Topic: Science & Technology

University of Utah engineers devised a new way to slice thin wafers of the chemical element germanium for use in the most efficient type of solar power cells. They say the new method should lower the cost of such cells by reducing the waste and breakage of the brittle semiconductor.

Expensive germanium solar cells now are used mainly on spacecraft, but with the improved wafer-slicing method, “the idea is to make germanium-based, high-efficiency solar cells for uses where cost now is a factor,” particularly for solar power on Earth, says Eberhard “Ebbe” Bamberg, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Utah. “You want to do it on your roof.”

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University of Utah mechanical engineers Dinesh Rakwal and Eberhard Bamberg watch as an electrified molybdenum wire cuts a thin wafer of germanium semiconductor, which is used in a solar power cells. Their new cutting technique promises to reduce the cost of the most efficient type of solar power cell.

The recent dramatic melting and breakup of a few huge Greenland glaciers have fueled public concerns over the impact of global climate change, but that isn’t the island’s biggest problem. A new study shows that the dozens of much smaller outflow glaciers dotting Greenland’s coast together account for three times more loss from the island’s ice sheet than the amount coming from their huge relatives.

In a study just published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, scientists at Ohio State University reported that nearly 75 percent of the loss of Greenland ice can be traced back to small coastal glaciers.

Scientists who have determined how much carbon is stored annually in upper Midwest forests hope their findings will be used to accelerate global discussion about the strategy of managing forests to offset greenhouse gas emissions.

Scientists who have determined how much carbon is stored annually in upper Midwest forests hope their findings will be used to accelerate global discussion about the strategy of managing forests to offset greenhouse gas emissions.

In an era of competing land use demands, the researchers argue that forests help stabilize the climate and are abundant sources of other ecological goods and services – such as cleansed air, fertile soil and filtered water. Quantifying the amount of carbon that forests can keep out of the atmosphere is one way of showing forests’ value to energy policymakers, the researchers suggest.

What are the consequences of human-made tinkering with land cover and hydrology on surrounding native desert ecosystems and biodiversity? This question forms the backdrop for a case study proffered by an ASU research team and published in the journal BioScience, which found that one of the most profound impacts of urbanization is the “reconfiguration of surface hydrology.”

Amidst the semi-arid stretches of Phoenix, a visitor might blink twice at the sight of a sailboat cutting across the horizon. Tempe Town Lake, on the northern edge of Arizona State University (ASU), is just one of a multitude of lakes, small ponds, canals and dams combining flood control, water delivery, recreational opportunities and aesthetics, and altering perception of water availability and economics in the area.

Scientists and volunteers affiliated with Earthwatch have uncovered signs of an oil leak in Chuuk Lagoon, a popular dive destination in Micronesia.

Earthwatch volunteers and scientists, who are conducting the first-ever comprehensive survey of the Chuuk Lagoon area in Micronesia, recently discovered a long oil slick coming from the sunken oil tanker Hoyo Maru and a smaller surface slick originating from the Rio de Janeiro Maru, a former passenger vessel that was converted to a submarine tender (support ship for submarines) by the Japanese navy during World War II.

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Bubbles from the wreck.

Researchers here have found a way to convert ethanol and other biofuels into hydrogen very efficiently. A new catalyst makes hydrogen from ethanol with 90 percent yield, at a workable temperature, and using inexpensive ingredients.

Researchers here have found a way to convert ethanol and other biofuels into hydrogen very efficiently. A new catalyst makes hydrogen from ethanol with 90 percent yield, at a workable temperature, and using inexpensive ingredients. Umit Ozkan, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Ohio State University, said that the new catalyst is much less expensive than others being developed around the world, because it does not contain precious metals, such as platinum or rhodium.

West Nile virus is present in almost every corner of our country and this is peak season. CDC and state and local health experts recommend using EPA-registered insect repellents to help protect against West Nile virus. The most popular of these repellents is DEET. Despite its popularity, or perhaps because if it, many myths persist about DEET.

West Nile virus is present in almost every corner of our country and this is the peak season. A new analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on U.S. West Nile virus cases in 2007 found that most (89%) of the 3,630 cases were reported during July, August and September. All but six states reported cases of WNV infections in humans last year. The CDC says the mosquito-borne disease is underreported and under-diagnosed and estimates that approximately 175,000 Americans may have been infected with West Nile last year. There are at least 44 confirmed cases of WNV across 15 states so far this year.

Threats to marine ecosystems from overfishing, pollution and climate change must be addressed to halt downward trends.

Human activities are cumulatively driving the health of the world’s oceans down a rapid spiral, and only prompt and wholesale changes will slow or perhaps ultimately reverse the catastrophic problems they are facing.

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During a recent research expedition to Kiritimati, or Christmas Island, Jeremy Jackson and other researchers documented a coral reef overtaken by algae, featuring murky waters and few fish. The researchers say pollution, overfishing, warming waters or some combination of the three are to blame.

Birds in the Northeastern United States are moving their breeding ranges north, adding to concerns about the planet's changing climate.

A study by researchers at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) has documented, for the first time in the northeastern United States, that a variety of bird species are extending their breeding ranges to the north, a pattern that adds to concerns about climate change.

Finding current geologic activity on Jupiter's moon Europa would present NASA the best opportunity for exploring the moon's vast ocean trapped beneath its icy exterior where many experts suggest life could exist.

With average temperatures of minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit, an almost nonexistent atmosphere and a complex web of cracks in a layer of ice encompassing the entire surface, the environment on Jupiter’s moon Europa is about as alien as they come. So are the enormous forces behind the surface display, namely an ocean beneath the ice nine times deeper than Earth’s deepest ocean trench and gravitational affects from a planet 318 times the mass of Earth.