• The spring 2010 BP oil disaster could have been prevented: expert

    The BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico during the spring of 2010 could have been prevented if the experiences of earlier disasters had been put to use, an expert claims; the U.S. government is now accusing BP of gross negligence and deliberate misconduct, and taking the company to court

  • Hurricane Isaac tests Loyola University's emergency response plans

    In the days following Hurricane Isaac’s slow march across south Louisiana, Loyola University New Orleans administrators have been reviewing their response with a critical eye to ensure emergency preparations continue to evolve and meet the demands of each situation; beginning Tuesday, 28 August, New Orleans felt the first of Isaac’s high winds and heavy rains – but Loyola University was ready

  • There is enough wind power to meet global energy demand

    There is enough energy available in winds to meet all of the world’s demand; atmospheric turbines that convert steadier and faster high-altitude winds into energy could generate even more power than ground- and ocean-based units

  • Predicting waves’ height, force could double marine-based energy

    In the search for alternative energy, scientists have focused on the sun and the wind; there is also tremendous potential in harnessing the power of the ocean’s waves, but marine energy presents specific challenges that have made it a less promising resource; one of these challenges is the fact that waves differ in terms of their size and force; forecasting wave height one second in advance optimizes energy collection

  • Next generation of advanced climate models needed

    From farmers deciding which crops to plant next season, to mayors preparing for possible heat waves, to insurance companies assessing future flood risks, to those responsible for infrastructure protection having to decide how best to use scarce resource to mitigate climate change-induced disasters, an array of stakeholders from the public and private sectors rely on and use climate information; the U.S. National Research Council says he U.S. collection of climate models should advance substantially to deliver more detailed, smaller scale climate projections

  • Urchin-loving otters can help fight global warming

    A thriving sea otter population that keeps sea urchins in check will in turn allow kelp forests to prosper; the spreading kelp can absorb as much as twelve times the amount of CO2 from the atmosphere than if it were subject to ravenous sea urchins

  • Protecting buildings from earthquakes by hiding them

    Engineers have come up with an inventive and exciting idea for protecting buildings from earthquakes: hide them (the buildings, that is); the engineers say that placing specialized rubber under the building would diverts certain temblor shock waves, leaving the building virtually untouched by them

  • Crack-resistant components for bridges, roof structures, cars

    Bridges, roof structures, cars, and more should become increasingly lighter, with the same stability, and thus save energy and materials; the new high-strength steel is superbly suited for the needed lightweight design because it can also withstand extremely heavy stresses; yet these materials also have a disadvantage: with increasing strength, their susceptibility to cold cracking rises when welded; cracks are difficult to predict — until now

  • Destroyed coastal habitats produce significant amounts of greenhouse gas

    Destruction of coastal habitats may release as much as one billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year, ten times higher than previously reported; a new analysis provides the most comprehensive estimate of global carbon emissions from the loss of these coastal habitats to date: 0.15 to 1.2 billion tons; it suggests there is a high value associated with keeping these coastal-marine ecosystems intact as the release of their stored carbon costs roughly $6-$42 billion annually

  • Students create low-cost biosensor to detect contaminated water

    Diarrheal disease is the second-leading cause of death in children under five years old — killing as many as 1.5 million children worldwide every year; these startling statistics from the World Health Organization (2009) point to the reason why a group of undergraduate students from Arizona State University is working to develop a low-cost biosensor — a simple device that would detect contaminated drinking water

  • DHS funds more tests of autonomous power buoy for ocean surveillance

    Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) has entered into an agreement with DHS Science & Technology Directorate to perform a new round of in-ocean tests on the company’s Autonomous PowerBuoy to demonstrate its use for ocean surveillance

  • Cloud OS for the U.S. intelligence community

    Cloud management specialist Adaptive Computingis partnering with the investment arm of the CIA, In-Q-Tel, to develop a cloud operating system for use by U.S. intelligence agency

  • Innovative hydroelectric solution harvests power from water flowing through municipal pipes

    An innovative solution has made it so dams do not have to be built in order to get hydroelectricity; hydroelectric power can now be harvested from water flowing through municipal pipes; the innovation is creating energy by using existing infrastructure, as well as solving a problem in that infrastructure

  • Coastline erosion due to rise in sea level greater than previously thought

    The effects of coastline erosion as a result of rising sea-level rise can be measured by acceptable engineering tools, but such an erosion in the vicinity of inlets, such as river estuaries, has until now been underestimated – and more difficult to calculate; scientists have develop a new model to calculate this more complex erosion, making a valuable contribution to coastal management, planning, and infrastructure protection

  • Many of the U.S. 20 million manholes are in need of immediate rehabilitation or replacement

    The EPA estimates that there are about twenty million manholes in the United States – or one manhole for every 400 feet of pavement on average; many of those manholes are in serious decay or in need of immediate rehabilitation or replacement