Earth | Page 1210 | Science Codex

Solving the methane issue in global warming: Feed supplement could ease greenhouse gassy cows

Cow belches, a major source of greenhouse gases, could be decreased by an unusual feed supplement developed by a Penn State dairy scientist.

In a series of laboratory experiments and a live animal test, an oregano-based supplement not only decreased methane emissions in dairy cows by 40 percent, but also improved milk production, according to Alexander Hristov, an associate professor of dairy nutrition.

The natural methane-reduction supplement could lead to a cleaner environment and more productive dairy operations.

New method for infrared remote sensing to analyze traffic pollution

New method for infrared remote sensing to analyze traffic pollution

Research shows continued decline of Oregon's largest glacier

CORVALLIS, Ore. – An Oregon State University research program has returned to Collier Glacier for the first time in almost 20 years and found that the glacier has decreased more than 20 percent from its size in the late 1980s.

The findings are consistent with glacial retreat all over the world and provide some of the critical data needed to help quantify the effects of global change on glacier retreat and associated sea level rise.

'Slow light' on a chip holds promise for optical communications

SANTA CRUZ, CA--A tiny optical device built into a silicon chip has achieved the slowest light propagation on a chip to date, reducing the speed of light by a factor of 1,200 in a study reported in Nature Photonics (published online September 5 and in the November print issue).

Magnetism's subatomic roots

The modern world -- with its ubiquitous electronic devices and electrical power -- can trace its lineage directly to the discovery, less than two centuries ago, of the link between electricity and magnetism. But while engineers have harnessed electromagnetic forces on a global scale, physicists still struggle to describe the dance between electrons that creates magnetic fields.

Giant iceberg from Greenland's Petermann glacier enters Nares Strait

Giant iceberg from Greenland's Petermann glacier enters Nares Strait

ESA's Envisat satellite has been tracking the progression of the giant iceberg that calved from Greenland's Petermann glacier on 4 August 2010. This animation shows that the iceberg, the largest in the northern hemisphere, is now entering Nares Strait – a stretch of water that connects the Lincoln Sea and Arctic Ocean with Baffin Bay.

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology reacts to stem-cell ruling

BETHESDA, Md., Sept. 2, 2010 – The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology expressed its disapproval and disappointment this week in response to the Aug. 23 ruling in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that granted a preliminary injunction barring federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research.

Iowa State chemists discover method to create high-value chemicals from biomass

Iowa State chemists discover method to create high-value chemicals from biomass

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State University researchers have found a way to produce high-value chemicals such as ethylene glycol and propylene glycol from biomass rather than petroleum sources.

Caltech chemists develop simple technique to visualize atomic-scale structures

Caltech chemists develop simple technique to visualize atomic-scale structures

Caltech mineral physicists find new scenery at Earth's core-mantle boundary

PASADENA, Calif.—Using a diamond-anvil cell to recreate the high pressures deep within the earth, researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have found unusual properties in an iron-rich magnesium- and iron-oxide mineral that may explain the existence of several ultra-low velocity zones (ULVZs) at the core–mantle boundary. A paper about their findings was published in a recent issue of Geophysical Research Letters (GRL).

Carlos '97 free kick no fluke, say French physicists

Roberto Carlos' free kick goal against France in 1997's Tournoi de France is thought by many to have been the most skilful free kick goal - from 35m with a powerful curling banana trajectory - ever scored; but by others to have been an incredible fluke.

Taken in 1997, a year before the French won the World Cup, Brazilian Carlos's goal held France to a frustrating draw but, now, a group of French physicists – perhaps with a nostalgic eye to a happier time for French football – have computed the trajectory and shown that Carlos' goal was no fluke.

Study recommends changes to emergency seed aid

A major study of agriculture in Haiti after this year's earthquake has found that much of the emergency seed aid provided after the disaster was not targeted to emergency needs. The report concludes that seed aid, when poorly-designed, could actually harm farmers or depress local markets, therefore hampering recovery from emergencies.

Indeed, agricultural interventions in Haiti should move away from their emergency focus, and confront farmers' longer-term challenges, especially their poor access to new crop varieties.

Seafood stewardship questionable: UBC-Scripps experts

The world's most established fisheries certifier is failing on its promises as rapidly as it gains prominence, according the world's leading fisheries experts from the University of British Columbia (UBC), Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California at San Diego and elsewhere.

New material may reveal inner workings of hi-temp superconductors

Measurements taken* at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) may help physicists develop a clearer understanding of high-temperature superconductors, whose behavior remains in many ways mysterious decades after their discovery. A new copper-based compound exhibits properties never before seen in a superconductor and could be a step toward solving part of the mystery.

Snail mail beats phones to help feds sustain ample fish stocks in US coastal waters

Old-fashioned snail mail with a postage stamp might be the answer for federal officials working to keep the waters off the U.S. coast from being overfished.

Anglers who fish for fun in U.S. coastal waters say the federal government currently relies on questionable data to determine which ocean locales are overfished and subsequently placed off limits to recreational and commercial fishing so stocks can rebuild.