Tag Archives: united states

Berkeley Scientists Pioneer Nanoscale Nuclear Materials Testing Capability

By Guest PostJuly 2, 2011Environment, Scienceandrew minor, berkeley lab, clean energy future, compression tests of copper specimens, crystal structure, daniel kiener, dislocations, electricity, emission free sources, fukushima disaster, irradiated materials, Japan, lifetime of a nuclear reactor, macroscale materials strength properties, medical industry, nanoscale testing technique, national center for electron microscopy, ncem, nuclear materials, nuclear plants, nuclear power, operation and safety, peter hosemann, power generation, production of radioisotopes, renewable, safer nuclear technologies, stress tests, stuart maloy, sub nanoscale resolution, Technology, united states

Nuclear power is a major component of our nation’s long-term clean-energy future, but the technology has come under increased scrutiny in the wake of Japan’s recent Fukushima disaster. Indeed, many nations have called for checks and “stress tests” to ensure nuclear plants are operating safely.

In the United States, about 20 percent of our electricity and almost 70 percent of the electricity from emission-free sources, including renewable technologies and hydroelectric power plants, is supplied by nuclear power. Along with power generation, many of the world’s nuclear facilities are used for research, materials testing, or the production of radioisotopes for the medical industry. The service life of structural and functional material components in these facilities is therefore crucial for ensuring reliable operation and safety. (more…)

Breaking the Chain: ‘Molecular cap’ Blocks Processes that Lead to Alzheimer’s, HIV

By Guest PostJune 24, 2011Health, Sciencealzheimer disease, amino acids, amyloid diseases, amyloid fibers, biochemists, brain cells, california nanosystems institute, david baker, david eisenberg, disease, enzymes, fatal diseases, Germany, hiv infection, jan münch, jie liu, jorge barrio, lin jiang, lou gehrig, mad cow disease, meytal landau, microcrystallography, molecular inhibitors, onofrio zirafi, orange g, parkinson disease, proteins, semen derived enhancer of viral infection, sevi, sexual transmission of hiv, steric zippers, stuart sievers, synthetic amino acids, tau protein, treatments, united states, university of ulm, vqivyk

A new advance by UCLA biochemists has brought scientists one step closer to developing treatments that could delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and prevent the sexual transmission of HIV.

The researchers report that they have designed molecular inhibitors that target specific proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease and HIV to prevent them from forming amyloid fibers, the elongated chains of interlocking proteins that play a key role in more than two dozen degenerative and often fatal diseases. (more…)

‘America’s Deadliest War Also is Most Memorialized’

By Guest PostJune 23, 2011Culture, Politics150th anniversary, america, battlefields, boulder county courthouse, civil war, civil war sites, fort sumter, gettysburg, kenneth foote, ku klux klan, nathan bedford forrest, north and south, northern forces, pearl street, salem, slavery, south carolina militiamen, united states, university of colorado boulder, vicksburg

As the nation recognizes the 150th anniversary of the Civil War’s start, public interest has been rekindled in the war and the numerous memorials and monuments marking historic figures, sites and battlegrounds in states around the country.

South Carolina militiamen fired the first shots of the Civil War at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, and over the next four years more than 10,000 military engagements between the North and South took place. In the end more than 600,000 soldiers died. (more…)

UFO for American Presidents

By PravdaJune 18, 2011Culture, Science Fictionaircraft carrier, bakersfield, cia agent, dwight eisenhower, et the extra terrestrial, extraterrestrial intelligence, flying saucers, franklin roosevelt, gerald haines, gulf of mexico, norman miller, oklahoma resident, oval office, pacific ocean, president carter, president harry s truman, richard nixon, robert landry, ronald reagan, sherry eckhardt, steven spielberg, ufo, ufo sightings, ufology, unidentified flying objects, united states, us presidents, Washington, White House

Many U.S. presidents during their terms were seriously interested in UFOs and extraterrestrial intelligence issues, and some of them even had a chance to make contact with aliens. We turn to the recently declassified archives of ufology. Let’s start with 1948, when President Harry S. Truman summoned his Assistant Robert Landry to the Oval Office.

Truman gave him the order to make reports every three months on the flying saucers observed over the country. Once, Truman asked to investigate the case of the appearance of mysterious object over Washington that he observed through his window. (more…)

With Global Warming, Arctic Access Will Diminish By Land But Improve By Sea

By Guest PostMay 31, 2011Environmentalaskan coastal town, anticipated temperature, Arctic, arctic transportation networks, baltic sea, bathurst inlet, bering strait, canada, climate change, commercial shipping, diamond road, dutton books, finland, fishing, geography, global shipping, global warming, greenland, history channel, ice road, ice road truckers, Iceland, john a agnew, laurence c smith, Netherlands, nome, north pole route, northern sea route, norway, panama canal, rotterdam, russia, scott stephenson, sea, shipping, stephenson and smith, strait of malacca, suez canal, Sweden, tibbitt contwoyto, tibbitt contwoyto winter road, tourism, type a vessels, united states, yellowknife

Global warming over the next 40 years will cut through Arctic transportation networks like a double-edged sword, limiting access in certain areas and vastly increasing it in others, a new UCLA study predicts.

“As sea ice continues to melt, accessibility by sea will increase, but the viability of an important network of roads that depend on freezing temperatures is threatened by a warming climate,” said Scott Stephenson, a UCLA graduate student in geography and the study’s lead author. (more…)

Imagine: Material That If Scratched, You Can Quickly and Easily Fix Yourself, With Light Not Heat

By Guest PostApril 21, 2011Scienceabrasive environments, andrew lovinger, automobiles, christoph weder, mechanical properties, metallo supramolecular polymers, microstructure, molecular glue, napoleon complex, polymer, scientific concepts, self corrective healing process, stuart rowan, supramolecular, switzerland, united states, weak molecular interactions

*Discovery of self-corrective healing process for polymer detailed this week in the journal Nature*

Imagine you’re driving your own new car–or a rental car–and you need to park in a commercial garage. Maybe you’re going to work, visiting a mall or attending an event at a sports stadium, and you’re in a rush. Limited and small available spots and concrete pillars make parking a challenge. And it happens that day: you slightly misjudge a corner and you can hear the squeal as you scratch the side of your car–small scratches, but large anticipated repair costs.

Now imagine that that you can repair these unsightly scratches yourself–quickly, easily and inexpensively–or that you can go through a car wash that can detect these and other more minor scratches and fix them as the car goes through the washing garage. Fantasy. Not exactly. Not anymore. Not according to a new discovery detailed in the April 21 issue of the journal Nature, and depicted in a short video interview and simulation. (more…)

Did Obama’s Election Kill the Antiwar Movement?

By Guest PostApril 6, 2011Politicsafghanistan, americans, anti-obama attitudes, anti-republican, anti-republican sentiments, antiwar movement, antiwar protests, capitol hill, Chicago, congress, critical mass, d c, democratic party, democrats, election, fabio rojas, Iraq, libya, michael heaney, new york, Obama, political system, presidency, pro-war decisions, radical political attitudes, republicans, united states, war, Washington

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Since 2003, the antiwar movement in the United States has had much to protest with Americans fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and now Libya, but the movement—which has dropped off sharply the past two years—may be more anti-Republican than antiwar, says a University of Michigan researcher.

A new study by U-M’s Michael Heaney and colleague Fabio Rojas of Indiana University shows that the antiwar movement in the United States demobilized as Democrats, who had been motivated to participate by anti-Republican sentiments, withdrew from antiwar protests when the Democratic Party achieved electoral success, first with Congress in 2006 and then with the presidency in 2008. (more…)

Think Globally, but Act Locally When Studying Plants, Animals, Global Warming, Researchers Advise

By Guest PostMarch 22, 2011Environment, Natureagriculture, air pollution, butterfly, camille parmesan, climate, climate change, climate change impacts, effects of climate change, extinctions, global scale, global warming, greenhouse gas, habitat fragmentation, human activities, invasive species, los angeles, mediterranean geraniums, michael singer, multiple factors, natural changes, nobel prize, plants and animals, policy makers, quino checkerspot butterfly, san diego, southern california, species, united states, urban sprawl

AUSTIN, Texas — Global warming is clearly affecting plants and animals, but we should not try to tease apart the specific contribution of greenhouse gas driven climate change to extinctions or declines of species at local scales, biologists from The University of Texas at Austin advise.

Camille Parmesan, Michael C. Singer and their coauthors published their commentary online this week in Nature Climate Change.

“Yes, global warming is happening. Yes, it is caused by human activities. And yes, we’ve clearly shown that species are impacted by global warming on a global scale,” says Parmesan, associate professor of integrative biology. (more…)