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Biofuels from Algae Hold Potential, but Not Ready for Prime Time

UA biofuel expert Joel Cuello explains how future innovations could help realize algal biofuels’ full potential

Scaling up the production of biofuels made from algae to meet at least 5 percent – about 10 billion gallons – of U.S. transportation fuel needs would place unsustainable demands on energy, water and nutrients, says a new report from the National Research Council, or NRC. However, these concerns are not a definitive barrier for future production, and innovations that would require research and development could help realize algal biofuels’ full potential. (more…)

Exploring Energy Poverty

Environment

Doctoral student studies energy poverty in Ghana, Africa

In the United States, electricity is a creature comfort many citizens take for granted. Yet for more than a billion people across the globe, particularly in developing regions, electrification is the exception, not the norm. (more…)

Meet the ‘Halo 4’ Engineers Delivering ‘30 Seconds of Fun’ – Early and Often

Technology

“Halo 4” launches tomorrow, and millions of fans will start blasting their way through the biggest and most detailed “Halo” universe yet

REDMOND, Wash. — Nov. 5, 2012 — It happens early and often in every “Halo” game: the ‘30 seconds of fun.’

That phrase refers to the heart-thumping period when players risk pixelated life and limb to take on teeming hordes of enemies. The ‘30 seconds of fun’ mantra began with Bungie, the game studio that created the first five games of the “Halo” franchise. (more…)

2001-02 Drought Helped to Shift Rocky Mountain Pine Beetle Outbreak into Epidemic

Environment

A new University of Colorado Boulder study shows for the first time that episodes of reduced precipitation in the southern Rocky Mountains, especially during the 2001-02 drought, greatly accelerated development of the mountain pine beetle epidemic. (more…)

Advancing the Digital Humanities

Science

Bryan Carter, a UA assistant professor of Africana studies, is among faculty members in the arts and humanities more readily employing consumer-based technologies in educational, creative, interdisciplinary and engaging ways

Take a guess – what are the most common uses for devices like smartphones? (more…)

Terracotta Army Craftsmen Pioneered Toyota-style Industry

Science

The most comprehensive analysis of the Terracotta Army’s weapons has revealed that the craftsmen responsible for arming the 7000 warriors, chariots and horses followed a sophisticated labour model now associated with Toyota, the world’s biggest car maker. (more…)

Barley getting by

Science

Sequencing the barley genome will sow many benefits

Some 10,000 years ago, people found they didn’t have to live as nomads, hunting and gathering all their food. In the Fertile Crescent, they started planting crops.

The Fertile Crescent extended from the Nile Valley and along the eastern Mediterranean Coast, through the Tigris and Euphrates valleys of Mesopotamia and down to the Persian Gulf. There, the foundation crops of the Western World were first domesticated. (more…)

Measuring Table-Top Accelerators’ State-of-the-Art Beams

Science

Studies by Berkeley Lab scientists of electron beam quality in laser plasma accelerators include novel tests for slice-energy spread

Part Two: Slicing through the electron beam

Wim Leemans of Berkeley Lab’s Accelerator and Fusion Research Division heads LOASIS, the Laser and Optical Accelerator Systems Integrated Studies, an oasis indeed for students pursuing graduate studies in laser plasma acceleration (LPA). Among the most promising applications of future table-top accelerators are new kinds of light sources, in which their electron beams power free electron lasers. (more…)