Jul 12, 2007

Environmental intuition on the web

Posted in Environment at 9:16 pm by David Bradley -- Click to comment

Intute is the Science, Engineering and Technology component of a JISC project based out of England’s University of Manchester and the Heriot-Watt University in Scotland. It offers a free online service with what it describes as the very best web resources for scientific research and education. Like the very best of the earliest web portals all entries are hand selected and evaluated, so there is a serious lack of …

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Jun 28, 2007

Burying Carbon to Save the Planet

Posted in Environment at 4:00 pm by David Bradley -- 4 Comments; add yours

Recent research has highlighted the possibility of burying, or sequestering carbon dioxide in deep, disused coal mines. Not only might this allow us to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide levels but the process would displace usable methane (natural gas) from the coal and extend the length of time we will have this resource available to us as a fuel and chemical feedstock.

However, I felt that the while the concept sounds viable initially, there are several …

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May 16, 2007

Smog masks at the ready

Posted in Environment at 4:00 pm by David Bradley -- 3 Comments; add yours

The gist of a recent press release regarding research into alternative fuels for reducing the environmental impact of transport and helping us head towards a sustainable transport system said that there is basically no single alternative fuel that could provide all the answers. The research in question, published in the International Journal of Alternative Propulsion drew up a league table of alternative fuels that placed petrol …

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Apr 18, 2007

Organic Kiwi Fruit

Posted in Chemistry, Environment, Health at 4:00 pm by David Bradley -- Click to comment

Could the claims of the “organic” farming movement be true after all? According to an international team who have analysed the antioxidant, mineral, and nitrate composition of kiwifruit, yes. Their findings published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture would suggest that growing the fuzzy green fruit using so-called organic principles leads to a higher content of health-promoting factors than those grown using conventional methods.

I asked …

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Apr 9, 2007

Scientific beats

Posted in Environment, Geek, Science at 1:00 pm by David Bradley -- Click to comment

Austrian research student Berhard Steinerhoff presents a unique perspective on global warming, deglaciation and the plight of the Tuvalu Islands (of .tv fame). Steinerhoff’s argument gets rather intriguing about 1:12 into his 7 minute lecture.

Watch on Youtube

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Mar 30, 2007

Alchemy bonus

Posted in Chemistry, Environment, Science at 1:00 pm by David Bradley -- Click to comment

The Alchemist this week discovers how a bodybuilders’ supplement might help treat Parkinson’s disease, the route taken by mercury from groundwater to coast, and how to boost your storage space with fullerenes. Also this week, physical condensation problems solved and how Raman spectroscopy is laying it on thin to help scientists understand carbon sheets. And, this week’s award goes to Perry McCarty for his pioneering work in understanding waste water chemistry …

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Mar 29, 2007

Cool cats make heavy metal fallout

Posted in Chemistry, Environment, Science at 1:00 pm by David Bradley -- Click to comment

The rapid adoption by the car industry of catalytic converters for petrol engines to reduce NOx and other pollutants has significantly improved the quality of air in busy towns and cities. However, Italian scientists says this improvement has comes at a significant price as they are finding rapidly rising levels of heavy metal fallout that could have serious implications for health.

Claudio Botrè of the University of Rome and Alessandro Alimonti …

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