Category Archives: Environment

Forcing Mismatched Elements Together Could Yield Better Solar Cells

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — In what could be a step toward higher efficiency solar cells, an international team including University of Michigan professors has invalidated the most commonly used model to explain the behavior of a unique class of materials called highly mismatched alloys. (more…)

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Carbon Mapping Breakthrough

Palo Alto, CA — By integrating satellite mapping, airborne-laser technology, and ground-based plot surveys, scientists from the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology, with colleagues from the World Wildlife Fund and in coordination with the Peruvian Ministry of the Environment (MINAM), have revealed the first high-resolution maps of carbon locked up in tropical forest vegetation and emitted by land-use practices.

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Potomac River: Ten-fold Increase in Native Submerged Vegetation Reflects Improved Water Quality

The Potomac River in Washington, D.C. is showing multiple benefits from restoration efforts, newly published research suggests. Reduced nutrients and improved water clarity have increased the abundance and diversity of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in the Potomac, according to direct measurements taken during the 18-year field study.

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Clean Vehicle Energy Technology to be Focus of new U.S-China Research Center

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— A partnership to advance technologies for clean energy vehicles led by the University of Michigan will receive $12.5 million over the next five years under the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC), U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has announced.

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Chernobyl Effects Could Last for Centuries

Nearly 25 years after the worst nuclear accident in history, new scientific findings suggest that the effects of the explosion at Chernobyl have been underestimated. Experts last month published a series of studies indicating that, contrary to previous findings, populations of animals decreased in the exclusion zone surrounding the site of the former nuclear power plant, and that the effects of radioactive contamination after the outbreak had been “overwhelming.”

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