Tech

"Planes, Trains and Automobiles" is a popular comedy from the 1980s, but there's nothing funny about the amount of energy consumed by our nation's transportation sector.

This sector -- which includes passenger cars, trucks, buses, and rail, marine, and air transport -- accounts for more than 20 percent of America's energy use, mostly in the form of fossil fuels, so the search is on for environmentally friendly alternatives.

LA JOLLA--Mitochondria, the power generators in our cells, are essential for life. When they are under attack--from poisons, environmental stress or genetic mutations--cells wrench these power stations apart, strip out the damaged pieces and reassemble them into usable mitochondria.

Scientists predict a major range contraction of chytrid in Africa's Albertine Rift over the next century.

Climate models predict warmer and wetter conditions in this region may cause changes in habitat suitability that are less favorable for chytrid

Chytrid is wiping out amphibians worldwide but study indicates some resistance in the Albertine Rift

Researchers in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin have solved a problem in micro- and nanofabrication -- how to quickly, gently and precisely handle tiny particles -- that will allow researchers to more easily build tiny machines, biomedical sensors, optical computers, solar panels and other devices.

A group of researchers from Russia, Australia and the Netherlands have developed a technology that can reduce Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanning times by more than 50%, meaning hospitals can drastically increase the number of scans without changing equipment. This extraordinary leap in efficiency is achieved by placing a layer of metamaterials onto the bed of the scanner, which improves the signal-to-noise ratio. The details of this experimental research are available in the current issue of Advanced Materials.

The centre ground of British politics could be further to the left than we think, according to new research by the University of Sussex and Queen Mary University of London.

A study into the views of supporters of the main political parties in the country suggests that many are more left wing than they think they are.

Stringent climate policies would increase the cost of fossil fuels, including those used for the cleaner burning stoves (such as kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas, electricity, and piped gas) that are slowly replacing traditional cooking fuels. Without simultaneous targeted efforts to increase funding for energy access, many who would otherwise have been able to switch from traditional solid fuels to modern cooking fuels would no longer be able to afford the switch, according to a study published in the first issue of the new journal Nature Energy.

Scientists from the University of Southampton have uncovered evidence of a previously unknown large volcanic eruption in the Caribbean Sea.

By studying ash layers, known as tephras, in marine sediments they identified an eruption that took place on Guadeloupe 2.4 million years ago.

The research, published in the journal Geology, indicates this eruption is the largest documented volcanic event in the region since that time.

Could alcohol abstinence campaigns like Dry January do more harm than good? Two experts debate the issue in The BMJ today.

Lack of evidence that such campaigns work and don't have unintended consequences, concerns Ian Hamilton, a lecturer at York University.

The Dry January campaign estimates that "Last year over 2 million people cut down their drinking for January," he writes. But popular doesn't necessarily mean effective, and he argues that this type of campaign "has had no rigorous evaluation."

Target dates are critical when the semiconductor industry adds small, enhanced features to our favorite devices by integrating advanced materials onto the surfaces of computer chips. Missing a target means postponing a device's release, which could cost a company millions of dollars or, worse, the loss of competitiveness and an entire industry. But meeting target dates can be challenging because the final integrated devices, which include billions of transistors, must be flawless - less than one defect per 100 square centimeters.

While lithium-ion batteries have transformed our everyday lives, researchers are currently trying to find new chemistries that could offer even better energy possibilities. One of these chemistries, lithium-air, could promise greater energy density but has certain drawbacks as well.

Now, thanks to research at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, one of those drawbacks may have been overcome.

Florida's citrus industry has been struggling for nearly a decade with citrus greening, also known as Huanglongbing (HLB), a disease caused by a bacterium that destroys fruit production and eventually kills the tree. An effective cure has eluded researchers so far, and crop production is declining steadily.

From 2003 to 2013, the number of scientists and engineers residing in the United States rose from 21.6 million to 29 million. This 10-year increase included significant growth in the number of immigrant scientists and engineers, from 3.4 million to 5.2 million.

More than 10% of American women aged 15-44 struggle to conceive or maintain full-term pregnancies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Assisted reproductive technology (ART), through which eggs are fertilized with sperm in a lab and then returned to a woman's uterus, is often the last resort for reproductively-challenged couples. But the physical, emotional, and financial toll they exact is high because the success rates of ART treatments are low -- only 20-30%, according to the CDC.

The racial composition of a labor market plays a significant role in whether workers find out about job leads - regardless of the race of the worker, according to new research from Rice University and North Carolina State University (N.C. State).

The study found that in a job market that was 20 percent white, there was a 25 percent probability that a respondent had gotten an unsolicited job lead in the past year. But in a market that was 80 percent white, there was a 60 percent probability of a respondent having gotten such a lead.