Intricate patterns formed by granular materials under the influence of electrostatic fields have scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory dreaming of new ways to create smaller structures for nanotechnologies. With a combination of electric fields and fluid mixtures, researchers Igor Aronson, Maksim Sapozhnikov, Yuri Tolmachev and Wai Kwok can cause tiny spheres of bronze and other metals to self-assemble into crystalline patterns, honeycombs, pulsating rings and
Known for its intoxicating effects on felines, catnip oil may also have a future in termite control. Recent experiments by USDA Forest Service researcher Chris Peterson show that catnip oil repels and even kills termites in a laboratory setting.
Peterson, a researcher with the Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS), and fellow researcher Janice Ems-Wilson, a chemist at Valencia Community College in Orlando, FL, presented the results of their research at the national meeting of the Am
Biologists believe that climate change is affecting living things worldwide, and the latest evidence suggests that warmer winters may mean fewer migratory birds. New research shows that as winter temperatures have risen in central Europe, the number of migratory birds has dropped. Ultimately, this may also decrease the number of migratory bird species there.
“We predict that with increasing winter temperatures…the number of long-distance migratory bird species should decline,” say Nicole L
While it is well-known that roads can spread invasive weeds, new research shows that some roads are worse than others. In Utah, areas along paved roads were far more likely to be invaded than those along 4-wheel-drive tracks. This suggests that limiting road improvements would help keep out invasive weeds.
“Each step of road improvement would appear to convert an increasing area of natural habitat to roadside habitat,” say Jonathan Gelbard, who did this work while at Duke University in Durh
At only about 1,000 in the wild, China’s giant panda is among the most endangered species in the world. But there is still hope if we act fast. The panda’s greatest threat is habitat loss and new research identifies high-quality habitat that, if protected, could increase the species’ chances of long-term survival.
“The current network of nature reserves provides protection for less than half of the pandas’ remaining habitat and fails to conserve essential habitat for disp
Researchers at Harper Adams University College, Shropshire, believe a ‘memory’ in the climate system could be tapped to improve long-range weather forecasts.
In the April edition of ‘Weather,’ the journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, an article co-written by Dr Peter Kettlewell will show how summer rainfall levels in the UK are affected by ‘remembered’ changes in winter air pressure over the North Atlantic ocean. The article is based upon the work of a team headed by Dr Kettlewell,
Dirt, dust and grime are familiar to city dwellers. But tiny airborne particles produced by road traffic, especially in highly polluted urban areas, can be a risk to health. Just how much of a risk is the subject of a talk to be given by Birgit Krausse, of the Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development at De Montfort University Leicester, at the Urban Air conference in Prague on Wednesday 26 March. Her findings suggest that current air-quality standards ignore a major component of pollution tha
A new group of ceramic materials could lead to more reliable and clearer microwave communication signals, according to engineers at South Bank University, London, speaking at the Institute of Physics Congress at Heriot-Watt University on Wednesday 26 March.
A small ceramic component made from a dielectric material is fundamental to the operation of filters and oscillators in several microwave systems, such as satellite TV receivers, military radar systems, Global Positioning System (GPS) dev
A fast and ingenious new way to detect toxic contamination of water has been developed by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The method, currently undergoing further experimentation and development, has particular consequences for countering bioterrorism, but with less ominous, potential implications as well for medical technologies, pharmaceuticals and industry, plus environmental quality in general.
The work of the research team, headed by Prof. Shimshon Belkin,
Vegetable oil similar to the stuff you use to cook your food may one day fill your car’s engine. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture have developed a chemically modified version of the edible oil that shows promise as a cleaner, renewable alternative to petroleum-based motor oil, while enhancing its protective properties.
Veggie motor oil could eventually be produced cheaper than petroleum-based oil and may help reduce this country’s dependence on foreign oil, the re
Researchers hope to someday develop an enzyme to repair UV-damaged DNA in humans
Plants, pond scum, and even organisms that live where the sun doesn’t shine have something that humans do not — an enzyme that repairs DNA damaged by ultraviolet (UV) light.
Cabell Jonas of Richmond, Va., an undergraduate honors student in biology at Virginia Tech, will report on the molecular details of the DNA-repair enzyme at the 225th national meeting of the American Chemical Society March
In recent years chemists and materials scientists have enthusiastically searched for ways to make materials with nanoscale pores — channels comparable in size to organic molecules — that could be used, among other things, to separate proteins by size. Recently Cornell University researchers developed a method to “self-assemble” such structures by using organic polymers to guide the formation of ceramic structures.
Now they have advanced another step by incorporating tiny magnetic particle
A new generation of nanoscale devices are being developed based on inspiration found in nature. Grazyna Sroga, a postdoctoral researcher at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is using DNA and related proteins to construct microscopic structures that may one day conduct electricity, deliver drugs, boost computer memory, or sense the presence or absence of chemicals. She is working in the laboratory of Jonathan S. Dordick, the Howard P. Isermann ’42 professor of chemical engineering.
Srog
Nanocomposites for space
A microscopy technique originally developed to image the molecular-scale topography of surfaces is now helping engineers choose the right materials for a new generation of lightweight high-strength composites based on carbon nanotubes.
Light, conductive and nearly as strong as steel, carbon nanotubes are being combined with lightweight polymers to produce composite materials with properties attractive for use on future space vehicles. But choosing th
One of the most powerful tools in today’s biological and medical science is the ability to artificially remove and add bits of DNA to an organism’s genome. This has helped scientists to understand problems caused by defective genes, for example, which have now been linked to thousands of human diseases. So far the technology has been limited to small segments of DNA. But four years ago, Francis Stewart and his colleagues at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (Heidelberg) developed a new techn
Mercury, that silvery liquid metal ubiquitous in switches, pressure gauges and thermometers, is an environmental bad-boy and toxic to humans through inhalation, skin contact and ingestion. It is easily spilled and can go unnoticed in aging lab equipment.
However, with new technology, mercury can be practically erased from the typical laboratory setting, reducing and even eliminating the environmental and health hazards, according to researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory who present
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