Science and Enterprise

Tag: water

  • Eight Teams Funded for Research on Gulf Oil Spill Impact

    The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GRI) announced it will fund eight research groups to investigate the effects of the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The grant awards, selected by GRI’s research board, total some $112.5 million over three years. The GRI grants, supported by BP, will fund research…

  • More Planning Needed for Water Use in Biofuel Crops

    An overlooked factor in planning for prairie grasses as biofuel feedstocks is their use of water, according to a new study by researchers in the U.S. and Germany. Their findings appear this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (paid subscription required). Engineers Praveen Kumar and Phong Le at University of…

  • Microbes Reduced Adverse Impact of BP, Exxon Valdez Spills

    A review of the worst two oil spills in U.S. history shows that oil-degrading microorganisms played a significant role in reducing their overall adverse environmental impacts. The results of the review of the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and Exxon Valdez running aground in Alaska’s Prince William Sound in 1989 are…

  • Environmental Issues Changing Atlantic Mackerel Distribution

    Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have found warming temperatures of the U.S. continental shelf have changed distribution patterns of Atlantic mackerel, a species found in waters from Cape Hatteras to Newfoundland. The team from NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center published its findings in the journal Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management…

  • New Measure Developed of Irrigation Water Requirements

    The Agricultural Research Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has devised a new method for measuring the water requirements of crops, based on the yield per drop of water actually taken in by the crops. A company is now developing instruments and software to measure and manage the amounts of water absorbed…

  • Prototype Spherical Robot Developed to Monitor Reactor Pipes

    Engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a small robotic device to inspect underground pipes for corrosion at nuclear reactors. A prototype of the remote-controlled device was presented in May at the 2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. The device, about the size of an egg and with a spherical shape, was…

  • Mercury Found in Soil Near Central Indiana Coal Power Plants

    A study by researchers at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis found that measurable amounts of mercury emitted by coal-fired power plants are deposited in central Indiana soil and can subsequently enter regional watersheds. The findings by earth scientists Carrie Lynne Hatcher (now at University of Toronto) and Gabriel Filippelli appear in the journal Water, Air, and…

  • Rice Bolstered for Climate Impacts by Fungus Spores

    Rice can become adapted to climate change by colonizing its seeds or plants with the spores of tiny naturally occurring fungi, according to new research led by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The study is published online in the journal PLoS One. Rice, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, feeds half of the…

  • Sensitive Underwater Microphone Works at All Depths

    Researchers at Stanford University have developed a microphone for use at any depth and water pressure in the ocean, and is sensitive to a wide range of sounds. The research on the microphone, funded by Litton Systems, a subsidiary of Northrop-Grumman Corp., is published in the Journal of the Acoustic Society of America (paid subscription…

  • Study Highlights Crop Regions At Risk from Climate Change

    A study by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) identifies food production regions in the world most at risk from disruption due to climate change. Some of these populations, in Africa and South Asia for example, are already facing food shortages, while other food-producing regions including China and Latin America run the risk…