Posts

May 22, 2013

1:06 PM | A Fleet of 100 Compressed Natural Gas Trucks Deployed by Halliburton

Halliburton announced the deployment of nearly 100 light-duty bi-fuel Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) trucks across 15 field locations in the U.S. The Original Equipment Manufacturers trucks were recently purchased as part of a pilot program to be rolled out throughout the Company’s U.S. operations. Read more »

11:11 AM | Indian tigers face extinction due to ‘lack in genetic diversity’

Cardiff University researchers have found that Indian tigers are facing extinction due to a collapse in the genetic variety of their mating partners.

9:53 AM | Is Portland Anti-Science?

For years, Portland has ranked as one of America’s greenest cities. While its eco-minded culture has been famously lampooned in Portlandia, the city’s environmentally friendly reputation is well earned, as (Seattle-based) Grist notes: Portland’s public transit system is held up as a model for the country. Per capita carbon emissions are down 26 percent since 1990. Portland consistently tops [...]

5:04 AM | Getting nature right is hard, Episode XVII: restoring the Elwha

PORT ANGELES – The Elwha River is, as U.S. rivers go, a dinky thing. It rises in the Olympic Mountains, draining a basin of a bit more than 300 square miles and flowing north some 45 miles before dumping its cargo into Strait of Juan de Fuca just west of Port Angeles, Wash. By my [...] Related posts: Two-Mile Dam, Santa Fe, NM The power of atmospheric rivers, as seen from space The View of Mead From Upstream

May 21, 2013

11:32 PM | What unconventional fuels tell us about the global energy system

Several days ago I finished reading Charles C. Mann’s article in The Atlantic titled “What If We Never Run Out Of Oil?”, a long-form discussion of the history and technology of established sources of energy like oil and natural gas, as well as relative newcomers from hydraulic fracturing or methane hydrates. If you haven’t read [...]

11:16 PM | #swimsafe: Let’s Chat about Healthy Waters

It’s Recreational Water Illness & Injury Prevention Week! So let’s chat about how we’re using science to keep our water ways healthy. We’re thrilled to be joining The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s twitter chat #swimsafe on Wednesday May 22 at 2pm EDT. We’ll be joining CDC experts Michele Hlavsa and Michael Beach [...]

9:34 PM | The Forces that Narrow the Climate Debate

Last week on Twitter I lamented the simplistic public discourse on climate change, how it’s often framed by those who dismiss the legitimate concerns of a warming planet and those who play up those concerns. American Politicians, especially those with leadership positions in the Republican and Democratic parties, could steer the debate into calmer waters [...]

8:15 PM | Kids (and Teachers) in Peril, From Oklahoma to Oregon

Why do communities fail to secure the buildings that house their children against momentous hazards?

6:52 PM | The away-field advantage

Few species reside solely in the location where they originated. In fact, the migration of species is a predominant feature of life on Earth. Species expand, contract and shift their geographical distributions constantly. It is our perception of these ecosystems and the boundaries in time and space that we draw around them that makes us discriminate between native and non-native species - a fully arbitrary process. Nevertheless, we have become very concerned about recent species invasions […]

5:55 PM | Berkeley Lab Builds ‘Artificial Forest’ to Harvest Solar Energy

Devices for artificial photosynthesis are often called “artificial leaves”. This leaves, however, are of no use unless you can create an “artificial forest” from them. Now, scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have reported the first fully integrated nanosystem for artificial photosynthesis. Read more »

Liu, C., Tang, J., Chen, H., Liu, B. & Yang, P. (2013). A Fully Integrated Nanosystem of Semiconductor Nanowires for Direct Solar Water Splitting, Nano Letters, 2147483647. DOI: 10.1021/nl401615t

Citation

4:01 PM | Ebb and Flow: Feeling Like a Yo-yo

By Sean Sheldrake My previous blog posts have featured how EPA diving scientists support cleanups in the nation’s waterways. In this post, I talk about how our divers study the connection between groundwater and our waterways to support EPA cleanups. (Hint: it’s not a one way street!) Understanding which way groundwater is flowing is critical [...]

3:59 PM | What are we looking for anyway?

We have been digging up bones for over a week now. So, what are we looking for anyway? Broadly speaking, we are looking for archosaurs. Archosauria is a group that includes extinct dinosaurs and crocodilians, but also includes living birds and crocodilians of our world today. More specifically, we are looking for archosaurs from the Triassic. The Triassic […]

2:14 PM | Siemens Suggests EU to Build Solar Plants in Sunny Places (and Save $58 Billion)

A recent study of the electrical power producing systems across Europe conducted by Siemens AG shows that there is a significant potential for optimization, and especially so in connection with plans to increase renewable power generation from solar and wind sources. If planned wind farms were to be moved north, to windier locations, and solar plants to be built in the Southern Europe, some €45 billion (approximately $58 billion) of investment could be saved by 2030. Read more »

1:28 PM | A Survival Plan for America’s Tornado Danger Zone

There are affordable ways to live more safely in tornado zones.

12:57 PM | New Liquefied Natural Gas Export Facility Authorized by the U.S. Department of Energy

The Energy Department announced last week that it has conditionally authorized Freeport LNG Expansion, L.P. and FLNG Liquefaction, LLC (Freeport) to export domestically produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Freeport LNG Terminal on Quintana Island, Texas. LNG can now be exported to the countries that do not have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States. Read more »

12:47 PM | USC Dornsife Scientific Diving: A New Faculty Member on the Team

By Kristen Weiss In a few short days, I will be heading to Micronesia with several USC staff and faculty members, as well as 26 bright, enthusiastic USC undergraduates. This trip is the culmination of a semester’s worth of anticipation, in which the students were trained in scientific diving skills, the physics of diving, and [...]

11:59 AM | IHRR Postgraduate Fellowship in Enhancement of Knowledge to Build Resilience to Hazards

Thanks to a generous gift from an alumnus of Durham University, IHRR is offering a new Postgraduate Fellowship designed to support a PhD studentship for 3 years in IHRR. The Postgraduate Fellowship will fund a new PhD research project located in a suitable academic department. The project will be conducted in a region of the world with […]

9:27 AM | 'Ugly fish' in need of a date

London Zoo are appealing to fish keepers worldwide to try and find a mate for a critically endangered, tropical, and perhaps lonesome, species. With only three left in captivity, the search is becoming desperate.

5:02 AM | a parade of the cool

Boarding the Victoria-Port Angeles ferry this morning, a gang of scooters: They got to get on the ferry first. Related posts: Needed: critter help Whose Ferry? Hayduke Returns

4:07 AM | In Limbo

I’ve been on medical leave for almost a year now, which is an odd sort of limbo that’s hard to explain unless you’ve experienced it. At first I didn’t want […]

May 20, 2013

10:35 PM | Twister Takes Out Oklahoma Town, a U-Boat's Oily Revenge, Cicada Symphony

By The Editors Twister tragedy: A powerful tornado ripped through Oklahoma City's suburbs yesterday, flattening the town of Moore and leaving dozens dead, including many children. Death tolls continue to fluctuate this morning, with officials now declining to give a specific number, which at one point was reported as high as 91 but could turn out to be significantly lower, due to the confusion and double-counting. Moore was previously hit by a tornado in […]

6:43 PM | The Zen Master of Statistics

You may not know this, but there is a celebrity data geek who isn’t named Nate Silver. This other famous statistician is a rock star in the global health and development world. He captivates audiences with innovative presentations that illuminate abstract facts and figures. Last year, Time magazine called Hans Rosling one of the 100 most influential [...]

6:40 PM | Shale Gas Fracking Has No Impact on Groundwater in Arkansas, Study Concludes

A new study by scientists at Duke University and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) finds no evidence of groundwater contamination from shale gas production in Arkansas. “Our results show no discernible impairment of groundwater quality in areas associated with natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing in this region,” said Avner Vengosh, professor of geochemistry and water quality at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment. Read more »

Warner, N., Kresse, T., Hays, P., Down, A., Karr, J., Jackson, R. & Vengosh, A. (2013). Geochemical and isotopic variations in shallow groundwater in areas of the Fayetteville shale development, north-central Arkansas, Applied Geochemistry, DOI: 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2013.04.013

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6:14 PM | A Plan to Bring Sun-Powered Irrigation to Poor Farmers

Designers focused on improving lives for poor farmers have a solar-powered pumping plan.

5:40 PM | You’re Never Alone When You’re with a Drone

By David Gessner Last Tuesday, as I do almost every day, I went for a walk in the woods with Missy, my yellow lab. We were deep in a thicket near the North Carolina coast when I heard the sound of metallic wings growing close. A police helicopter came down low, blowing the tops of the trees sideways, passing over three times. My walk changed instantly -- suddenly becoming a lot less Walden, a lot more Goodfellas. This had never occurred before on one of my […]

3:34 PM | Who’s Escaping Climate Change ‘Mire and Muck’?

A radio show tries to find a route around conventional thinking on global warming.

3:05 PM | New Supercomputer Will Focus Solely on Energy Research

A new water-cooled 155 teraflop supercomputer dubbed “BlueM” will allow scientists at the Colorado School of Mines to run large simulations in support of the university’s core research areas while operating at the forefront of algorithm development using a powerful hybrid system. Read more »

2:20 PM | When a 'Dry Spell' Goes On Forever, Do As The Romans Do, Why Your State Bird Is All Wrong

By The Editors An evaporating way of life: Man, talk about burying the lede. Here's a bone-chilling line from halfway down a news story about the High Plains Aquifer, which stretches from the Dakotas to the Texas Panhandle -- and whose southern portion is so "tapped out" that much of the farmland above it is basically no longer irrigable: "In the end, most farmers will adapt to farming without water." Well, then! Thanks for that, Mr. Kansas State […]

1:32 PM | Australian Scientists Are Printing Solar Cells Like T-Shirts

Scientists have produced the largest flexible, plastic solar cells in Australia—10 times the size of what they were previously able to—thanks to a new solar cell printer that has been installed at Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO). The printer is relatively cheap, uses common industrial chemicals and the resulting solar cells have a decent power output of approximately 1-8W per square foot (10-80W per m2). Read more »

1:00 PM | USC Dornsife Scientific Diving: The 2013 Guam and Palau Expedition Begins

Every year we take an outstanding group of USC undergraduates through full American Academy of Underwater Sciences Scientific Diver training and then travel with them to the Micronesian Islands of Guam and Palau for investigations of marine and coastal ecosystems. On the American Territory of Guam we look at the effects of overfishing, terrestrial runoff, [...]

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