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Clean Energy From CO2?

By Guest PostMay 23, 2012Environmentcarbon dioxide, cpg, crust, cycle, deane morrison, earth, electricity, fossil fuels, geologic formation, geothermal heat, geothermal systems, global warming, green future, heat mining company, hydrofracking, impermeable rock, international space station, jimmy randolph, martin saar, mobility, renewable energy, supercritical, thomas kuehn, underground storage, united states, university of minnesota, villain co2

Global warming villain CO₂ may have a surprisingly green future

The next frontier in the search for renewable energy lies less than two miles from where you are now.

Unless you’re reading this on the International Space Station.

Geothermal heat a mile or two deep in Earth’s crust is a potential source of energy that could be tapped by an unlikely carrier: carbon dioxide (CO₂), the central villain in global warming. That energy, unlike solar and wind, could be easily turned on and off without the intermediate step of being stored in a battery. And it would be constant and reliable. (more…)

Not Your Parents’ Chem Labs

By Guest PostApril 25, 2012Educationacetone, anti-inflammatory, balance, benzene, borneol, carbon dioxide, carbon trachloride, catalyst, chalcone, chemical industry, chemistry, cloves, cookbook chemistry, cylindrical container, deane morrison, density, environmental problem, extract, fluid, general chemistry labs, graduated cylinder, grams per milliliter, greener, hazardous, industry, inorganic chemistry, james wollack, jane wissinger, josh jansen, lindsay nevalainen, liquid, marc hillmyer, michelle driessen, molecule, oil, organic chem, organic molecule, plastic, renewable resources, scale, sodium bromide, solution, solvent, university of minnesota, volume

‘Greener’ and more engaging experiments draw students in

As a college student, Michelle Driessen had an all-too-typical experience.

“I hated general chemistry,” she says. “I thought it was terribly boring.”

She had plenty of company. Experiments were all laid out in advance, and the goal seemed to be to get to a predetermined result without blowing up the glassware.

In the old days, “very few students appreciated the point of most general chemistry labs,” adds Driessen. “With cookbook chemistry, you couldn’t have anything go wrong or deviate [from what’s supposed to happen], but I find those things to be the most interesting part of science.” (more…)

The Emperor’s New Close-Up

By Guest PostApril 15, 2012Nature, ScienceAntarctic, antarctic ice shelves, behavior of emperor, brent pellinen, british antarctic survey, cape crozier, census, claire porter, climatic, deane morrison, ecology, emperor penguins, Environment, guano, icons, mcmurdo station, michelle larue, pansharpening, penguin poo, peter fretwell, polar geospatial center, satellite image, satellites, university of minnesota

U researchers map emperor penguin colonies by satellite

Emperor penguins may be icons of the Antarctic, but they aren’t immune to disturbances in their environment.

As climatic and other changes unfold, emperors may dwindle in numbers. But how to tell, when researchers can’t access all the emperor colonies dotting the Antarctic ice shelves and count heads every year?

Satellites, that’s how. (more…)

The Times they are acclaimin’

By Guest PostJanuary 15, 2012Culture, Media100 notable books of 2011, amanda plummer, charles baxter, deane morrison, don quixote, egyptian geography, egyptian irrigation methods, english professor, fiction writer, fictional characters, gryphon, methods of irrigation, michigan public schools, minneapolis native, miss ferenczi, morgan freeman, new york times, pantheon books, the feast of love

*Fiction writer Charles Baxter talks about writing and life*

Miss Ferenczi, a substitute teacher, begins a stint by ditching a boring lesson on traditional Egyptian irrigation methods and winging it.

Her amazed class of fourth graders is left to sift through the torrent of information she spews and figure out what might be true.

So it goes in “Gryphon,” the title story in English professor Charles Baxter’s latest book, a collection of stories the New York Times named to its “100 Notable Books of 2011” list in November. “Gryphon: New and Selected Stories” is published by Pantheon Books. (more…)

Laborers of Love

By Guest PostNovember 26, 2011General, Natureancient corinth, ancient human skeleton, apostle paul, archaeologist, archaeology lab, artemis, bank of the mississippi, birds of prey, bob kriel, bremer village, bubo, county roscommon, czech republic, deane morrison, excavations, gillian monnier, Greece, horned owl, ireland, john soderberg, keith manthie, minnesota, neanderthal site, peregrine falcon, raptor center, roman cemetery, sue mccarthy, university of minnesota, young owls

*Three volunteers who make a difference*

A murmur runs through the audience as Bob Kriel withdraws his gloved hand from a darkened cage in the front of a small lecture room.

On the glove sits Bubo, a great horned owl. With his piercing eyes and imperial demeanor, this large bird with mottled gray feathers instantly dominates the room.

Kriel, a retired physician who still does clinical research at the University of Minnesota, volunteers weekly at the U’s Raptor Center, where sick and injured birds of prey receive treatment. (more…)

Tag Archives: deane morrison

Clean Energy From CO2?

Not Your Parents’ Chem Labs

The Emperor’s New Close-Up

The Times they are acclaimin’

Laborers of Love