Earth

ANN ARBOR—In findings that could help overcome a major technological hurdle in the road toward smaller and more powerful electronics, an international research team involving University of Michigan engineering researchers, has shown the unique ways in which heat dissipates at the tiniest scales.

A paper on the research is published in the June 13 edition of Nature.

Water in the Earth's crust and upper mantle may not play such an important role as a lubricant of plate tectonics as previously assumed. This is a result geoscientists present in the current issue of the scientific journal Nature (13/06/2013) after the examination of water in the mineral olivine.

The seas around Antarctica can, at times, resemble a garden. Large-scale experiments where scientists spray iron into the waters, literally fertilizing phytoplankton, have created huge man-made algal blooms. Such geoengineering experiments produce diatoms, which pull carbon dioxide out of the air. Experts argue that this practice can help offset Earth's rising carbon dioxide levels. However, the experiments are controversial and, according to a new study at the Georgia Institute of Technology, perhaps not as effective as expected.

In a report published in Nature Communications, a University of Manchester team led by Dr Irina Grigorieva shows how to create elementary magnetic moments in graphene and then switch them on and off.

This is the first time magnetism itself has been toggled, rather than the magnetization direction being reversed.

Understanding the size and frequency of large earthquakes along the Pacific coast of North America is of great importance, not just to scientists, but also to government planners and the general public. The only way to predict the frequency and intensity of the ground motion expected from large and giant "megathrust " earthquakes along Canada's west coast is to analyze the geologic record.

Will emails be quantum encrypted in the future? Will we be able to teleport quantum states over large distances via ordinary glass fiber cables? Laser-cooled atoms which are coupled to ultra-thin glass fibers are ideally suited for applications in quantum communication. Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology have now demonstrated experimentally that such glass fibers are capable of storing quantum information long enough so that they could be used for entangling atoms hundreds of kilometers apart.

New research shows that exposing polymer molecular sieve membranes to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation in the presence of oxygen produces highly permeable and selective membranes for more efficient molecular-level separation, an essential process in everything from water purification to controlling gas emissions.

PITTSBURGH—Humans began contributing to environmental lead pollution as early as 8,000 years ago, according to a University of Pittsburgh research report.

The Pitt research team detected the oldest-discovered remains of human-derived lead pollution in the world in the northernmost region of Michigan, suggesting metal pollution from mining and other human activities appeared far earlier in North America than in Europe, Asia, and South America. Their findings are highlighted on the cover of the latest issue of Environmental Science & Technology.

Irvine, Calif. – Just as wealthy nations like the United States are outsourcing their dangerous carbon dioxide emissions to China, rich coastal provinces in that country are outsourcing emissions to poorer provinces in the interior, according to UC Irvine climate change researcher Steve Davis and colleagues.

Washington, D.C.—Using revolutionary new techniques, a team led by Carnegie's Malcolm Guthrie has made a striking discovery about how ice behaves under pressure, changing ideas that date back almost 50 years. Their findings could alter our understanding of how the water molecule responds to conditions found deep within planets and could have implications for energy science. Their work is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Boulder, Colo., USA – Studies in this latest batch of GEOLOGY postings cover tiny Ediacara organisms, CO2 gas following seismic swarms, the growth of Mount Everest, methane seeps, the remarkably modern character of Cretaceous seawater composition, geodynamic models of the assembly of Rodinia and Gondwana, and whether subduction zones are invading the Atlantic. Other studies cover the Danube Basin, the Andes, the Central Range of Taiwan; and the seafloor near Costa Rica. All article abstracts are open access online.

HOUSTON – (June 10, 2013) – Scientists at Rice University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have advanced on the goal of two-dimensional electronics with a method to control the growth of uniform atomic layers of molybdenum disulfide (MDS).

MDS, a semiconductor, is one of a trilogy of materials needed to make functioning 2-D electronic components. They may someday be the basis for the manufacture of devices so small they would be invisible to the naked eye.

The work appears online this week in Nature Materials.

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Ames Laboratory have discovered a new family of rare-earth quasicrystals using an algorithm they developed to help pinpoint them. Quasicrystalline materials may be found close to crystalline phases that contain similar atomic motifs, called crystalline approximants. And just like fishing experts know that casting a line in the right habitat hooks the big catch, the scientists used their knowledge to hone in on just the right spot for new quasicrystal materials discovery.

The shores of the Sea of Galilee, located in the North of Israel, are home to a number of significant archaeological sites. Now researchers from Tel Aviv University have found an ancient structure deep beneath the waves as well.

When carbon is emitted by human activities into the atmosphere it is generally thought that about half remains in the atmosphere and the remainder is stored in the oceans and on land. New research suggests that human activity could be increasing the movement of carbon from land to rivers, estuaries and the coastal zone indicating that large quantities of anthropogenic carbon may be hidden in regions not previously considered.