The jet airliners of the future will be significantly quieter and more environmentally friendly with the help of engineers at The University of Nottingham.
Researchers have been awarded £830,000 (€1.2m) to explore new design methods that could reduce the noise of jet engines while at the same time cutting the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) they release into the atmosphere. They will play a key part in a new research project called VITAL — which stands for EnVIronmenTALly Friendly A
Bimetallic nanoparticles break down TCE 100 times faster than bulk catalysts
New research from Rice University’s Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology finds that nanoparticles of gold and palladium are the most effective catalysts yet identified for remediation of one of the nation’s most pervasive and troublesome groundwater pollutants, trichloroethene or TCE. The research, conducted by engineers at Rice and the Georgia Institute of Technology, will
The JLMD system® has received the backing of the Luxembourg shipping register. Anxious to maintain the quality of the fleet flying its flag, the country is officially supporting JLMD Ecologic Group by backing shipowners wishing to equip their ships with its oil recovery system. Moreover, JLMD Ecologic Group has just been awarded the “Florilège d’Or” (golden award) by the French Académie Nationale d’Encouragement à la Créativité Industrielle (National Academy for the Encouragement of Industrial Crea
UNU book details formula for alleviating international conflict over water
A new study by United Nations University reveals the limits of international environmental law, and the potential for scientific methods to help resolve disputes between countries that share water resources.
After the collapse of communism in the 1990s, a dispute arose between Hungary and Slovakia over a project to dam the Danube River. It was the first of its type heard by the International Court
In a few days, a three-man scientific expedition called Pole Track is to embark upon a gruelling 1000 km trek across the frozen Arctic to collect valuable data for climate-change research. Throughout the demanding two-month expedition, the team will also take thousands of snow depth measurements in support of ESA’s CryoSat mission.
The international Pole Track team is led by the Dutch professional explorer Marc Cornelissen who is passionate about the polar environment and de
Although predicting el Nino events months before they begin has become a major success story in climate prediction, a Duke University oceanographer who did early research in the field believes more could be done with the computer and satellite technology underlying these advances.
Richard Barber, who is Harvey W. Smith Professor of Biological Oceanography at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, will outline additional uses of el Nino forecasting at a
The destruction of habitat by human activity and the extinction of species around the world is more than a looming environmental catastrophe, warns a Canadian zoologist. This ecological damage also endangers human health by turning parasites into “evolutionary land mines.”
Dr. Daniel (Dan) Brooks, a parasitologist at the University of Toronto, says the decline of global biodiversity is linked to the emergence of new human and wildlife diseases such as West Nile Virus and avian fl
Typical economic analysis applied to global warming may be biased because they neglect climate thresholds, according to Penn State researchers.
“Economic models of climate change typically assume that changes occur gradually and reversibly,” says Dr. Klaus Keller, assistant professor of geoscience, Penn State. “However, some environmental effects are not smooth and show a threshold response. For a long time nothing or very little happens and then suddenly a large change occurs.”
The next big way to clean up toxic sites may be coaxing plants to become janitors, a Michigan State University scientist says.
Clayton Rugh, an assistant professor of crop and soil sciences, explains that phytoremediation – using plants to remove contaminants from the soil – is evolving.
In the early stages of this technology, plants were used like sponges, soaking up toxic substances so they can be safely discarded. The next step, Rugh says, is plants that act like a g
Researchers have discovered that marine seaweeds have a remarkable and previously unknown capacity to detoxify serious organic pollutants such as TNT or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and they may therefore be able to play an important role in protecting the ecological health of marine life.
The studies, conducted by scientists from the College of Engineering at Oregon State University and the Marine Science Center at Northeastern University, were presented today at the annual m
More than twenty years after the historic Chesapeake Bay Agreement set out a roadmap for a coordinated clean-up effort at state and federal levels, the region is struggling to follow it, scientists say.
Panelists speaking at a February 20 session of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington, DC emphasized the importance of an adaptive approach to restoration in the Chesapeake––which scientists call adaptive management, in which ideas and approac
At AAAS annual conference – Feeding the world can be a constant battle between opposing forces.
Agriculture is often seen as being in conflict with natural resources as farmers attempt to feed the world without poisoning the Earth, said Charles W. Rice, a Kansas State University soil microbiologist and professor of agronomy. Excessive tillage, low productivity, soil erosion and residue removal result in loss of soil structure, organic matter, nutrients and biodiversity.
Biologists speaking at a symposium in Washington, D.C., this week warn that fundamental assumptions underlying current fisheries management practices may be wrong, resulting in management decisions that threaten the future supply of fish and the long-term survival of some fish populations. The symposium, organized by Steven Berkeley of the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Larry Crowder of Duke University Marine Laboratory, is part of the 2005 Annual Meeting of the American Association f
El Niño’s effects on a Pacific Northwest river valley offer forecasters a window to dry years ahead
Global warming conversations have shifted from whether climate is changing to how we will deal with the inevitable consequences. And the price you pay will depend on where you live and how well you prepare, suggests one of the most detailed studies to date on global warming and its likely effect on human activity.
“Like politics, global climate change is local,” said
A panel of acknowledged international experts has identified Sweden’s foremost environments for basic research. The Swedish Research Council will be able to finance ten of the 27 research environments of excellence that have been winnowed from 261 applications. These research teams are from all over the country and represent all disciplinary domains.
“This is proof that Sweden boasts a number of competitive and creative research nodes of the highest international class. It also
Climate warming likely to impact water resources in regions around the globe
Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, and their colleagues have produced the first clear evidence of human-produced warming in the world’s oceans, a finding they say removes much of the uncertainty associated with debates about global warming. In a new study conducted with colleagues at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Program for Cl
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