29437761
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
Peter Stone, associate professor of computer science at the University of Texas at Austin, has presented an idea at the AAAS meeting today for managing intersections: a computer in a car calls ahead to the nearest intersection it is headed towards, and says it will arrive at a given time. The intersection checks to see if anyone else is arriving then, and if the slot is open, it tells the car to proceed. If it isn't, it tells the car that and the car is responsible for slowing down or stopping.
He says that even with only a few connected cars, the system still works, even if the benefits are still only to those who have the connected vehicles.
25136668
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
Fish in the Hudson River and the harbor in New Bedford, Mass., have evolved resistance to PCBs. In the Hudson, a species of tomcod has evolved a way for a very specific protein to simply not bind to PCBs, nearly eliminating the toxicity. In New Bedford, the Atlantic killifish has proteins that bind to the toxin (just as the do in mammals) but the fish aren't affected despite high levels of PCBs in their cells. Why the killifish survive is a mystery.
24327912
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
Two toilets exploded in the General Services Administration building, hospitalizing two workers (who were in separate bathrooms, evidently). The physics is sort of interesting: older water systems operate using air to force the water through at the right pressure, but if there is some problem in the system enough pressure can build to cause the commodes to crack. Plumbers: please weigh in.
23984274
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
Star Trek has the replicator that can make anything out of its constituent molecules. It isn't Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are trying to push 3-D printing technology further. Their goals: create whole working machines and perhaps even buildings. Thus far, 3D printing technology has been used to make shapes of plastic or metal that can be assembled later. These folks want to change that.
One idea is to make concrete whose properties vary through the structure. That would allow the building to flex where necessary, while maintaining its structural strength. It would also allow for lighter structures.
20252022
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
A byproduct of the paper industry and crab shells may soon be used to take radioactive contaminants out of water.
Joel Pawlak, an associate professor of forest biomaterials at North Carolina State University, has developed a material similar to foam rubber that absorbs water and attaches to molecules dissolved in it, leaving pure and potable water behind.
The material is a combination of hemicellulose and chitosan. The first comes from wood and is extracted by the ton in the paper-making process. Chitosan is extracted from ordinary crustacean shells — primarily crab, shrimp and lobster — by treatment with hydrochloric acid and then sodium hydroxide.
19969408
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said it detected several kinds of radioactive material in the water on the floor of reactor buildings at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The isotopes found in the water were cobalt-76, technetium-99, silver-108, iodine-131, iodine-134, four isotopes of cesium, barium-140 and lanthanum-140. All have half-lives measured in hours or days, with the exception of cesium-137.
19498524
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
The Kepler Space Telescope has run across some truly bizarre solar systems. Among the candidates: a system with full-on planets orbiting in a Trojan configuration, one with planets that all orbit their planets in less than 10 days, and one in which resonances between small and large worlds essentially keep the thing together.
19296110
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
The largest solar flare in several years has disrupted some communications, though it was not in the right position to create auroral displays visible from lower latitudes.
The flare, which erupted on Feb. 15, sent what is called a coronal mass ejection, or CME, towards the Earth. A CME is billions of tons of charged particles, mostly protons.
19170996
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
One of the ongoing problems with unclear non-proliferation efforts is what to do with nuclear material in the former Soviet Union. A group from Sandia National Laboratories recently completed a project in Kazakhstan, and managed to take another step towards securing it.
A large cache of enriched nuclear fuel – some 13 metric tons — was stored in a nuclear reactor in the port city of Aktau, on the Caspian seacoast. The reactor was a Soviet-era fast breeder reactor, designed to make nuclear fuel for both weapons and power plants. The reactor, which started operations in 1973, also provided 135 megawatts of electricity, 9 million gallons of water per day and steam for hot water and heating for Aktau. It was shut down by the Kazakh government in 1999.
Getting the material out of a seaport was one way to make it harder to steal, Barber said. So the U.S. and Kazakh governments embarked on a project to move it to a guarded — and remote — facility in the interior.
Read more: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/111697/20110211/sandia-labs-team-secures-nuclear-material-in-kazakhstan.htm
19122122
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
Researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., have come up with an idea to improve on an old standby of space exploration instruments and improve the odds of finding life, if any, on Mars.
By adding a laser and an ion funnel to a mass spectrometer, it is possible to analyze the elements from the Martian surface directly, without the complex handling samples usually need. ...
The new version uses a two-step technique. First it shoots a laser at the sample's surface. This creates a plume of molecules and ions. To get the ions into the mass spectrometer, the new system uses an ion funnel. The ion funnel uses conductive, progressively smaller electrodes in the shape of a ring that attract the ions, effectively vacuuming them into the mass spectrometer.
18935192
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
An asteroid that once was seen as a danger to the Earth may soon be a once-in-a-century opportunity to get a close look at one — and learn more about the ones that really are a hazard.
The asteroid is called Apophis. It's a near-Earth asteroid that is a type called a chondrite, essentially a stony body that has a high silicate content and few metals. It is about 330 meters across, and it's due to pass the Earth in 2029.
Dan Durda, principal scientist in the department of Space Studies at the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado, noted that the the fact that the asteroid was coming so close — no less than about 29,450 kilometers (18,300 miles) away — offers a chance to get a close look. So he sent a proposal to NASA, which is considering a probe to chase Apophis down and do a seismic study as it swings by.
18865800
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
A study from Penn State shows that a lot of teachers — some 60 percent — are reluctant to teach evolutionary theory in the classroom either because they fear controversy or they just aren't comfortable with the material (as not every biology teacher was a science major). It shows the importance, the authors say, of training teachers well before they step into the class.
18756336
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
A study using satellite and ground-based data is showing the Greenland ice sheets are setting a record for the areas exposed to melting and the rate at which they are doing so. NASA says 2010 was a record warm year, and temperatures in the Arctic were a good 3 degrees C over normal. While the Greenland ice sheets aren't going to disappear int he next few years, they could still contribute to sea level rise and there is the possibility that the rate of melting is nonlinear — that feedbacks will accelerate the disappearance of the ice.
18384170
submission
RedEaredSlider writes:
In science fiction, explorers wave around a single device and pick up many kinds of radiation — think of the tricorders on Star Trek or Dr. Who's sonic screwdriver. A professor at Oregon State University is bringing that a bit closer to reality, though in this case it's for finding radioactive material.
It's a radiation spectrometer, and it works on a very old principle: particles and photons that hit certain materials will make them emit flashes of light. But for decades, radiation spectrometers had been limited to detecting only one kind of radiation at a time. David Hamby, an OSU professor of health physics, felt that there was a need for a device that could see at least two kinds of radiation, as well as be smaller than the models currently available.
