• Global warming will cause storms to intensify

    Daniel Bernoulli’s eighteenth-century equation basically says that as wind speed increases, air pressure decreases; his equation leaves out variables that were considered difficult to deal with such as friction and energy sources; Wolverines researchers now include these additional variables and find that for every 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit that the Earth’s surface temperature warms, the intensity of storms could increase by at least a few percent

  • Largest wind energy farm in France launched

    EDF Energies Nouvelles to launch wind farm comprising 22 2.3 MW turbines supplied by German manufacturer Enercon; with a capacity to generate 50.6 MW, it will also be one of the largest in France

  • Security flaw prompts major Web alert

    Internet security specialist discovers major flaw in the Internet’s Domain Name System (DNS); the flaw allows hackers to inject themselves into the URL-typing process, intercepting the name entered by the user and mapping it to a different Internet address than the one intended

  • New method for generating enzymes will make biofuels cheaper

    If we are going to use biofuels as a meaningful alternative to fossil fuels, then enzymes which can break down plant material into usable source of fuel are required in industrial quantities and at a low cost; Aggies researchers offer new method of generating such enzymes

  • Rising sea level threatens U.K. coastal rail lines

    Andrew McNaughton, Network Rail’s chief engineer: “The effects of climate change, and in particular sea level rise, are likely to increase the severity of the wave, tidal and wind effects on coastal defenses”

  • Banks' PIN codes susceptible to hackers' theft

    Network of PIN codes’ thieves nets millions of dollars; hackers are targeting the ATM system’s infrastructure, which is increasingly built on Microsoft’s Windows operating system and allows machines to be remotely diagnosed and repaired over the Internet

  • German-Japanese collaboration on carbon dioxide recovery

    Mitsubishi, E.ON to test a system which recovers carbon dioxide from flue-gas emissions at a coal-fired power plant in Germany

  • $30.5 billion U.S. loan guarantees for advanced energy technology

    The U.S. Department of Energy issues three solicitations for a total of up to $30.5 billion in loan guarantees for projects that employ advanced energy technologies that avoid, reduce, or sequester air pollutants or greenhouse gas emissions

  • Pentagon's IG resigns

    Claude Kicklighter, who took over as Pentagon inspector general in April 2007, has accepted a teaching position at George Mason University; he will be executive director of the university’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Project

  • Melting ice menaces Russia's critical infrastructure

    Russian scientists say that the hard permafrost covering the ground year-round across Russia’s far north will melt by 2030; government officials say that if this happens, critical infrastructure, including key airfields, oil storage facilities, and strategic oil reservoirs, could all be destroyed

  • U.K. critical infrastructure vulnerable

    New report says last summer’s flood showed infrastructure’s vulnerability; funding for flood defenses was not sufficient or secure, undermining industry confidence, and there were not enough skilled engineers to deliver the protection from flooding needed

  • Israeli government prepares for major earthquake in north

    In one three-month period this year, around 500 small tremors were recorded in northern Israel; Israeli government health officials urge hospitals, municipalities to prepare for worst

  • Shape-shifting, self-powered skyscraper

    Architect unveils design for a moving, shape-shifting skyscraper; each floor would rotate independently; tower would be self-powered, generating its own electricity, as well as power for other nearby buildings

  • New organization to fight multi-product threats

    Five big technology hitters create a new organization aiming to address complex, multi-product, multi-vendor security threats

  • Purifying farm-yard waste water

    Scottish researchers develop a method for turning farm-yard waster into water fit to bathe in; new method also prevents loss of contaminants to rivers and lakes, where they may be detrimental to animal or human health