique […]
Yoon, H., Lee, Y., Bohn, C., Ko, S., Gianfrancesco, A., Steckel, J., Coe-Sullivan, S., Talin, A. & Zhitenev, N. (2013). High-resolution photocurrent microscopy using near-field cathodoluminescence of quantum dots, AIP Advances, 3 (6) 62112. DOI: 10.1063/1.4811275
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This month, the U.S. Department of Energy crowned the 2013 winner of its Clean Energy Business Plan Competition. The top spot went to SiNode Systems from Northwestern University, with its advanced anode technology. Their business plan centers on their innovative in lithium battery Si-graphene composite anode technology, which uses a composite of silicon nano-particles and [...]
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Hillary Rosner, writing for Ensia: Pregnancy has allowed me for the first time to understand how hard it is to tell good information from bad. As a science journalist, I make my living by being able to decipher the two, but all these warnings bewilder me. As a result, I feel like I can see [...]∞
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Projected crude oil production in the United States ranges from 6 to 8 million barrels per day (bbl/d) over the next 30 years in the Annual Energy Outlook 2013 (AEO2013) Reference case projection. However, under greater supply assumptions, crude oil production is sustained at a higher level of about 10 million bbl/d between 2020 and 2040 (see chart). Read more »
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While LED lamps offer long service life and high energy efficiency, their initial costs are higher than those of fluorescent and incandescent lamps, especially if you want to buy a light bulb with warmer and more appealing hue. Researchers at the University of Washington have created a material they say would make LED bulbs cheaper and greener to manufacture, driving down the price. Their silicon-based photoluminescent nanoparticles soften the blue light emitted by LEDs, creating white light […]
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“The 606″. It’s named after the first three digits of most Chicago zip codes and is supposed to connote a connection to the trail’s railroad past. The first I get, even if it’s a bit hokey. But I’m having trouble with the last. Most rail corridors I know are named, not numbered. Plus, “The 606″ [...]∞
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In this space, I’ve frequently shown how GMO fear mongering plays out in the media. The latest frightful example aired Monday on CNN. It was a piece about the mysterious genetically modified (GM) wheat recently found in an Oregon farm field. First, some quick background: In the early to mid-2000s, Monsanto field tested GM wheat in [...]
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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently joined with the U.S. Embassy in Prague and the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports to sign an agreement that establishes a joint Civil Nuclear Cooperation Center in Prague. The creation of this Center is another valued step in expanding U.S.-Czech energy collaboration and fulfills the commitment made by President Obama and Czech Prime Minister Nečas in October 2011 to establish such a Center to facilitate and coordinate […]
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By Lahne Mattas-Curry You can’t watch the news lately and not hear the word “ricin.” Letters laced with ricin have been sent to the President, other federal officials, and New York City’s Mayor. And while the letters have not reached their intended recipients, ricin can contaminate mail sorters and buildings. What is ricin? Where do [...]
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A journal that published an ambitious plan for New York State to go fossil free in a few decades now runs a critique.
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David Yanofsky created a clever series of maps illustrating the average “destination” of international flights originating from a particular country. The average destination for U.S., for example, is somewhere in northeastern Quebec. What’s more important in these maps than the destination—and what goes unsaid in Yanofsky’s article—are the length and direction of the vectors. I [...]∞
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By The Editors
The tortured cow is out of the barn: If you haven’t seen any of the myriad videos depicting the appalling conditions and treatment of animals in America’s meat industry, then it’s because you’ve made a decision not to watch. (Admittedly, such things cannot be un-seen.) But even if most people prefer not to know how sausage is made, there’s clearly something nefarious about the way large agriculture corporations have been
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According to Panasonic, shipments of its automotive-grade lithium-ion battery cells for Tesla Motors’ Model S will exceed 100 million units by the end of this month. Retail deliveries of Teslas Model S started in the United States in June 2012. The electric-powered car has been praised for its innovative design and outstanding performance, including long driving range (208-300 mi, depending on the type of battery installed), and sales of the vehicle are projected to top 20,000 units this […]
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My sister once told my daughter that I was always the “fearless” one. It’s true I’ve always had an adventurous side, but compared to @GeorgeKourounis I’m a total weenie! Although I do often plan trips around the geo-coolness of a … Continue reading →
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By Alanna Waldman As our world population continues to grow, it implies a higher demand for resources. Whether these resources are food, water, or land, the effect of this growth on our environment is often detrimental to biodiversity and the health of our natural ecosystems, especially our marine ecosystems. The ocean covers 71% of the [...]
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I estimate that two thirds of my allotment is currently covered in fruit bushes – there’s two or three massive rhubarb plants, a Hinnomaki Green gooseberry bush, several blackcurrants, a hybrid berry of some description (which is thornless, but rampant) and raspberry bushes cropping up in odd places.
Some of those may have to go, if only to make room for some of the things I want to bring from the garden. I have a frightening number of fruit trees and plants. My three kiwis are
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A new study has discovered the reason why bandy legged and bent double two legged dinosaurs never managed to stand up straight, and instead evolved to flight.
