With global warming looming, Mother Nature could sure use a backup plan--a secure place to store copies of her crops and other plants. Now, thanks to the government of Norway, she has one. Dug into a permafrost mountain, the massive Svalbard Global Seed Vault began collecting seeds in February. So far it has 268,000 unique samples, with a capacity for 4.3 million more.
Although about 1,400 seed banks exist worldwide, this one, in Norway’s Svalbard islands, dwarfs them all and aims to safeguard duplicates of the seeds. Stored seeds are frequently lost because of natural disasters, war and warm temperatures, so Svalbard was built to withstand these challenges. The facility is remote, located 1,000 kilometers beyond mainland Norway’s northernmost tip. It can be accessed only via a 93-meter tunnel through the permafrost. And it is “the best-insulated freezer in the world,” says Cary Fowler, executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust: if the cooling units fail, the permafrost will keep the vault below –3.5 degrees Celsius. Norway built Svalbard for $9 million and maintains it, and the trust oversees its collection, but institutions that deposit seeds can remove them anytime.
[More]With global warming looming, Mother Nature could sure use a backup plan--a secure place to store copies of her crops and other plants. Now, thanks to the government of Norway, she has one. Dug into a permafrost mountain, the massive Svalbard Global Seed Vault began collecting seeds in February. So far it has 268,000 unique samples, with a capacity for 4.3 million more.
Although about 1,400 seed banks exist worldwide, this one, in Norway’s Svalbard islands, dwarfs them all and aims to safeguard duplicates of the seeds. Stored seeds are frequently lost because of natural disasters, war and warm temperatures, so Svalbard was built to withstand these challenges. The facility is remote, located 1,000 kilometers beyond mainland Norway’s northernmost tip. It can be accessed only via a 93-meter tunnel through the permafrost. And it is “the best-insulated freezer in the world,” says Cary Fowler, executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust: if the cooling units fail, the permafrost will keep the vault below –3.5 degrees Celsius. Norway built Svalbard for $9 million and maintains it, and the trust oversees its collection, but institutions that deposit seeds can remove them anytime.
[More]TROY, N.Y.--Despite their ubiquity, cell phones are not known for their ability to take picture-perfect photos. But budding "liquid lens" technology promises to change that by providing phone photogs with the autofocus capabilities lacking in today's cellular optics. [More]
TROY, N.Y.--Despite their ubiquity, cell phones are not known for their ability to take picture-perfect photos. But budding "liquid lens" technology promises to change that by providing phone photogs with the autofocus capabilities lacking in today's cellular optics. [More]
[Below is the original script. But a few changes may have been made during the recording of this audio podcast.]
E-mail is often a rather casual form of communication. Language is more informal and grammar, well, it ain’t a priority. Now comes a study that finds that people tend to lie more in email than when writing with pen and paper. This research from DePaul, Lehigh and Rutgers Universities. [More]
[Below is the original script. But a few changes may have been made during the recording of this audio podcast.]
E-mail is often a rather casual form of communication. Language is more informal and grammar, well, it ain’t a priority. Now comes a study that finds that people tend to lie more in email than when writing with pen and paper. This research from DePaul, Lehigh and Rutgers Universities. [More]
[The following is an exact transcript of this podcast.]
We humans love a good story. We tell stories to entertain, to inform, even to pass the time. And we’ve been telling tales for, oh, the past 50,000 years. Then came the written word. Writing stuff down has its benefits. It’s more permanent and doesn’t depend on anyone’s memory. And it allows you to take in information at your own pace, whenever and wherever you want. So writing has shaped our culture. But the spoken word may be making a comeback. [More]
[The following is an exact transcript of this podcast.]
We humans love a good story. We tell stories to entertain, to inform, even to pass the time. And we’ve been telling tales for, oh, the past 50,000 years. Then came the written word. Writing stuff down has its benefits. It’s more permanent and doesn’t depend on anyone’s memory. And it allows you to take in information at your own pace, whenever and wherever you want. So writing has shaped our culture. But the spoken word may be making a comeback. [More]
Atypical farm burns vast quantities of fossil fuels to plow fields, sow seeds, reap harvests and truck products many miles to population centers. It spreads heaps of petroleum-based fertilizers, which then run off into streams and watersheds. It also consumes rivers of freshwater and casts pesticides across the countryside. Raising chickens and pigs further insults the earth with unhygienic filth.
Why not grow grains, vegetables and fruits right where the expanding crowds of consumers are: in the middle of a city, inside a tall glass building? Poultry and pork could be reared there, too. A vertical farm would drastically reduce the fossil-fuel use and emissions associated with farm machinery and trucking, as well as the spread of fertilizer and its runoff. Crops could grow and be harvested year-round instead of at the end of one season, multiplying annual yield by at least four times. Urban agriculture could also convert municipal wastewater into irrigation water, reducing a city’s refuse problem. And consumers would get the freshest food possible, without pesticides.
[More]Atypical farm burns vast quantities of fossil fuels to plow fields, sow seeds, reap harvests and truck products many miles to population centers. It spreads heaps of petroleum-based fertilizers, which then run off into streams and watersheds. It also consumes rivers of freshwater and casts pesticides across the countryside. Raising chickens and pigs further insults the earth with unhygienic filth.
Why not grow grains, vegetables and fruits right where the expanding crowds of consumers are: in the middle of a city, inside a tall glass building? Poultry and pork could be reared there, too. A vertical farm would drastically reduce the fossil-fuel use and emissions associated with farm machinery and trucking, as well as the spread of fertilizer and its runoff. Crops could grow and be harvested year-round instead of at the end of one season, multiplying annual yield by at least four times. Urban agriculture could also convert municipal wastewater into irrigation water, reducing a city’s refuse problem. And consumers would get the freshest food possible, without pesticides.
[More]Some politicians and pundits fear that addressing global warming will drain the U.S. economy and hurt the nation’s competitive edge. But going green and clean is the best way to remain an economic powerhouse, argues Thomas L. Friedman in his new book Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008). We asked Friedman, a New York Times op-ed columnist, to explain his thinking.
Click here for an extended version of this inteview
[More]Some politicians and pundits fear that addressing global warming will drain the U.S. economy and hurt the nation’s competitive edge. But going green and clean is the best way to remain an economic powerhouse, argues Thomas L. Friedman in his new book Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008). We asked Friedman, a New York Times op-ed columnist, to explain his thinking.
Click here for an extended version of this inteview
[More]You might not know it but fertilizer is the explosive of choice for budget-conscious terrorists. The blasts at the World Trade Center in 1993, Oklahoma City Federal Building in 1995 and on rush-hour London buses and trains in 2005 all contained ammonium nitrate fertilizer (which is manufactured in bulk as an explosive by the U.S. and other countries as well as by companies.) [More]
You might not know it but fertilizer is the explosive of choice for budget-conscious terrorists. The blasts at the World Trade Center in 1993, Oklahoma City Federal Building in 1995 and on rush-hour London buses and trains in 2005 all contained ammonium nitrate fertilizer (which is manufactured in bulk as an explosive by the U.S. and other countries as well as by companies.) [More]
There is no market yet for turbines that turn the tides into a source of energy from deep beneath the sea. But that has not stopped mechanical engineers at the University of Strathclyde's Energy Systems Research Unit (ESRU) in Scotland from developing one that will ride the tide while latched to the seabed by a cable--like a kite flying on a windy day.
The ESRU team's goal: create a device that literally goes with the flow rather than resting on the sea bottom like an underwater windmill--a model already being developed by a handful of companies. The kite and cable model is designed to facilitate placing tidal turbines in deep water, where the stronger current has the potential for providing greater power but also makes it extremely difficult to plant a turbine in the seabed.
[More]There is no market yet for turbines that turn the tides into a source of energy from deep beneath the sea. But that has not stopped mechanical engineers at the University of Strathclyde's Energy Systems Research Unit (ESRU) in Scotland from developing one that will ride the tide while latched to the seabed by a cable--like a kite flying on a windy day.
The ESRU team's goal: create a device that literally goes with the flow rather than resting on the sea bottom like an underwater windmill--a model already being developed by a handful of companies. The kite and cable model is designed to facilitate placing tidal turbines in deep water, where the stronger current has the potential for providing greater power but also makes it extremely difficult to plant a turbine in the seabed.
[More]Scientific American editor Mark Fischetti talks about Earth 3.0, a new Scientific American publication concerning energy, sustainability and the environment. And SciAm.com writer Larry Greenemeier discusses the interface between nanotech and biology. Plus, we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Web sites mentioned in this episode include www.sciamearth3.com
The text transcript is currently not available. Transcripts are posted about a week after the podcast airs.
[More]Scientific American editor Mark Fischetti talks about Earth 3.0, a new Scientific American publication concerning energy, sustainability and the environment. And SciAm.com writer Larry Greenemeier discusses the interface between nanotech and biology. Plus, we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Web sites mentioned in this episode include www.sciamearth3.com
The text transcript is currently not available. Transcripts are posted about a week after the podcast airs.
[More]Treasure Island: A polluted military base is being transformed intoa dense green neighborhood.
View images from the plans for this city
[More]Treasure Island: A polluted military base is being transformed intoa dense green neighborhood.
View images from the plans for this city
[More]Dear EarthTalk: I’ve suddenly been seeing a lot of those tiny “Smart Cars” around. Who makes them and what is their fuel efficiency? And I’m all for fuel efficiency, but are these cars safe?-- David Yu, Bend, OR
[More]Dear EarthTalk: I’ve suddenly been seeing a lot of those tiny “Smart Cars” around. Who makes them and what is their fuel efficiency? And I’m all for fuel efficiency, but are these cars safe?-- David Yu, Bend, OR
[More]In 1937 the great neuroscientist Sir Charles Scott Sherrington of the University of Oxford laid out what would become a classic description of the brain at work. He imagined points of light signaling the activity of nerve cells and their connections. During deep sleep, he proposed, only a few remote parts of the brain would twinkle, giving the organ the appearance of a starry night sky. But at awakening, “it is as if the Milky Way entered upon some cosmic dance,” Sherrington reflected. “Swiftly the head-mass becomes an enchanted loom where millions of flashing shuttles weave a dissolving pattern, always a meaningful pattern though never an abiding one; a shifting harmony of subpatterns.”
Although Sherrington probably did not realize it at the time, his poetic metaphor contained an important scientific idea: that of the brain revealing its inner workings optically. Understanding how neurons work together to generate thoughts and behavior remains one of the most difficult open problems in all of biology, largely because scientists generally cannot see whole neural circuits in action. The standard approach of probing one or two neurons with electrodes reveals only tiny fragments of a much bigger puzzle, with too many pieces missing to guess the full picture. But if one could watch neurons communicate, one might be able to deduce how brain circuits are laid out and how they function. This alluring notion has inspired neuroscientists to attempt to realize Sherrington’s vision.
[More]In 1937 the great neuroscientist Sir Charles Scott Sherrington of the University of Oxford laid out what would become a classic description of the brain at work. He imagined points of light signaling the activity of nerve cells and their connections. During deep sleep, he proposed, only a few remote parts of the brain would twinkle, giving the organ the appearance of a starry night sky. But at awakening, “it is as if the Milky Way entered upon some cosmic dance,” Sherrington reflected. “Swiftly the head-mass becomes an enchanted loom where millions of flashing shuttles weave a dissolving pattern, always a meaningful pattern though never an abiding one; a shifting harmony of subpatterns.”
Although Sherrington probably did not realize it at the time, his poetic metaphor contained an important scientific idea: that of the brain revealing its inner workings optically. Understanding how neurons work together to generate thoughts and behavior remains one of the most difficult open problems in all of biology, largely because scientists generally cannot see whole neural circuits in action. The standard approach of probing one or two neurons with electrodes reveals only tiny fragments of a much bigger puzzle, with too many pieces missing to guess the full picture. But if one could watch neurons communicate, one might be able to deduce how brain circuits are laid out and how they function. This alluring notion has inspired neuroscientists to attempt to realize Sherrington’s vision.
[More]Google, Inc. and T-Mobile today unveiled their much-anticipated G1 mobile phone, their answer to Apple's iPhone. The new T-Mobile G1 is expected to vigorously compete with Apple's iPhone when it hits store shelves on October 22 for high-end smart phone users who count on their mobiles nearly as much as they do their PCs for Internet access. [More]
Google, Inc. and T-Mobile today unveiled their much-anticipated G1 mobile phone, their answer to Apple's iPhone. The new T-Mobile G1 is expected to vigorously compete with Apple's iPhone when it hits store shelves on October 22 for high-end smart phone users who count on their mobiles nearly as much as they do their PCs for Internet access. [More]
Corn--or the cellulose in everything from wood chips to crop stalks--are often touted as the basis of the fuel of the future. But Microsoft founder and billionaire Bill Gates is betting that algae will provide the answer to our future fuel needs. He's so sure, in fact, that last week he joined the Rockefeller family and London-based Wellcome Trust to invest $100 million in a California start-up devoted to churning out biofuel from this tiny primitive plant. [More]
Corn--or the cellulose in everything from wood chips to crop stalks--are often touted as the basis of the fuel of the future. But Microsoft founder and billionaire Bill Gates is betting that algae will provide the answer to our future fuel needs. He's so sure, in fact, that last week he joined the Rockefeller family and London-based Wellcome Trust to invest $100 million in a California start-up devoted to churning out biofuel from this tiny primitive plant. [More]
When materials scientist Joseph Michael and his team at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., trained their high-powered electron microscope on anthrax spore samples the FBI had sent them in February 2002, they made two crucial discoveries: The first confirmed previous findings that the Bacillus anthracis spores mailed to U.S. Senate offices and various media outlets (shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks) contained silicon, a substance used to turn anthrax-causing spores into a biological weapon.
But it was Sandia's next discovery that marked a critical turning point in the feds's probe of the mysterious mailings, which killed five people, injured 17 and prompted thousands more who were potentially exposed to the deadly spores to take potent antibiotics--in particular, Ciprofloxacin (known to irritate the gastrointestinal tract and cause joint swelling). Using highly sensitive transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), the researchers came to a startling realization: The silicon had grown organically inside the Bacillus anthracis samples, nothing had been added to weaponize the spores. "The silicon was not on the outside of the spore," says Michael, who headed up Sandia's investigation, "but rather incorporated on the inside."
[More]When materials scientist Joseph Michael and his team at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., trained their high-powered electron microscope on anthrax spore samples the FBI had sent them in February 2002, they made two crucial discoveries: The first confirmed previous findings that the Bacillus anthracis spores mailed to U.S. Senate offices and various media outlets (shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks) contained silicon, a substance used to turn anthrax-causing spores into a biological weapon.
But it was Sandia's next discovery that marked a critical turning point in the feds's probe of the mysterious mailings, which killed five people, injured 17 and prompted thousands more who were potentially exposed to the deadly spores to take potent antibiotics--in particular, Ciprofloxacin (known to irritate the gastrointestinal tract and cause joint swelling). Using highly sensitive transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), the researchers came to a startling realization: The silicon had grown organically inside the Bacillus anthracis samples, nothing had been added to weaponize the spores. "The silicon was not on the outside of the spore," says Michael, who headed up Sandia's investigation, "but rather incorporated on the inside."
[More]The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) knows that most of the 1.9 million tons (1.7 million metric tons) of discarded cell phones, computers and televisions, among other electronic goods, went into landfills, because those are the agency's own figures. [More]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) knows that most of the 1.9 million tons (1.7 million metric tons) of discarded cell phones, computers and televisions, among other electronic goods, went into landfills, because those are the agency's own figures. [More]
OCTOBER 1958 [More]
OCTOBER 1958 [More]
Before Jonathan Kuniholm, a marine reservist, was shipped off to the war in Iraq, he and three friends formed a research and development firm they called Tackle Design. The four men had worked together in an industrial engineering class at North Carolina State University (N.C.S.U.), and, filled with youthful enthusiasm, they hoped their fledgling company could survive on jobs that were interesting and beneficial rather than simply moneymaking. They worked with inventors--making prototypes for a plastic lock to keep shoestrings tied and a fishing lure with an embedded LED--as well as with medical engineers from their alma mater, who were developing tools for minimally invasive robotic surgery.
Then, before business had a chance to get off the ground, Kuniholm was deployed. A few months later, on New Year’s Day 2005, he and about 35 other marines were ambushed near the Hadithah Dam along the Euphrates River northwest of Baghdad. His platoon had been looking for insurgents who had fired at a Swift boat patrolling around the dam a few hours earlier. As the marines closed in on the suspected hotspot, an IED--improvised explosive device--hidden in a can of olive oil exploded. Shrapnel ripped through the platoon, and Kuniholm was blasted off his feet. Moments later, when he came to his senses, he discovered his M16 rifle had been blown in half and his right arm was nearly severed just below the elbow. Caught in a raging firefight, Kuniholm pulled himself out of harm’s way. His fellow marines called for air evacuation, and soon surgeons at a hospital near Baghdad were amputating his ravaged arm.
[More]Before Jonathan Kuniholm, a marine reservist, was shipped off to the war in Iraq, he and three friends formed a research and development firm they called Tackle Design. The four men had worked together in an industrial engineering class at North Carolina State University (N.C.S.U.), and, filled with youthful enthusiasm, they hoped their fledgling company could survive on jobs that were interesting and beneficial rather than simply moneymaking. They worked with inventors--making prototypes for a plastic lock to keep shoestrings tied and a fishing lure with an embedded LED--as well as with medical engineers from their alma mater, who were developing tools for minimally invasive robotic surgery.
Then, before business had a chance to get off the ground, Kuniholm was deployed. A few months later, on New Year’s Day 2005, he and about 35 other marines were ambushed near the Hadithah Dam along the Euphrates River northwest of Baghdad. His platoon had been looking for insurgents who had fired at a Swift boat patrolling around the dam a few hours earlier. As the marines closed in on the suspected hotspot, an IED--improvised explosive device--hidden in a can of olive oil exploded. Shrapnel ripped through the platoon, and Kuniholm was blasted off his feet. Moments later, when he came to his senses, he discovered his M16 rifle had been blown in half and his right arm was nearly severed just below the elbow. Caught in a raging firefight, Kuniholm pulled himself out of harm’s way. His fellow marines called for air evacuation, and soon surgeons at a hospital near Baghdad were amputating his ravaged arm.
[More]Escherichia coli (E. coli) can give you a severe case of food poisoning or, with a little genetic engineering, a useful plastic. Scientists at San Diego–based Genomatica, Inc., have announced success in manipulating the bacteria to directly produce butanediol (BDO), a chemical compound used to make everything from spandex to car bumpers, thereby providing a more energy-efficient way of making it without oil or natural gas. [More]
Escherichia coli (E. coli) can give you a severe case of food poisoning or, with a little genetic engineering, a useful plastic. Scientists at San Diego–based Genomatica, Inc., have announced success in manipulating the bacteria to directly produce butanediol (BDO), a chemical compound used to make everything from spandex to car bumpers, thereby providing a more energy-efficient way of making it without oil or natural gas. [More]
Note: This article, to be published in the October 2008 issue of Scientific American, was originally printed with the title, "Questions for Would-Be Presidents."Add your own questions for McCain and Obama in our comments section below.
[More]Note: This article, to be published in the October 2008 issue of Scientific American, was originally printed with the title, "Questions for Would-Be Presidents."Add your own questions for McCain and Obama in our comments section below.
[More]