Tech

Dirt is easy to take for granted if you're not a farmer or gardener. But increasingly, governments are looking to soil as part of the solution to curbing climate change. Widespread changes to agricultural practices could help sock away carbon emissions, but will farms make the shift? The cover story of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, digs into the matter.

As one of the most abundant organic compounds on the planet, methanol occurs naturally in the environment as plants release it as they grow and decompose. It is also found in the ocean, where it is a welcome food source for ravenous microbes that feast on it for energy and growth. While scientists have long known methanol exists in the ocean, and that certain microbes love to snack on it, they' ve been stymied by one key question: where does it come from?

Brown fat is well known for protecting the body from cold temperatures, and now researchers have discovered that this cell type in humans shows circadian rhythms in its consumption of glucose--an energy fuel for heat production. These rhythms, which rise just before waking, may have evolved as a thermal defense mechanism to prepare our ancestors for hunting and gathering in the coldest morning hours. The research appears March 10 in Cell Metabolism.

New scanning technology which will give a much clearer picture of lung disease has taken a major step forward thanks to scientists at The University of Nottingham.

The experts at the Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre have developed a process using specially treated krypton gas as an inhalable contrast agent to make the spaces inside the lungs show up on an Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. It's hoped the new process will eventually allow doctors to virtually see inside the lungs of patients.

New research that sheds unprecedented light on the behaviour of blasts produced by landmines and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) could aid the development of enhanced protection for UK soldiers on military, peace-keeping and humanitarian missions.

A new search tool for the brave new world of sports analytics would be recognizable even to an old school coach: a chalkboard-like interface enables users to quickly retrieve plays from a database by sketching what they seek using the equivalent of a coach's X's and O's.

From converting vehicle exhaust fumes into less harmful gases to refining petroleum, most commercial chemical applications require nanocatalysts since they can reduce the required time and costs by controlling the rate of chemical reactions. The catalytic activity and selectivity largely depends on their physical properties (size, shape, and composition) as well as the electronic characteristics; the dynamics of hot (high energy) electrons on the surface and interface of catalysts.

It's hardly a character flaw, but organic transistors--the kind envisioned for a host of flexible electronics devices--behave less than ideally, or at least not up to the standards set by their rigid, predictable silicon counterparts. When unrecognized, a new study finds, this disparity can lead to gross overestimates of charge-carrier mobility, a property key to the performance of electronic devices.

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand -- Remembering robots from film portrayals may help ease some of the anxiety that older adults have about using a robot, according to Penn State researchers.

In a study, older adults who recalled more robots portrayed in films had lower anxiety toward robots than seniors who remembered fewer robot portrayals, said S. Shyam Sundar, Distinguished Professor of Communications and co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory.

Using natural gas instead of coal or oil in electricity generation could have a significant effect on net carbon emissions into the atmosphere. By contrast, the benefits of using natural gas instead of petroleum products to drive vehicles are negligible, according to research published in the International Journal of Global Warming.

Quantum technology has the potential to revolutionize computation, cryptography, and simulation of quantum systems. However, quantum physics places a new demand on information processing hardware: quantum states are fragile, and so must be controlled without being measured. Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute have now demonstrated a key property of Majorana zero modes that protects them from decoherence. The result lends positive support to the existence of Majorana modes, and goes further by showing that they are protected, as predicted theoretically.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Light and electrons interact in a complex dance within fiber optic devices. A new study by University of Illinois engineers found that in the transistor laser, a device for next-generation high-speed computing, the light and electrons spur one another on to faster switching speeds than any devices available.

Warmer-than-average spring temperatures reduce upper Colorado River flows more than previously recognized, according to a new report from a University of Arizona-led team.

Although climate models have suggested that spring temperatures affect stream flow, this study is the first to examine the instrumental historical record to see if a temperature effect could be detected, said lead author Connie Woodhouse, a UA professor of geography and development and of dendrochronology.

Damaging cyberattacks on a global scale continue to surface every day. Some nations are better prepared than others to deal with online threats from criminals, terrorists and rogue nations.

Data-mining experts from the University of Maryland and Virginia Tech recently co-authored a book that ranked the vulnerability of 44 nations to cyberattacks. Lead author V.S. Subrahmanian discussed this research on Wednesday, March 9 at a panel discussion hosted by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C.

VTT: Smart clothing of the future will automatically adjust itself according to the wearer's actual needsVTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd has developed new technology that takes care of the thermal, moisture and flow-technical behaviour of smart clothing. The temperature of smart clothing, for example, is automatically adjusted according to the wearer's individual needs. The technology is also suited to demanding conditions such as hospitals and sports.