March 5, 2008, 8:04 PM CT

Quest For Fusion Energy

Physicists at MIT and the University of Rochester have devised a new way to take "snapshots" of the high-energy, high-temperature reactions seen as key to achieving the long-held dream of controlled nuclear fusion.

The work, which is published in the Feb. 28 issue of Science, could one day help researchers harness nuclear fusion as an energy source. It could also shed light on basic questions about the physics of stars.

Nuclear fusion--the process by which atomic particles clump together to form a heavier nucleus--releases an enormous amount of energy (roughly one million times that of a chemical reaction). When nuclear fusion occurs in an uncontrolled chain reaction, it can result in a thermonuclear blast--such as the one generated by hydrogen bombs.

Achieving controlled nuclear fusion, which could be a safe and reliable source of nearly limitless energy, is one of the "holy grails" of high-energy-density physics, as per Richard Petrasso, senior research scientist at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center and an author of the Science paper.

For decades, researchers at MIT and elsewhere have been working toward that goal by setting off miniature implosions that recreate the high temperatures and densities found in stars.

One way physicists create the implosions is by bombarding tiny pellets of hydrogen fuel with lasers. Inside the pellet, the compressed gas reaches about 100 million degrees, or about seven times hotter than the center of the sun. Under certain conditions, the gas's density can reach 1,000 grams per cubic centimeter (50 times the density of gold)......... Posted by: Kevin      Read more         Source

March 5, 2008, 8:00 PM CT

Mysteries Of Oceanic Bacteria

Microbes living in the oceans play a critical role in regulating Earth's environment, but very little is known about their activities and how they work together to help control natural cycles of water, carbon and energy.

A team of MIT scientists led by Professors Edward DeLong and Penny Chisholm is trying to change that.

Borrowing gene sequencing tools developed for sequencing the human genome, the scientists have devised a new method to analyze gene expression in complex microbial populations. The work could help researchers better understand how oceans respond to climate change.

"This project can help us get a better handle on the specific details of how microbes affect the flux of energy and matter on Earth, and how microbes respond to environmental change," said DeLong, a professor of biological engineering and civil and environmental engineering.

"The new approach also has other potential applications, for example, one can now realistically consider using indigenous microbes as in situ biosensors, as well as monitor the activities of human-associated microbial communities much more comprehensively," DeLong said.

Their technique, which has already yielded a few surprising discoveries, is published in the March 3 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences......... Posted by: Kevin      Read more         Source

March 5, 2008, 7:43 PM CT

Steal CO2 From Air

Los Alamos National Laboratory has developed a low-risk, transformational concept, called Green Freedom-, for large-scale production of carbon-neutral, sulfur-free fuels and organic chemicals from air and water.

Currently, the principal market for the Green Freedom production concept is fuel for vehicles and aircraft.

At the heart of the technology is a new process for extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and making it available for fuel production using a new form of electrochemical separation. By integrating this electrochemical process with existing technology, scientists have developed a new, practical approach to producing fuels and organic chemicals that permits continued use of existing industrial and transportation infrastructure. Fuel production is driven by carbon-neutral power.

"Our concept enhances U.S. energy and material security by reducing dependence on imported oil. Initial system and economic analyses indicate that the prices of Green Freedom commodities would be either comparable to the current market or competitive with those of other carbon-neutral, alternative technologies currently being considered," said F. Jeffrey Martin of the Laboratory's Decisions Applications Division, principal investigator on the project.

Martin will be presenting a talk on the subject at the Alternative Energy NOW conference in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, February 20, 2008......... Posted by: Kevin      Read more         Source

February 28, 2008, 10:27 PM CT

Breakthroughs in nanotechnology

University of Missouri scientist Kattesh Katti recently discovered how to make gold nanoparticles using gold salts, soybeans and water. Kattis research has garnered attention worldwide and the environmentally-friendly discovery could have major applications in several disciplines.

Gold nanoparticles are tiny pieces of gold, so small they cannot be seen by the naked eye. Scientists believe gold nanoparticles will be used in cancer detection and therapy, the production of smart electronic devices, the therapy of certain genetic eye diseases and the development of green automobiles.

While the nanotechnology industry is expected to produce large quantities of nanoparticles in the near future, scientists have been worried about the environmental impact of typical production methods. Commonly, nanoparticles have been produced using synthetic chemicals. Kattis process, which uses only naturally occurring elements, could have major environmental implications for the future. Since some of the chemicals currently used to make nanoparticles are toxic to humans, Kattis discovery also could open doors for additional medical fields. Having a 100-percent natural green process could allow medical scientists to expand the use of the nanoparticles.

Typically, a producer must use a variety of synthetic or man-made chemicals to produce gold nanoparticles, said Katti, professor of radiology and physics in the School of Medicine and College of Arts and Science at MU, senior research scientist at the MU Research Reactor (MURR) and director of the University of Missouri Cancer Nanotechnology Platform. To make the chemicals necessary for production, you need to have other artificial chemicals produced, creating an even larger, negative environmental impact. Our new process only takes what nature has made available to us and uses that to produce a technology already proven to have far-reaching impacts in technology and medicine......... Posted by: Kevin      Read more         Source

February 26, 2008, 8:00 PM CT

Nanoemulsion vaccines show increasing promise

A novel technique for vaccinating against a variety of infectious diseases using an oil-based emulsion placed in the nose, rather than needles has proved able to produce a strong immune response against smallpox and HIV in two new studies.

The results build on prior success in animal studies with a nasal nanoemulsion vaccine for influenza, reported by University of Michigan scientists in 2003.

Nanoemulsion vaccines developed at the Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and the Biological Sciences at U-M are based on a mixture of soybean oil, alcohol, water and detergents emulsified into ultra-small particles smaller than 400 nanometers wide, or 1/200th the width of a human hair. These are combined with part or all of the disease-causing microbe to trigger the bodys immune response.

A team led by U-M scientist James Baker Jr., M.D., the institutes director, pioneered the technology, for which a patent was recently awarded to U-M.

The two studies show the nanoemulsion platform is capable of developing vaccines from very diverse materials. We used whole virus in the smallpox vaccine. In the HIV vaccine, we used a single protein. We were able to promote an immune response using either source, says Baker.

The technology is licensed to NanoBio Corp., an Ann Arbor-based biotech company which Baker founded in 2000 and in which he has a financial interest. Baker is the Ruth Dow Doan Professor of internal medicine and Allergy Division chief at the U-M Medical School......... Posted by: Kevin      Read more         Source

February 26, 2008, 7:54 PM CT

Supercomputer Unleashes Virtual 9.0 Megaquake

On January 26, 1700, at about 9 p.m. local time, the Juan de Fuca plate beneath the ocean in the Pacific Northwest suddenly moved, slipping some 60 feet eastward beneath the North American plate in a monster quake of approximately magnitude 9, setting in motion large tsunamis that struck the coast of North America and traveled to the shores of Japan.

Since then, the earth beneath the region - which includes the cities of Vancouver, Seattle and Portland -- has been relatively quiet. But researchers think that earthquakes with magnitudes greater than 8, so-called "megathrust events," occur along this fault on average every 400 to 500 years.

To help prepare for the next megathrust earthquake, a team of scientists led by seismologist Kim Olsen of San Diego State University (SDSU) used a supercomputer-powered "virtual earthquake" program to calculate for the first time realistic three-dimensional simulations that describe the possible impacts of megathrust quakes on the Pacific Northwest region. Also participating in the study were scientists from the San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego and the U.S. Geological Survey.

What the researchers learned from this simulation is not reassuring, as published in the Journal of Seismology, especially for residents of downtown Seattle......... Posted by: Tyler      Read more         Source

February 25, 2008, 9:25 PM CT

Tracking your carbon footprint

An innovation called Carbon Hero may help reduce global warming by making people more aware of their carbon footprint. Regional prize winner in the 2007 European Satellite Navigation Competition, sponsored by ESA's Technology Transfer Programme, the device uses satellite navigation technology to track journeys.

Concerned about global warming, a number of people are now looking for ways to reduce their generation of carbon dioxide (CO2). One option is to use public transport and limit journeys by car and plane; however, eventhough this can significantly reduce each person's carbon footprint, until now the benefits have been difficult to measure.

"With Carbon Hero calculating your carbon footprint is easy," explains Andreas Zachariah, a graduate student from the Royal College of Art in London and inventor of Carbon Hero. "This easy-to-use mobile system uses satellite navigation data to calculate the environmental impact of travel. With its specialist database and algorithm, it can determine the mode of transport and its environmental impact with almost no user input."

It was back in 2006, that Andreas Zachariah came up with the idea of a small and practical device to track personal CO2 emissions during travel. It determines the carbon footprint of travellers using different modes of transport by using satellite navigation data to measure the distance, identify the type of transportation and calculate the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere through travel......... Posted by: Kevin      Read more         Source

February 13, 2008, 9:17 PM CT

Stirling Energy Systems set new world record

On a perfect New Mexico winter day - with the sky almost 10 percent brighter than usual - Sandia National Laboratories and Stirling Energy Systems (SES) set a new solar-to-grid system conversion efficiency record by achieving a 31.25 percent net efficiency rate. The old 1984 record of 29.4 percent was toppled Jan. 31 on SES's "Serial #3" solar dish Stirling system at Sandia's National Solar Thermal Test Facility.

The conversion efficiency is calculated by measuring the net energy delivered to the grid and dividing it by the solar energy hitting the dish mirrors. Auxiliary loads, such as water pumps, computers and tracking motors, are accounted for in the net power measurement.

"Gaining two whole points of conversion efficiency in this type of system is phenomenal," says Bruce Osborn, SES president and CEO. "This is a significant advancement that takes our dish engine systems well beyond the capacities of any other solar dish collectors and one step closer to commercializing an affordable system".

Serial #3 was erected in May 2005 as part of a prototype six-dish model power plant at the Solar Thermal Test Facility that produces up to 150 kilowatts (kW) of grid-ready electrical power during the day. Each dish unit consists of 82 mirrors formed in a dish shape to focus the light to an intense beam......... Posted by: Kevin      Read more         Source

February 12, 2008, 9:17 PM CT

MIT reveals superconducting surprise

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--MIT physicists have taken a step toward understanding the puzzling nature of high-temperature superconductors, materials that conduct electricity with no resistance at temperatures well above absolute zero.

If superconductors could be made to work at temperatures as high as room temperature, they could have potentially limitless applications. But first, researchers need to learn much more about how such materials work.

Using a new method, the MIT team made a surprising discovery that may overturn theories about the state of matter in which superconducting materials exist just before they start to superconduct. The findings are published in the recent issue of Nature Physics.

Understanding high-temperature superconductors is one of the biggest challenges in physics today, as per Eric Hudson, MIT assistant professor of physics and senior author of the paper.

Most superconductors only superconduct at temperatures near absolute zero, but about 20 years ago, it was discovered that some ceramics can superconduct at higher temperatures (but commonly still below 100 Kelvin, or -173 Celsius).

Such high-temperature superconductors are now beginning to be used for a number of applications, including cell-phone base stations and a demo magnetic-levitation train. But their potential applications could be much broader......... Posted by: Sarah      Read more         Source

February 12, 2008, 9:13 PM CT

Future of social networking explored

If you need information, the Internet offers a wealth of resources. But if you're hunting down a person or a thing, a computer's not much help. That may soon change. Electronic tags promise to create what some call the "Internet of things," in which objects and people are connected through a virtual network.

To see what this future world would be like, a pilot project involving dozens of volunteers in the University of Washington's computer science building provides the next step in social networking, wirelessly monitoring people and things in a closed environment. Beginning in March, volunteer students, engineers and staff will wear electronic tags on their clothing and belongings to sense their location every five seconds throughout much of the six-story building. The information will be saved to a database, published to Web pages and used in various custom tools. The project is one of the largest experiments looking at wireless tags in a social setting.

The RFID Ecosystem project aims to create a world that a number of technology experts predict is just on the horizon, said project leader Magda Balazinska, a UW assistant professor of computer science and engineering. The project explores the use of radio-frequency identification, or RFID, tags in a social environment. The team has installed some 200 antennas in the Paul Allen Center for Computer Science and Engineering. Early next month scientists will begin recruiting 50 volunteers from about 400 people who regularly use the building......... Posted by: Kevin      Read more         Source