Technology – Page 587 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Warme und saure Sintflut?

WWF zum Klimabericht des IPCC: „Klimaschutz und Meeresschutz verbinden“ zum Klimabericht des IPCC: „Klimaschutz und Meeresschutz verbinden“

Der vom Menschen gemachte Klimawandel hat stärkere Auswirkungen auf die Weltmeere als bislang bekannt. Dies geht aus den heute in Stockholm vorgestellten Ergebnissen des Klimabericht des IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change) hervor. Die vom Menschen verursachten CO2-Emissionen wirken direkt auf die Ozeane: Die Meere werden saurer, weil das Meerwasser CO2 aus der Atmosphäre aufnimmt und sich daraus Kohlensäure bildet. (more…)

A new strategy to stop the TB bacterium

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes tuberculosis may have an Achilles’ heel: It needs a particular enzyme to survive. Inhibiting that enzyme’s function, researchers have shown, will kill the bacteria, pointing toward a design strategy for new TB drugs.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — To stay ahead in the race against drug-resistant infections, scientists constantly search for and exploit vulnerabilities in deadly bacteria. Now, researchers from Brown and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have used a novel compound to exploit an Achilles’ heel in the bacterium that causes tuberculosis. (more…)

Studying dating abuse in the Internet age

Non-physical abuse by a dating partner such as threats, controlling behavior and harassing text messages can have a serious effect on a teenager’s health and well-being, finds new research led by a Michigan State University scholar. (more…)

UCLA scientists explain the formation of unusual ring of radiation in space

Since the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts in 1958, space scientists have believed these belts encircling the Earth consist of two doughnut-shaped rings of highly charged particles — an inner ring of high-energy electrons and energetic positive ions and an outer ring of high-energy electrons.

In February of this year, a team of scientists reported the surprising discovery of a previously unknown third radiation ring — a narrow one that briefly appeared between the inner and outer rings in September 2012 and persisted for a month. (more…)

Oldest existing lizard-like fossil hints at scaly origins

The fossilised remains of a reptile closely related to lizards are the oldest yet to be discovered.

Two new fossil jaws discovered in Vellberg, Germany provide the first direct evidence that the ancestors of lizards, snakes and tuatara (known collectively as lepidosaurs), were alive during the Middle Triassic period – around 240 million years ago. (more…)

Berkeley Lab Climate Scientists See Better Climate Models, Warmer Future

Berkeley Lab experts contribute to IPCC 5th Assessment Report.

Over the next century, most of the continents are on track to become considerably warmer, with more hot extremes and fewer cold extremes. Precipitation will increase in some parts of the world but will decrease in other parts. These are some of the conclusions reached by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) scientist Michael Wehner and his co-authors on the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Wehner, a climate scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Computational Research Division, and William Collins, head of the Lab’s Climate Sciences Department, were lead authors on the IPCC report’s chapters on long-term climate change projections and climate models, respectively. They are among more than 200 lead authors from more than 30 countries in IPCC’s Working Group I. Their report released today provides a comprehensive assessment of the physical science basis of climate change. (more…)

Gentechnikfreies Raps-Saatgut ist möglich

Greenpeace und Bioland fordern: Nulltoleranz muss bleiben

Deutsches Rapssaatgut ist frei von Gentechnik. Das geht aus den von Greenpeace und Bioland abgefragten Saatgutanalysen der Bundesländer hervor. Die zuständigen Behörden hatten 281 Rapssaatgut-Proben getestet. Verunreinigungen haben sie nicht festgestellt. Im vergangenen Jahr waren noch fünf von 337 Rapssaatgut-Proben positiv getestet worden.

“Staatliche Kontrollen sind wichtig. Die diesjährige Analyse zeigt, dass sauberes Saatgut möglich ist”, sagt Jan Plagge, Präsident von Bioland. “Die Nulltoleranz für Saatgut muss auch zukünftig bestehen bleiben”, fordert Plagge. Immer wieder wird auf EU-Ebene eine Aufweichung der Nulltoleranz ins Gespräch gebracht. Auch dieses Jahr forderte der Bundesverband Deutscher Pflanzenzüchter BDP, Schwellenwerte für gentechnische Verunreinigung von Saatgut einzuführen. (more…)

Simulation success

Engineering doctoral students win Composites Simulation Challenge

Two University of Delaware mechanical engineering doctoral students working in the Center for Composite Materials, Subramani Sockalingam and Raja Ganesh, took first prize at the American Society for Composites (ASC) inaugural Student Simulation Challenge held Sept. 9 at Pennsylvania State University.

The goal of the 12-hour competition, held during the annual ASC Technical Conference, was to see which student team could best predict the behavior of a composite laminate material that included a pattern of holes. (more…)