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Hydrogen from Acidic Water: Berkeley Lab Researchers Develop a Potential Low Cost Alternative to Platinum for Splitting Water

By Guest PostFebruary 12, 2012Scienceacidic, acidic water, artificial photosynthesis, berkeley lab, catalyst, catalytic hydrogen generation, christopher chang, elizabeth montalvo, emission, hemamala karunadasa, hhmi, hydrogen gas, jeffrey long, low cost alternatives, marcin majda, microdomains, molecule, molybdenite, molybdenite crystals, molybdenum disulfide, natural gas, pentapyridyl ligand, petroleum, photocatalytic systems, platinum, py5me2, reduction, sulfur, sulfur dioxide, water, yujie sun

A technique for creating a new molecule that structurally and chemically replicates the active part of the widely used industrial catalyst molybdenite has been developed by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). This technique holds promise for the creation of catalytic materials that can serve as effective low-cost alternatives to platinum for generating hydrogen gas from water that is acidic.

Christopher Chang and Jeffrey Long, chemists who hold joint appointments with Berkeley Lab and the University of California (UC) Berkeley, led a research team that synthesized a molecule to mimic the triangle-shaped molybdenum disulfide units along the edges of molybdenite crystals, which is where almost all of the catalytic activity takes place. Since the bulk of molybdenite crystalline material is relatively inert from a catalytic standpoint, molecular analogs of the catalytically active edge sites could be used to make new materials that are much more efficient and cost-effective catalysts. (more…)

Bird Count

By Guest PostFebruary 12, 2012Naturebackyard feeder, baltimore oriole, bird count, bird nerd, boreal forests, charles shattuck, chris williams, delaware nature society, derek stoner, kennett square, laysan albatross, margo mcdonough, pine siskins, red breasted nuthatches, red clay creek, screech owl

*Birds aren’t flocking to backyard feeders this winter*

What’s in short supply this winter? If you said snow you guessed the first (and obvious) answer. But you may not have noticed what else has been scarce — birds at backyard feeders.

“Our customers are talking about the fact that fewer birds are coming to feeders this winter,” says Charles Shattuck who, with his wife, Kathy, owns Wild Birds Unlimited in Hockessin. “I’ve heard reports of fewer birds at feeders across the East Coast.” (more…)

Political Leaders Play Key Role in How Worried Americans Are By Climate Change

By Guest PostFebruary 12, 2012Environment, Politicsacademy awards, afghanistan, Al Gore, american clean energy, americans, an inconvenient truth, anti environmental voting, climate change, climate change threat, climate threat, congress, democrats, environmental magazines, extreme weather, factor, gdp, gross domestic product, Iraq, j craig jenkins, jason carmichael, John McCain, Media, movie, new york times, political battle, political leader, Politics, price of oil, republican senators, republicans, robert brulle, Science, threat, threat index, unemployment rate, war deaths

COLUMBUS, Ohio – More than extreme weather events and the work of scientists, it is national political leaders who influence how much Americans worry about the threat of climate change, new research finds.

In a study of public opinion from 2002 to 2010, researchers found that public belief that climate change was a threat peaked in 2006-2007 when Democrats and Republicans in Congress showed the most agreement on the issue. (more…)

New Ability To Regrow Blood Vessels Holds Promise For Treatment of Heart Disease

By Guest PostFebruary 11, 2012Scienceaaron baker, austin, blood vessels, cell growth, cell receptor, cellular differentiation, central ischemia, chronic myocardial ischemia, clinical disease, coreceptor, coronary vessel, disease, extra component, fgf 2, fibroblast growth factor 2, growth factor, heart, hindlimb ischemia, limbs, lipid based nanoparticles, lipid embedded receptor, lipid incased substance, organ dysfunction, patient, plaques, rats, revascularization approach, smoking, syndecan 4, synthetic, university of texas, western world

AUSTIN, Texas — University of Texas at Austin researchers have demonstrated a new and more effective method for regrowing blood vessels in the heart and limbs — a research advancement that could have major implications for how we treat heart disease, the leading cause of death in the Western world.

The treatment method developed by Cockrell School of Engineering Assistant Professor Aaron Baker could allow doctors to bypass surgery and instead repair damaged blood vessels simply by injecting a lipid-incased substance into a patient. Once inside the body, the substance stimulates cell growth and spurs the growth of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones. (more…)

University of Maryland Researcher Asks – What Does Love Look Like?

By Guest PostFebruary 11, 2012Scienceblood flow, brain area, brainwave pattern, cognition, eeg, electroencephalography, emotion, experience, fmri, functional magnetic resonance imaging, knowledge, look, love, luiz pessoa, motivated attention, Netherlands, neurocognition, p3, physiological traits, psychiatric disorder, romantic love, roses, sandra langeslag, thought

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – What does love look like? A dozen roses delivered on an ordinary weekday? Breakfast in bed? Or just a knowing glance between lovers?

While outward displays of love are fairly easy to discern, a researcher in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences is taking a decidedly “inward” approach to documenting this most complex of human emotions. (more…)

U.S. Workers Are ‘Giving Away The Store,’ Costing Firms Billions

By Guest PostFebruary 11, 2012Economycable tv, clay voorhees, ethics, florida state university, free good, groundbreaking study, hamburger, illegal practice, insurance, michael brady, michael brusco, michigan state university, ramifications of sweethearting, recreation, retail, service employees, sports, sweethearting, tit for tat

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Nearly 70 percent of the nation’s service employees give away free goods and services – from hamburgers to cable TV – costing companies billions of dollars a year, according to a groundbreaking study.

Clay Voorhees, study co-author and marketing expert at Michigan State University, said one of the best ways to combat this illegal practice – called “sweethearting” – is through better screening of job candidates. (more…)

‘Explorers’ Use Uncertainty And Specific Area of Brain

By Guest PostFebruary 11, 2012Scienceambiguity, architecture, bradley doll, brain, brown university, cognitive control, computational power, data, david badre, decision making strategy, explorers, function, functional architecture, mathematical model, michael frank, mri scanner, mystery, nicole long, nonexplorers, rostrolateral prefrontal cortex, status quo, thought process, uncertainty, virtual clock

*As they try to find the best reward among options, some people explore based on how uncertain they are about the outcome of the options. Those who employ that thought process, unlike people who use other strategies, uniquely harness the computational power of the rostrolateral prefrontal cortex, a new study finds.*

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Life shrouds most choices in mystery. Some people inch toward a comfortable enough spot and stick close to that rewarding status quo. Out to dinner, they order the usual. Others consider their options systematically or randomly. But many choose to grapple with the uncertainty head on. “Explorers” order the special because they aren’t sure they’ll like it. It’s a strategy of maximizing rewards by discovering whether as yet unexplored options might yield better returns. In a new study, Brown University researchers show that such explorers use a specific part of their brain to calculate the relative uncertainty of their choices, while non-explorers do not. (more…)

Treatment For TB Can Be Guided By Patients’ Genetics

By Guest PostFebruary 11, 2012Healthdivergent inflammatory states, drug treatment, fighting inflammation, goldilocks effect, heterozygous advantage, tuberculosis

A gene that influences the inflammatory response to infection may also predict the effectiveness of drug treatment for a deadly form of tuberculosis. (more…)

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