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Simple, Low-cost Carbon Filter Removes 90 Percent Of Carbon Dioxide From Smokestack Gases


Science Daily
Tue, 20 May 2008 15:25 UTC
Researchers in Wyoming report development of a low-cost carbon filter that can remove 90 percent of carbon dioxide gas from the smokestacks of electric power plants that burn coal and other fossil fuels.

Coal-burning power plant
©iStockphoto/Brittany Carter Courville
Coal-burning power plant.

Maciej Radosz and colleagues at Wyoming's Soft Materials Laboratory cite the pressing need for simple, inexpensive new technologies to remove carbon dioxide from smokestack gases. Coal-burning electric power plants are major sources of the greenhouse gas, and control measures may be required in the future.

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Stormtrooper

Boeing tests airborne laser gun


RIA Novosti
Tue, 20 May 2008 12:04 UTC
The Boeing Company said it has fired a high-energy chemical laser aboard a C-130H aircraft in ground tests for the first time.

The successful ground tests, "a key milestone for the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration program," took place on May 13 at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.

"First firing of the high-energy laser aboard the ATL aircraft shows that the program continues to make good progress toward giving the warfighter an ultra-precision engagement capability that will dramatically reduce collateral damage," said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems.
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Einstein

World First Discovery: Genes From Extinct Tasmanian Tiger Function In A Mouse


Science Daily
Tue, 20 May 2008 11:47 UTC
Researchers from the University of Melbourne, Australia, and the University of Texas, USA, have extracted genes from the extinct Tasmanian tiger (thylacine), inserted it into a mouse and observed a biological function -- this is a world first for the use of the DNA of an extinct species to induce a functional response in another living organism.

Image
©Pask AJ, Behringer RR, Renfree MB
From extinction to gene expression. Functional analysis of the thylacine non-coding DNA fragment. (a) Diagram of transgene construct. 4 copies of a 264-bp fragment containing the Thylacine Col2a1 enhancer (TcyCol2a1) region was ligated to the human b-globin minimal promoter (black box) and ligated to lacZpA. (b--e) X-gal stained 14.5 dpc TcyCol2a1-lacZpA transgenic mouse embryo showing varying levels of reporter gene expression within the developing cartilage (blue). (f) Non-transgenic littermate, negative control fetus. (g) Top panel; Magnified image of forelimb from fetus in (b) black line indicates the plane of section shown in (g) bottom panel. Bottom panel; Histological section of transgenic forelimb digit, showing lacZ-expressing chondrogenic tissue (blue) counterstained with eosin (pink).
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Bug

Suffolk company invests in organic bug-buster


Business Weekly UK
Fri, 16 May 2008 09:32 UTC
A Suffolk company has invested in ground-breaking Dutch technology that controls pests and bugs in food without the need for chemicals.
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Syringe

One-Fifth of Human Genes Have Been Patented, Study Reveals

Stefan Lovgren
National Geographic News
Tue, 20 May 2008 01:03 UTC
A new study shows that 20 percent of human genes have been patented in the United States, primarily by private firms and universities.
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Pharoah

New Archaeological Discovery in Bulgaria's Hisar

Blaga Bangieva
News.bg
Wed, 14 May 2008 19:16 UTC
Marble consecrated slab stone from the Rome epoch was discovered in archaeological excavations by the director of Archaeological Museum in Hisar town doctor Mitko Madjarov.

The precious found has sizes 50 to 50cm and presents the three Rome nymphs - patronesses of the mineral springs.

Image
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Monkey Wrench

Body clock 'cog' discovery may cure jet lag

Roger Highfield
Telegraph (UK)
Fri, 16 May 2008 19:10 UTC
The discovery of a new "cog" in the human body clock that governs sleep will enable significant advances in the treatment of jet lag and sleeping disorders, scientists claim today.

The body clock, which links the cycles of metabolism and behaviour to the cycle of day and night, can be disrupted by old age, disease, international travel and shift work.

The disruption can lead not just to problems with sleeping and eating, but also to serious illness.

However, researchers have discovered a molecule, called c-AMP, that plays an important role in keeping the body clock ticking.
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Stormtrooper

Wartime naval legend HMS Exeter found off Java

Jasper Copping
The Telegraph
Sun, 18 May 2008 14:16 UTC
The wreck of one of the Second World War's most famous warships has been found by deep sea explorers, 66 years after it was lost in battle.

The cruiser HMS Exeter, best known for its valiant role in the Battle of the River Plate when it hunted down the pride of the German navy, the Admiral Graf Spee, was located by divers searching the Java Sea.

The British vessel was sunk on March 1, 1942, when, with two escorts, the destroyer HMS Encounter and the American destroyer Pope, it was intercepted by nine Japanese warships.

All three Allied ships were lost in the action. The wreck of Encounter, which had passed up a chance to escape by turning back in a brave but futile attempt to protect Exeter, has also now been located.

Image
©Getty Images
Crowds at the quayside cheer HMS Exeter as she arrives in Plymouth
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Bulb

Secret Strobelight Weapons of World War II

David Hambling
Wired / Danger Room
Sat, 17 May 2008 09:07 UTC
It might have been the greatest lost weapon of World War II. Major-General JFC Fuller, the man credited with developing modern armored warfare in the 1920's, called failure to use it "the greatest blunder of the whole war." He even suggested that British and American tank divisions could have overrun Germany before the Russians if it had been deployed.

I've been looking at a new range of strobing weapons which use flickering lights to subdue criminals and insurgents. But it turns out that the disorienting power of such lights was discovered decades before.

CDL1
©Unknown
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Star

Dusty Galaxies: Astronomers use a new model of dust in galaxies to remeasure the total energy output of stars in the universe


Max Planck Society
Thu, 15 May 2008 14:38 UTC
Anyone gazing up on a dark clear night is greeted by the spectacle of thousands of powerful fusion reactors - the stars. These balls of extremely hot gas are generating unimaginably large quantities of energy. Even the stars within a cube of "only" one light year on a side, taken at a random position in the universe, generate on average 40 quadrillion kilowatthours in one year. This would be enough to meet the current energy consumption needs of mankind 300 times over. Even so, it now appears that from our vantage point we are only registering about half the total energy released by stars in our part of the universe; the other half is being absorbed by miniscule particles of dust floating in the vast expanses of interstellar space within galaxies. This is the conclusion reached by a team of astrophysicists from institutes around the world, including the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg. The results have implications for our understanding of the creation and evolution of galaxies through cosmic history (The Astrophysical Journal, 10 May 2008).

Image
©C. Howk (JHU), B. Savage (U. Wisconsin), N. A. Sharp (NOAO)/WIYN/NOAO/NSF
An edge-on view: The light-blocking effect of dust is particularly clear in the case of the galaxy NGC 891.
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