Guest Post – Page 845 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Fill ‘Er Up With Tobacco? Berkeley Lab-Led Team Explores New Path to Biofuels

By Guest PostFebruary 26, 2012Environmentarpa-e, berkeley lab, biofuels, capture co2, carbon bottlenecks, carbon into fuel, carbon uptake, cheryl kerfeld, christer jansson, corn ethanol, cyanobacteria, cyanobacteria genes, diesel, energy from sunlight, fuel molecules, gasoline, genetic engineering, hydrocarbon molecules, iconic plant, jet fuel, kris niyogi, microbes, miscanthus, peggy lemaux, plant biochemist, power plant emissions, renewables, switchgrass, tasios melis, tobacco, tobacco leaves, tobacco plants

*ARPA-E funded project aims to produce fuel molecules in plant leaves*

Mention biofuels and most people think of corn ethanol. Some may think of advanced biofuels from switchgrass or miscanthus. But tobacco? Not likely.

That could change. A team of scientists led by a researcher from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is exploring a way to produce gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from the iconic plant of the South. (more…)

Protecting People From Deadly Floods, Quakes in The Philippines

By Guest PostFebruary 25, 2012Environment, Generaldisaster, earthquake, economic vulnerability, elizabeth renckens, flash flooding, flood zones, flooding, gavin shatkin, geological features, greater metropolitan manila, manila, marikina river, mudslides, natural, philippine, southeast asian, topography, typhoons, university of michigan, urban planning, william foreman

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Typhoons thrash the Philippines every year, causing flash flooding and mudslides that often kill hundreds of people in the Southeast Asian nation. Many blame the death and destruction on the wrath of nature. But Gavin Shatkin has a different view.

“Disasters are not natural,” said Shatkin, an associate professor of urban planning at the University of Michigan. “They happen because of social structures.” (more…)

Number of Dead California Sea Otters Recovered in 2011 a Record High

By Guest PostFebruary 25, 2012Natureattacks by sharks, bacterial infections, boat strikes, brian hatfield, california, california coast, california sea otter, carcharodon carcharias, cayucos, enhydra lutris nereis, extinction, gun shot wounds, harmful algal toxins, heart disease, infectious diseases, lilian carswell, marcia mcnutt, michael harris, monterey bay aquarium, population growth, population mortality, sea lions, sea otter, seals, shark bites, southern sea otter, strandings, tim tinker, tooth fragments, u s geological survey, white sharks

*Evidence Builds for White Shark Factor in Otter Mortality*

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — The California or southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) appears to be experiencing an unprecedented increase in mortality from attacks by sharks, according to federal and state scientists.

Since 1968, biologists and veterinarians at the U.S. Geological Survey and California Department of Fish and Game have documented and examined all reported sea otter “strandings” — counting the number of dead, sick or injured sea otters recovered along California’s coast each year. (more…)

Project Aims To Improve HIV/AIDS Prevention Materials For African-American Women

By Guest PostFebruary 25, 2012Healthafrican-american women, aids, aids prevention, cultural competency, fay cobb payton, hiv, hiv infection, james kiwanuka tondo, kathy gore, latina women, lynette kvasny, pi, primary investigator, united states, white women

African-American women make up a disproportionate number of HIV/AIDS cases in the United States. Researchers from North Carolina State University are trying to change that, leading a National Science Foundation project aimed at developing HIV/AIDS prevention materials that resonate with African-American female college students.

African-Americans represent approximately 14 percent of the U.S. population, but accounted for an estimated 44 percent of new HIV infections in 2009. The estimated rate of new HIV infections among African-American women was 15 times that of white women and over three times that of Latina women. (more…)

Fastest Wind From Stellar Mass Black Hole Discovered

By Guest PostFebruary 25, 2012Scienceashley king, astronomer, binary system, black hole, chandra, chandra spectrum, chandra xray observatory, cosmic equivalent, earth, gas, hurricane, igr j17091, igr j17091 3624, iron molecules, jon miller, light years, magnetic fields, material flow, milky way galaxy, molecule, NASA, orbiting telescope, spectrum, speed of light, stars collapse, stellar mass black hole, super wind, supermassive black holes, university of michigan, wind, xrays

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— The fastest wind ever discovered blowing off a disk around a stellar-mass black hole has been observed by a team of astronomers that includes a University of Michigan doctoral student.

Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, an orbiting telescope, they clocked the record-breaking super wind at about 20 million mph, or about 3 percent of the speed of light. This is nearly 10 times faster than astronomers had previously observed from a stellar-mass black hole. (more…)

Phobia’s Effect on Perception of Feared Object Allows Fear To Persist

By Guest PostFebruary 25, 2012Healthafraid of spiders, automatic negative attitude, exposure therapy, fear of spiders, perception, phobia, spider phobia, why phobias persist

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The more afraid a person is of a spider, the bigger that individual perceives the spider to be, new research suggests. (more…)

Book Sheds New Light on U.S. Presidents and Race

By Guest PostFebruary 24, 2012Culture, Politicsamerican presidents, Barack Obama, black america, black poet, central michigan university, department of agriculture, documentary history, eric freedman, first black president, george washington, jeremiah wright, michigan state university, phillis wheatley, presidents, pulitzer prize, shirley sherrod, stephen jones, thomas jefferson, united states

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A new book co-authored by Michigan State University associate journalism professor Eric Freedman uses rarely seen documents, letters and other written material to shed new light on how American presidents have dealt with issues related to blacks.

Titled “Presidents and Black America: A Documentary History,” the book is designed for everyone from advanced scholars to casual readers of history. (more…)

City of Zhenjiang, China and IBM Collaborate to Build a Smarter City

By Guest PostFebruary 24, 2012Technologycity of zhenjiang, ibm research labs, smarter city, urban development

IBM Smarter Cities Solution Helps Zhenjiang Boost Economic Development and Tourism Plans

Armonk, NY & Zhenjiang, China – 24 Feb 2012: IBM and the City of Zhenjiang, China today announced that IBM is helping to transform the city’s public transportation system. Zhenjiang will use hardware, software, services and technologies from IBM’s Research labs, all brought together through the IBM Intelligent Operations Center (IOC) for Smarter Cities – a solution that will serve as the central point of command for the city. (more…)

Author Archives: Guest Post