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MU Scientists Study How to Improve Pesticide Efficiency

By Guest PostMarch 1, 2012Environmentcarcinogen, farm workers, methyl iodide, midas, pesticide efficiency, tomato fields

COLUMBIA, Mo. – In 2007, a controversial pesticide was approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use on fruit and vegetable crops, mainly in California and Florida. Farm workers and scientists protested the approval of the pesticide because its active ingredient, methyl iodide, is a known carcinogen. Now, MU researchers are studying the molecular structure of the pesticide to determine if the product could be made more efficient and safer for those living near, and working in, treated fields. (more…)

U of T Engineering Professor Develops Microfluidic Chips for Bitumen Gas Analysis

By Guest PostFebruary 29, 2012Environmentbitumen gas analysis, bitumen gas interaction, bitumen in reservoirs, gas bitumen diffusion, microfluidic chips, rock reservoir

Device could save time and money for oil/gas industry

Mechanical engineering professor David Sinton and his research team have developed a process to analyze the behaviour of bitumen in reservoirs using a microfluidic chip, a tool commonly associated with the field of medical diagnostics. The process may reduce the cost and time of analyzing bitumen-gas interaction in heavy oil and bitumen reservoirs. (more…)

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…)

Evolution of Earliest Horses Driven by Climate Change

By Guest PostFebruary 24, 2012Environment, Nature, Scienceaaron wood, atmosphere, bighorn basin, body size, cabin fork area, carbon, carbon dioxide, cause and effect, climate model, clydesdale, concentration, doug boyer, dwarfing phenomenon, earliest horse, evolution, florida museum of natural history, fossil, geochemical analysis, global temperature, h richard lane, horse teeth, industrial revolution, jonathan bloch, mammal, national science foundation, natural selection, North America, nsf, ocean, ornithologist, oxygen levels, paleocene-eocene thermal maximum, petm, prediction, ross secord, sifrhippus sandae, stephen chester, temperature, university of florida, university of nebraska lincoln, worland, yale

*The hotter it gets, the smaller the animal?*

When Sifrhippus sandae, the earliest known horse, first appeared in the forests of North America more than 50 million years ago, it would not have been mistaken for a Clydesdale.

It weighed in at around 12 pounds–and it was destined to get much smaller over the ensuing millennia.

Sifrhippus lived during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a 175,000-year interval of time some 56 million years ago in which average global temperatures rose by about 10 degrees Fahrenheit. (more…)

NASA Satellite Finds Earth’s Clouds are Getting Lower

By Guest PostFebruary 23, 2012Environmentadvanced radar, cloud climate feedback, cloud height, clouds, cloudsat, global climate, global cloud, global temperature, global warming, height measurement, indian ocean, misr, NASA, negative feedback, new zealand, roger davies, satellite data, terra spacecraft, university of auckland

Earth’s clouds got a little lower — about one percent on average — during the first decade of this century, finds a new NASA-funded university study based on NASA satellite data. The results have potential implications for future global climate.

Scientists at the University of Auckland in New Zealand analyzed the first 10 years of global cloud-top height measurements (from March 2000 to February 2010) from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on NASA’s Terra spacecraft. The study, published recently in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, revealed an overall trend of decreasing cloud height. Global average cloud height declined by around one percent over the decade, or by around 100 to 130 feet (30 to 40 meters). Most of the reduction was due to fewer clouds occurring at very high altitudes. (more…)

Scientists Unlock Record of Ecosystem Changes Frozen in World’s Glaciers

By Guest PostFebruary 22, 2012Environmentalaska, andrew vermilyea, aquatic food web, aron stubbins, atmosphere, biomass, black carbon, dissolved organic matter, dom, earth, eran hood, fossil fuel, glacial ice, glacier biogeochemistry, glacier environment, glacier ice, glaciers, global emission, greenland, gulf of alaska, ice of glaciers, industrial pollution, industrial revolution, juneau, marine system, matt kane, mendenhall glacier, microorganisms, organic material, patagonia, peatlands, peter raymond, remote ecosystem, robert spencer, skidaway institute of oceanography, soot

*History of influence of industrial revolution hidden in glacial ice*

New clues about how Earth’s remote ecosystems have been influenced by the industrial revolution have been uncovered. Until now they were locked away, frozen in the ice of glaciers.

So say scientist Aron Stubbins of the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography and colleagues. (more…)

New Study Shows No Evidence of Groundwater Contamination From Hydraulic Fracturing

By Guest PostFebruary 21, 2012Environmentdrilling operations, groundwater contamination, hydraulic fracturing, shale formations, shale gas drilling

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Hydraulic fracturing of shale formations to extract natural gas has no direct connection to reports of groundwater contamination, based on evidence reviewed in a study released Thursday by the Energy Institute at The University of Texas at Austin. (more…)

Category Archives: Environment