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Plastic Pollution

By Guest PostMay 2, 2012Environmentalgae, bacteria, dylan meyer, environmental group, factor, giora proskurowski, historical weather data, kara lavendar law, liver function, mathematical model, model, north atlantic expedition, ocean, pacific garbage patch, plastic marine debris, plastic particles, plastic pollution, pollutant, recipe, skye moret ferguson, teresa messmore, tobias kukulka, university of delaware, university of washington, wind

Wind pushes plastics deeper into oceans, driving trash estimates up

Decades of research into how much plastic litters the sea may have only skimmed the surface. A new study reveals that wind drives confetti-sized pieces of plastic debris deeper underwater than previously believed, more than doubling earlier estimates of the pollutant’s presence in oceans.

“In windy conditions the traditional approach to measuring plastic marine debris captures only a small fraction of plastic pieces,” said Tobias Kukulka, assistant professor of physical ocean science and engineering in the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment. “Our study helps to better understand how much plastic there is and where, as well as the complexity of the ocean dynamics at work.” (more…)

Fastest Wind From Stellar Mass Black Hole Discovered

By Guest PostFebruary 25, 2012Scienceashley king, astronomer, binary system, black hole, chandra, chandra spectrum, chandra xray observatory, cosmic equivalent, earth, gas, hurricane, igr j17091, igr j17091 3624, iron molecules, jon miller, light years, magnetic fields, material flow, milky way galaxy, molecule, NASA, orbiting telescope, spectrum, speed of light, stars collapse, stellar mass black hole, super wind, supermassive black holes, university of michigan, wind, xrays

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— The fastest wind ever discovered blowing off a disk around a stellar-mass black hole has been observed by a team of astronomers that includes a University of Michigan doctoral student.

Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, an orbiting telescope, they clocked the record-breaking super wind at about 20 million mph, or about 3 percent of the speed of light. This is nearly 10 times faster than astronomers had previously observed from a stellar-mass black hole. (more…)

Photo from NASA Mars Orbiter Shows Wind’s Handiwork

By Guest PostJanuary 25, 2012Scienceball aerospace, Environment, hirise camera, image, impact crater, mars reconnaissance orbiter, martian landscape, meteorite, NASA, noachis terra, planet, seasonal frosts, southern mars, university of arizona, wind

Some images of stark Martian landscapes provide visual appeal beyond their science value, including a recent scene of wind-sculpted features from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The scene shows dunes and sand ripples of various shapes and sizes inside an impact crater in the Noachis Terra region of southern Mars. Patterns of dune erosion and deposition provide insight into the sedimentary history of the area. (more…)

Abandoned Mines Hold Potential to Capture Wind Energy

By Guest PostDecember 19, 2011Environmentabandoned open pit mines, al rudeck, don fosnacht, electricity demand, energy providers, Europe, great river energy, iron range, minnesota, minnesota power, power supply, pump water, pumped hydro storage, pumped hydro storage process, renewable energy sources, renewable energy technology, reservoirs, rick lancaster, university of minnesota, wind, wind energy

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL — Minnesota’s Iron Range is pocked with ponds – abandoned open pit mines – that could help energy providers more efficiently use intermittent renewable energy sources, such as wind, to meet state renewable energy mandates. A study released Friday by the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Natural Resources Research Institute shows that the water-laden pits have the potential to store wind energy using a process developed in Europe in the late 1800s.

The pumped-hydro storage process would use excess late-night wind energy to pump water uphill from the pits to a higher-elevation holding pond. Then, when electricity demand goes up during the day, the process reverses the flow and captures the energy in hydro turbines. For every 100 megawatts used to pump the water upward, the plant generates nearly 80 megawatts through the turbines. (more…)

Tag Archives: wind

Plastic Pollution

Fastest Wind From Stellar Mass Black Hole Discovered

Photo from NASA Mars Orbiter Shows Wind’s Handiwork

Abandoned Mines Hold Potential to Capture Wind Energy