Is global warming unstoppable?
In a provocative new study, a University of Utah scientist argues that rising carbon dioxide emissions - the major cause of global warming - cannot be stabilized unless the world's economy collapses or society builds the equivalent of one new nuclear power plant each day. view more (2009-11-23)
Smartphone app illuminates power consumption
A new application for the Android smartphone shows users and software developers how much power their applications are consuming. PowerTutor was developed by doctoral students and professors at the University of Michigan. view more (2009-11-23)
Nuclear weapons: Predicting the unthinkable
If a nuclear weapon were detonated in a metropolitan area, how large would the affected area be? Where should first responders first go? According to physicist Fernando Grinstein, we have some initial understanding to address these questions, but fundamental issues remain unresolved. view more (2009-11-23)
Generating electricity from air flow
A group of researchers at the City College of New York is developing a new way to generate power for planes and automobiles based on materials known as piezoelectrics, which convert the kinetic energy of motion into electricity. view more (2009-11-23)
On the crest of wave energy
The ocean is a potentially vast source of electric power, yet as engineers test new technologies for capturing it, the devices are plagued by battering storms, limited efficiency, and the need to be tethered to the seafloor. view more (2009-11-20)
MIT: Better way to harness waste heat
New MIT research points the way to a technology that might make it possible to harvest much of the wasted heat produced by everything from computer processor chips to car engines to electric powerplants, and turn it into usable electricity. view more (2009-11-19)
Warmer means windier on world's biggest lake
Rising water temperatures are kicking up more powerful winds on Lake Superior, with consequences for currents, biological cycles, pollution and more on the world's largest lake and its smaller brethren. view more (2009-11-16)
A Lightning Strike in Africa Helps Take the Pulse of the Sun
Sunspots, which rotate around the sun's surface, tell us a great deal about our own planet. Scientists rely on them, for instance, to measure the sun's rotation or to prepare long-range forecasts of the Earth's health. view more (2009-11-12)
Boat tail reduces truck fuel consumption by 7.5 percent
An articulated lorry was driven for a period of one year with a boat tail (of varying length) and one year without a boat tail. The improved aerodynamics, depending on the length of the boat tail, resulted in reduced fuel consumption (and emissions!) of up to 7.5 percent. The optimum boat tail length proved to be two metres. view more (2009-11-06)
PTB Terahertz calibration satisfies US laser manufacturer
Terahertz radiation still lies in a metrological no man's land - a metrology gap. The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) can now close this gap. view more (2009-11-06)
Calm before the spawn: Climate change and coral spawning
What's the point of setting up marine reserves to protect coral reefs from pollution, ship groundings and overfishing if climate change could cause far more damage? A study published this week in London in Proceedings of the Royal Society B provides the answer. view more (2009-11-04)
Harvesting energy from nature's motions
By taking advantage of the vagaries of the natural world, Duke University engineers have developed a novel approach that they believe can more efficiently harvest electricity from the motions of everyday life. view more (2009-11-02)
Hard Rain: Pitt-led Researchers Create Nano-Particle Coating to Prevent Freezing Rain Buildup on Roads, Power Lines
Preventing the havoc wrought when freezing rain collects on roads, power lines, and aircrafts could be only a few nanometers away. view more (2009-10-30)
Typhoon Mirinae is already scaring Philippine residents before Halloween
Another typhoon in the northern Philippines really is something to be scared about, and Mirinae is expected to make landfall there in the mid-morning hours on Halloween, October 31. view more (2009-10-30)
Research Continues on Secure, Mobile, Quantum Communications
Researcher Dr. David H. Hughes of the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, N.Y. is leading a team investigating long-distance, mobile optical links imperative for secure quantum communications capabilities in theater. view more (2009-10-28)
Exercise makes cigarettes less attractive to smokers
Exercise can help smokers quit because it makes cigarettes less attractive. A new study from the University of Exeter shows for the first time that exercise can lessen the power of cigarettes and smoking-related images to grab the attention of smokers. The study is published in the journal Addiction. view more (2009-10-26)
Researchers can predict hurricane-related power outages
Using data from Hurricane Katrina and four other destructive storms, researchers from Johns Hopkins and Texas A&M universities say they have found a way to accurately predict power outages in advance of a hurricane. view more (2009-10-21)
Shifting the world to 100 percent clean, renewable energy as early as 2030 -- here are the numbers
Most of the technology needed to shift the world from fossil fuel to clean, renewable energy already exists. Implementing that technology requires overcoming obstacles in planning and politics, but doing so could result in a 30 percent decrease in global power demand. view more (2009-10-20)
Report examines hidden costs of energy production and use
A new report from the National Research Council examines and, when possible, estimates "hidden" costs of energy production and use -- such as the damage air pollution imposes on human health -- that are not reflected in market prices of coal, oil, other energy sources, or the electricity and gasoline produced from them. view more (2009-10-20)
Baja California Residents Should Prepare for Hurricane Rick
Based on computer forecast models, the residents of southern and central Baja California should prepare over the weekend for now Tropical Storm Rick. Rick formed late yesterday, October 15, and is expected to become a major hurricane over the weekend. view more (2009-10-19)
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