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Nanoscale Coatings Improve Stability and Efficiency of Devices for Renewable Fuel Generation

By Guest PostDecember 7, 2013Environment, Scienceaaron k vannucci, acidic, ald, atomic layer deposition, berc kalanyan, carbon dioxide, carbon neutral fuels, chemical pathway, device, efficiency, Environment, gregory parsons, hydrocarbon fuel, hydrogen, klondike bar, leila alibabaei, low ph, mark losego, molecular catalysts, molecular photoelectrochemical cell, nanoscale coatings, north Carolina, oxygen, ph, renewable fuel generation, solar water splitting, stability, state university, ultra thin layer, water oxidation, water splitting devices

Splitting water into its components, two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen, is an important first step in achieving carbon-neutral fuels to power our transportation infrastructure – including automobiles and planes.

Now, North Carolina State University researchers and colleagues from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have shown that a specialized coating technique can make certain water-splitting devices more stable and more efficient. Their results are published online in two separate papers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (more…)

Milde Gabe für den Eisbär

By Guest PostDecember 7, 2013Naturealaska, anti konflikt massnahmen, arktis staaten, arktische oekosystem, berlin, daenemark, eisbaer, eisbaer konferenz, kanada, klimawandel, konflikt monitoring, mensch tier konflikte, moskau, nordpol anrainer, norwegen, norwegischen kueste, sindre kinneroed, ursus maritimus, usa, wwf

Schutzkonferenz: Arktis-Staaten wollen Eisbär retten

Berlin/Moskau – Auf der am Freitag in Moskau zu Ende gegangenen Eisbär-Konferenz haben sich die arktischen Anrainerstaaten auf die Eckpfeiler eines umfassenden Aktionsplans verständigt. Die Naturschutzorganisation WWF erklärte, die wichtigsten Ziele auf dem Ministertreffen seien erreicht worden und die internationalen Schutzbemühungen für den Eisbär und seinen Lebensraum hätten politische Rückendeckung erhalten. (more…)

MU Research Sheds Light on Nerve Regeneration Following Spinal Cord Injury

By Guest PostDecember 6, 2013Healthactivation, andrew mcclellan, chemical signals, cyclic amp, eel like fish, emily frisch, group of molecules, level of injury, locomotion, mammals, molecule, nerve cell, nerve regeneration, neurons, reticulospinal neurons, sea lamprey, second messengers, spinal cord injury, timothy pale, university of missouri, vertebrate

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Fish, unlike humans, can regenerate nerve connections and recover normal mobility following an injury to their spinal cord. Now, University of Missouri researchers have discovered how the sea lamprey, an eel-like fish, regrows the neurons that comprise the long nerve “highways” that link the brain to the spinal cord. Findings may guide future efforts to promote recovery in humans who have suffered spinal cord injuries.

“There is a lot of attention to why, following a spinal cord injury, neurons regenerate in lower vertebrates, such as the sea lamprey, and why they don’t in higher vertebrates, such as humans,” said Andrew McClellan, professor of biological sciences in the College of Arts and Science and director of the UM Spinal Cord Injury Research Program (SCIRP). (more…)

No peak in sight for evolving bacteria

By Guest PostDecember 6, 2013Sciencebacteria, Environment, frozen fossil record, generation, mathematical function, michael wiser, michigan state university, noah ribeck, population, power law, quantitatively, richard lenski, Science, set of mutations, simple environment

There’s no peak in sight – fitness peak, that is – for the bacteria in Richard Lenski’s Michigan State University lab.

Lenski, MSU Hannah Distinguished Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, has been running his evolutionary bacteria experiment for 25 years, generating more than 58,000 generations. In a paper published in the current issue of Science, Michael Wiser, lead author and MSU zoology graduate student in Lenski’s lab, compares it to hiking. (more…)

Moorschutz bedeutet Arten- und Klimaschutz

By Guest PostDecember 6, 2013Naturebekassine, deutschland, europa, klimaschaedliches kohlendioxid, klimaschutz, klimawandel, kohlenmonoxid, kohlenstoff, kranich, mensch, moor, moorfrosch, moorschutz, moorzerstoerung, nabu in deutschland, natur, pflanzenwelt, russlands, seggenrohrsaenger, tier, treibhausgas, un klimarahmenkonvention, volkswagen ag, volkswagen financial services, vw fs, weltklima

Warum wir Moore weltweit erhalten müssen

Moore bieten einer einzigartigen Tier- und Pflanzenwelt ein Zuhause. Zahlreiche Tierarten sind an die speziellen Bedingungen von Mooren angepasst: Dazu zählen in Europa zum Beispiel der Kranich, der Seggenrohrsänger und die Bekassine – der Vogel des Jahres 2013. Moore gehören außerdem zu den wichtigsten Kohlenstoffspeichern der Welt. Obwohl sie nur drei Prozent der Landfläche bedecken, enthalten Moore 30 Prozent des gesamten terrestrischen Kohlenstoffs, weit mehr als zum Beispiel Wälder. Doch Jahr für Jahr werden weltweit riesige Moore trockengelegt, um die Flächen für Land- und Forstwirtschaft zu nutzen oder den Torf als Rohstoff zu nutzen – beispielsweise für Blumenerde, die auch in deutschen Baumärkten und Gartencentern landet. (more…)

SOI Collaborating With WHOI On Construction of World’s Most Advanced Deep-diving Robotic Vehicle

By Guest PostDecember 6, 2013Environment, Scienceadvanced, andy bowen, autonomous mode, challenger deep, chemical data, conventional rov cable, deep submergence laboratory, eric king, Eric Schmidt, hrov, james cameron, mariana trench, marine operations, marine robotics, nereus, oceanographic institution, research vehicle, robotic undersea, san francisco, schmidt ocean institute, ship falkor, soi, unols, victor zykov, whoi, woods hole

Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI) has begun working with the Deep Submergence Laboratory at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to design and build the world’s most advanced robotic undersea research vehicle for use on SOI’s ship Falkor. The new vehicle will be capable of operating in the deepest known trenches on the planet, including the nearly 11,000-meter-deep Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench. The design will capitalize on lessons learned from past WHOI vehicle designs, as well as advanced technologies developed for DEEPSEA CHALLENGER, the submersible and science platform that explorer and director James Cameron piloted to Challenger Deep in 2012 and donated to WHOI in 2013.

On Sunday, December 8th, Victor Zykov, SOI’s director of research, will publicly discuss the project for the first time at a University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System’s (UNOLS) Deep Submergence Science Committee meeting in San Francisco. (more…)

Staphylococcus aureus bacteria turns immune system against itself

By Guest PostDecember 6, 2013Healthadenosine synthase a, adsa gene, antibiotic resistant strain, bloodstream, dado, deoxyadenosine, destroy, DNA, dominique m missiakas, human function, immune defense mechanism, immune system, kevin jiang, macrophage, mrsa, mutation, nets, neutrophil extracellular traps, nuc, olaf schneewind, protein, s. aureus, staphylococcal nuclease, staphylococcus aureus bacteria, university of chicago, vilasack thammavongsa, white blood cells

Around 20 percent of all humans are persistently colonized with Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, a leading cause of skin infections and one of the major sources of hospital-acquired infections, including the antibiotic-resistant strain MRSA.

University of Chicago scientists have recently discovered one of the keys to the immense success of S. aureus—the ability to hijack a primary human immune defense mechanism and use it to destroy white blood cells. The study was published Nov. 15 in Science. (more…)

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