| Rising Ocean Acidity Erodes Alaska's Fisheries The Arctic's increased vulnerability to climate change is not limited to higher temperatures and melting permafrost.New research from the University of Alaska Fairbanks suggests Arctic oceans are particularly susceptible to acidification, with potentially dire consequences to Alaska's rich crab and salmon fisheries. [More] rss.sciam.com |
U.S. Lags Behind World with Its Patchwork Approach to Curbing E-Waste Lurking behind the introduction of each new touch-screen computer, high-definition television and digital music player is the stark reality that some once-prized electronic gadgets from a previous techno-generation will get kicked to the curb, ending up in a toxic trash heap thousands of miles from its former owner. The reasons for this digital dumping are many, including ignorance of recycling options and indifference to the environmental impact. The remedy is straightforward--stricter governmental oversight, by the U.S. federal government in particular, of what goes into making these devices and how and where they are discarded, a team of University of California researchers posit in a study to be published Friday in Science . [More] rss.sciam.com |
Looking for Change in the Beltway: The Need for Open Process When President Barack Obama promised change, he put two kinds on the agenda. The first was substantive change: reforms to key sectors of the economy, such as health care, climate change, financial markets and arms procurement.The second was process change: improvements to how public policies are shaped and how decisions over public funding are made. Against the odds, the Obama administration is making some progress on the first--but at the sacrifice of the second. [More] rss.sciam.com |
Explosive Silicon Gas Casts Shadow on Solar Power Industry In 2007, outside Bangalore, India, an explosion decapitated an industrial worker, hurling his body through a brick wall. In 2005 a routine procedure at a manufacturing plant in Taiwan caused a spontaneous explosion that killed a worker and ignited a blaze that ripped through the factory, shutting down production for three months. Both incidents shared a common cause--silane, a gas made up of silicon and hydrogen that explodes on contact with air. And both incidents occurred in the same industry--solar power. [More] rss.sciam.com |
M.I.T.: Oil-absorbing nanotech could have cleaned up Deepwater in one month [video] It looks like a solar-powered treadmill, but researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) say they have created a flat, conveyor belt–like device that could clean up oil slicks far more efficiently than anything used at the Deepwater Horizon site. They key is a nanoparticle-infused, water-repelling mesh coating a conveyor belt. As important is the device's ability to work autonomously as part of a larger team of devices, which M.I.T. calls a Seaswarm . [More] Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Oil spill - Conveyor belt - Oil - Deepwater Horizon rss.sciam.com |