Tag Archives: water

Novel Device Removes Heavy Metals From Water

By Guest PostDecember 18, 2011Environmentacid, base, brown university, cadmium, cathodic particles, cation concentration, cations, cep system, charged metal ions, concentration, copper, cyclic electrowinning precipitation, electrochemical reduction, electroextraction, engineers, environmental contaminant, environmental remediation, genie in the bottle, george hradil, heavy metal ions, hydroxides, joseph calo, landfills, metal recovery, metal removal technique, method, nickel, parts per million, pengpeng grimshaw, ph, ppm, reduction of heavy metal ions, release of heavy metals, remove, sodium hydroxide, spe, spouted particulate electrode, sulfides, sulfuric acid, technic inc, textile factories, toxic sludge, trace heavy metals, unhealthy byproduct, water, waterways, zero valent metal

*Engineers at Brown University have developed a system that cleanly and efficiently removes trace heavy metals from water. In experiments, the researchers showed the system reduced cadmium, copper, and nickel concentrations, returning contaminated water to near or below federally acceptable standards. The technique is scalable and has viable commercial applications, especially in the environmental remediation and metal recovery fields. Results appear in the Chemical Engineering Journal.*

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — An unfortunate consequence of many industrial and manufacturing practices, from textile factories to metalworking operations, is the release of heavy metals in waterways. Those metals can remain for decades, even centuries, in low but still dangerous concentrations.

Ridding water of trace metals “is really hard to do,” said Joseph Calo, professor emeritus of engineering who maintains an active laboratory at Brown. He noted the cost, inefficiency, and time needed for such efforts. “It’s like trying to put the genie back in the bottle.” (more…)

A Playbook for Fitness

By Guest PostDecember 16, 2011Generalaaron kelly, epidemic of childhood obesity, financial benevolence, fruits and vegetables, juice, kinesiology, lorenzo booker, minnesota vikings, nfl, playbook, radar, soda, team, university of minnesota, vikings fitness playbook, viktor the viking, water

*University-Vikings partnership helps children lead healthier lives*

Even if you’re not a football fan, you’ve probably noticed the Minnesota Vikings in the news a lot, whether it’s in regard to the 2011 season or their push for a new stadium.

What often goes unnoticed is the team’s record of community engagement and financial benevolence. Over the years the Vikings have given millions to the local community. (more…)

NASA: Climate Change May Bring Big Ecosystem Changes

By Guest PostDecember 15, 2011Environmentbiodiversity, biome changes, biosphere, boreal forests, caltech, carbon, climate, climate change, climate model projections, computer modeling, desert, duane waliser, earth, eastern equatorial africa, ecological consequences, ecological sensitivity, ecosystem, element cycles, energy, environmental changes, forest, global climate simulations, grassland, great lakes, great plains, greenhouse gases, himalayas, hotspots, ice, jon bergengren, last glacial maximum, Madagascar, major ecological community type, mediterranean region, melting glaciers, migrate, model projections, modern climate changes, multiple generations, NASA, North America, northern hemisphere, plant communities, rising sea levels, southern south america, tibetan plateau, tundra, water

PASADENA, Calif. – By 2100, global climate change will modify plant communities covering almost half of Earth’s land surface and will drive the conversion of nearly 40 percent of land-based ecosystems from one major ecological community type – such as forest, grassland or tundra – toward another, according to a new NASA and university computer modeling study.

Researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., investigated how Earth’s plant life is likely to react over the next three centuries as Earth’s climate changes in response to rising levels of human-produced greenhouse gases. Study results are published in the journal Climatic Change. (more…)

Water Evaporated from Trees Cools Global Climate

By Guest PostSeptember 17, 2011Environmentatmosphere, central park, earth, emissions of carbon dioxide, evaporated water, evaporation, george ban-weiss, global balance of energy, global climate, global warming, govindasamy bala, greenhouse gas, julia pongratz, ken caldeira, new york, vegetation, water, water vapor

Washington, DC — Scientists have long debated about the impact on global climate of water evaporated from vegetation. New research from Carnegie’s Global Ecology department concludes that evaporated water helps cool the earth as a whole, not just the local area of evaporation, demonstrating that evaporation of water from trees and lakes could have a cooling effect on the entire atmosphere. These findings, published September 14 in Environmental Research Letters, have major implications for land-use decision making.

Evaporative cooling is the process by which a local area is cooled by the energy used in the evaporation process, energy that would have otherwise heated the area’s surface. It is well known that the paving over of urban areas and the clearing of forests can contribute to local warming by decreasing local evaporative cooling, but it was not understood whether this decreased evaporation would also contribute to global warming (more…)

Testing the Water for Bioenergy Crops

By Guest PostSeptember 3, 2011Environmentanjuli bamzai, atmospheric humidity, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, changing climate, corn, darren drewry, energy, environmental advocates, Germany, grasses, hydrologic cycle, hydrology, land conversion, large scale biofuel production, large scale land conversion, limiting factor, max planck institute, miscanthus, phong le, praveen kumar, rainfall patterns, runoff, soil moisture, switchgrass, university of illinois at urbana champaign, vietnam education foundation, water

*Water significant limiting factor in growing crops like switchgrass*

Energy researchers and environmental advocates are excited about the prospect of gaining more efficient large-scale biofuel production by using large grasses like miscanthus or switchgrass rather than corn.

They have investigated yields, land use, economics and more, but one key factor of agriculture has been overlooked: water.

“While we are looking for solutions for energy through bioenergy crops, dependence on water gets ignored, and water can be a significant limiting factor,” said Praveen Kumar, an environmental engineer and atmospheric scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (more…)

NASA’s Wise Mission Discovers Coolest Class of Stars

By Guest PostAugust 25, 2011Science40 light years, ammonia, astronomers, atmospheric temperature, brown dwarf family, california institute of technology, Chile, coldest brown dwarf, cool as the human body, davy kirkpatrick, failed stars, gas giant planets, hawaii, infrared processing and analysis center, infrared vision, jon morse, jupiter, magellan telescopes at las campanas observatory, methane, michael cushing, molecular signatures, NASA, nasa headquarters, nine light years away, palomar observatory, parent star, pasadena, proxima centauri, ross 154, solar system, spitzer space telescope, star like bodies, visible light telescope, w m keck observatory atop mauna kea, Washington, water, wide field infrared survey explorer, wise, wise 1541-2250, wise 1828+2650, y dwarfs

PASADENA, Calif. – Scientists using data from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) have discovered the coldest class of star-like bodies, with temperatures as cool as the human body.

Astronomers hunted these dark orbs, termed Y dwarfs, for more than a decade without success. When viewed with a visible-light telescope, they are nearly impossible to see. WISE’s infrared vision allowed the telescope to finally spot the faint glow of six Y dwarfs relatively close to our sun, within a distance of about 40 light-years. (more…)

EPA Grants Continue to Protect Beachgoers

By Guest PostJanuary 16, 2011Environmentamerica, bacteria levels, beach, beach managers, beaches, beaches environmental assessment and coastal health act, beachgoers, grants, local beach conditions, monitor beach, ocean beaches, peter s silva, protect swimmers, states, territories, tribes, water, water quality

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing almost $10 million in grants to 37 states, territories and tribes to help protect swimmers and beachgoers at America’s beaches. The grants will help local authorities monitor beach water quality and notify the public of conditions that may be unsafe for swimming. The grants have enabled states and territories to more than double the number of beaches they monitor since 2003. This continues EPA’s efforts to help beach managers provide consistent public health protection and up-to-date information about local beach conditions. (more…)

Tiny Protozoa May Hold Key to World Water Safety

By Guest PostDecember 11, 2010Environment, Sciencebarometers, better world, biologist, bob curtis, camera, car, climate change, department of defense, digital camera, dod, gasoline, groundbreaking technique, microscopic plankton, one celled protozoa, pesticides, plastic containers, protozoa, sbs, scott gallager, software, swimming behavioral spectrophotometer, Technology, toxins, underwater environment, wade mcgillis, water

Right now, it looks a little like one of those plastic containers you might fill with gasoline when your car has run dry. But Scott Gallager is not headed to the nearest Mobil station. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) biologist has other, grander plans for his revolutionary Swimming Behavioral Spectrophotometer (SBS), which employs one-celled protozoa to detect toxins in water sources.

Not only is he working on streamlining the boxy-looking contraption—eventually even evolving it into a computer chip—but he sees it as a tool to potentially “monitor all the drinking water in the world.

“It has a unique utility.” (more…)