Slider

Science

SCITECH

AMAZING FACTS

NATURE SPACE

Psychology

Did you know that panda researchers in China, wear panda costumes so they could give mother-like feelings to lonely baby pandas who lost their mothers

Posted date: 8:27 PM / comment : 0 ,

Did you know that panda researchers in China, wear panda costumes so they could give mother-like feelings to lonely baby pandas who lost their mothers.



It gives a whole new meaning to pandering to the kids. 
But in this case it’s a matter of survival. 
Chinese conservationists are dressing up in fluffy panda costumes as they help prepare captive-born cubs to live in the wild.
Helping hand: One of the scientists carries a cub away for an examination
Helping hand: One of the scientists carries a cub away for an examination
They are anxious to ensure the endangered animals have as little contact with humans as possible. 
So rather than being hand-reared as precious pandas often are, they are being brought up by their mothers in a piece of protected woodland.
Human help is always on hand, as their every move is monitored by CCTV.
Their vigilant keepers can see in a moment if they need medicine or a health check-up.
Who are you? Researchers carefully take the four-month-old cub's temperature during a physical examination in Hetaoping Research and Conservation Centre for the Giant Panda
Who are you? Researchers carefully take the four-month-old cub's temperature during a physical examination in Hetaoping Research and Conservation Centre for the Giant Panda
Handle with care: The cub is placed in a box to be taken from its habitat
Handle with care: The cub is placed in a box to be taken from its habitat
But they make sure to slip into their panda suits before venturing anywhere near, as they are anxious that their charges don’t become used to seeing humans. 
Keepers at the Hetaoping Research and Conservation Centre in western China believe the costumes are vital if the cubs are to survive when finally released into the wild. 
In 2006, Xiang Xiang, a five-year-old male, was freed after spending three years being taught survival skills such as foraging for food and marking his territory. 
After initially appearing to be adjusting well, he died after getting into a fight with a group of wild pandas.
They are thought to have sensed something different about the human-reared interloper.
With fewer than 2,500 giant pandas living free in China, conservationists are desperate not to take any chances with the next group facing life in the wild.

Headless: The researcher carries the panda away, confident his human shape has not been seen
Headless: The researcher carries the panda away, confident his human shape has not been seen

Electric Cars Won’t Save The Planet

Posted date: 11:12 AM / comment : 0 , ,

Electric Cars Won’t Save The Planet


There is a widely held belief that the amount of dangerous chemicals released into the atmosphere would be greatly reduced if we were to all use Hybrid or Electric cars. According to a new study that was recently published in the Environmental Science and Technology Journal, this is actually not the case. The study has discovered some very interesting stuff. It points to the fact that passenger cars are only responsible for about 20% of total dangerous gas emissions. What this means is that there would not be a particularly drastic reduction in the rate of emissions because of the use of Electric or Hybrid cars. Scientists need to look elsewhere in order to address the problem.
The study I have mentioned was produced by North Carolina University. It has been suggested that 40% of cars in the US may be Hybrid or all electric by the year 2050. The study takes into account variables such as the cost of running a vehicle and the prices of oil and batteries. Even if 40% of cars the US were to be hybrid or electric the study found that it would not have a noticeable effect on gas emissions. The lead author of the study has stated that people should not be discouraged from buying electric cars. Despite these findings, electric cars are still useful when it comes to improving air quality and oil dependency.
elec
elect
Abstract Image

Light Giving Plant

Posted date: 9:31 AM / comment : 0 , , ,

We may one day be reading by the light of a houseplant
Bioglow's Starlight Avatar(TM) as seen in regular light (left) and in darkness (right).

Tired of filling your house with boring old ficus plants and ferns for a little greenery? You're in luck, because you could soon be able to bring home your own luminescent plant. No, it isn't the result of some kind of nuclear accident. The plants are engineered by the biotechnology company Bioglow and were first announced in 2010 when molecular biologist Alexander Krichevsky et al. published the results in PLOS One. Since that initial report, the team has been working to refine the technique and get the plants growing brighter.

Bio-luminescence can be found in a variety of organisms, including certain jellyfish, bacteria, and insects. These creatures use their natural glow for many reasons, including scaring off predators or attracting prey. For modern scientists, bioluminescence is used a standard marker used in biological research, as it gives scientists a very clear confirmation that the genetic modification was successful. Now, plants that are genetically engineered to be bio-luminescent will be available to the public as a novelty, though it could have future implications as a truly–ahem–green source of energy.

Glowing plants have been attempted for some time now, but required the use of special dyes or UV lights. Because the properties that made these glow were from an external source, these didn’t really work all that well and were not truly bioluminescent. Bioglow’s plants will be the first commercially available plants that have been altered to be autonomously luminescent (which Krichevsky describes as “autoluminescent”).

The glowing plants have been named Starlight AvatarTM. They are an engineered version of Nicotiana alata plants, which is an ornamental tobacco species. Don’t let that put you off; the plant smells like jasmine, not an old bowling alley. Its moniker comes from the fact that it glows about as bright as starlight. Depending on the individual, the light can be seen as soon as the lights go out, but it may also take a couple minutes for your eyes to adjust. 

The biggest drawback of the plant now is that they have a relatively short lifespan at only 2-3 months because it takes so much out of the plant to create the light. The lab continues to work on increasing the longevity of the plant as well as ramping up the brightness. It is the company’s hope that someday these plants could be used to provide a natural source of light inside the home and even possibly replace garden lights, saving money and energy.

Dying to get your hands on one of the first Starlight AvatarTM plants? Bioglow will be holding an auction for the first twenty plants. It doesn’t cost anything to sign up for the auction, but you do need to register on Bioglow’s website to get on the email list for the auction link. The auction is only open to those in the United States and bidding starts at just $1, plus shipping fees.


Note: The date of the auction hasn’t been released yet, but this article will be updated when Bioglow makes the announcement to those who have confirmed registration.

Light Emitting Aggregates

Posted date: 8:36 PM / comment : 0 , ,

Could Sparkling Glow-in-the-Dark Pavement Replace Street Lights?

This energy-efficient technology to illuminate pathways is environmentally friendly and beautiful.

Starpath: Glow-in-the-Dark, Energy-Efficient Technology to Illuminate Streets at Night
A bike path in Cambridge, England glows with a brilliant blue.

Keeping parks well lit at night can be a costly means to ensure pedestrian and cyclist safety. But a British-based company has come up with a way to turn park paths into glow-in-the-dark thoroughfares that double as energy-efficient works of art. 
Created by Pro-Teq, Starpath is a sprayable coating of light-absorbing particles that harvests ultra-violet rays from the sun during the day and dramatically lights up like a starry sky at night. The veneer is non-reflective, anti-slip and waterproof, and can be applied to cement, wood, tarmac or other solid surfaces.

Earlier this month, Starpath was tested on all 1,600 square-feet of the paths at Christ’s Pieces Park, in the university town of Cambridge. The park is well trafficked late into the evening by cyclist and pedestrians alike.
"Our surface works best over tarmac or concrete, predominantly tarmac, which is the main bulk of the U.K. path network," says Pro-Teq’s Neil Blackmore, in a sales video. "When it's coming to the end of its useful life, we can rejuvenate it with our system, creating not only a practical, but a decorative finish."
Seeing that local city councils were increasingly shutting off park lights at night to save money, Pro-Teq developed Starpath to maintain public safety without the financial and environmental costs of overhead lighting. It's a common problem; in the U.S. for instance, cities generally count streetlights as their first or second biggest energy drains.
But the glow-in-the-dark spray also comes with additional benefits: Its non-reflective surface doesn't seem to contribute to light pollution, which not only inhibits views of the nighttime sky, but can have dire consequences for local wildlife due to the constant illumination.
Overhead street lighting does provide one important benefit to urban parks, however, and that's the deterrence of crime. It's not yet known if Starpath would provide enough light to do the same.
Pro-Teq's Neil Blackmore says that for larger urban parks where the possibility of crime is higher, his technology could be used in conjunction with overhead lighting, if not replacing street lights completely, then cutting down on the number of them necessary to illuminate darkened areas.
"I was in London today looking at a large park for Starpath," he says. "And there's lights down by the river, but in the back of the park, there's no lighting at all. So having our product there, in the complete darkness, would only benefit the user."
Pro-Teq’s demonstration project in Cambridge is tiny, though, compared to a glow-in-the-dark technology being rolled out across the English Channel.
The Netherlands began its "smart highway" redesign this year with the promise of using super-charged glow-in-the-dark paint to illuminate highways during the country's long, dark winters. Not only will the paint light up to define the road and its lanes, but when the temperature drops below freezing, a bright snowflake design appears on the asphalt, warning drivers about the possibility of black ice.
As innovative and environmentally-friendly as the Netherlands' design is, though, Pro-Teq's Starpath may have bested it in terms of pure aesthetics. The starry spray is dramatic and not only lights up to a brilliant blue (as seen in the video above), but is also available in other sparkling colors, like red, gold and green.
Whether its application could extend to some roadways remains to be seen, but at least for now, Starpath looks like an energy-efficient way to light up parks while simultaneously turning them into eye-catching art displays.

TREEPODS: Carbon-Scrubbing Artificial Trees for Boston City Streets

Posted date: 8:24 PM / comment : 0 , , ,


TREEPODS: Carbon-Scrubbing Artificial Trees for Boston City Streets

Biomimicry, de-carbonization, air cleaning, air purification, kinetic energy, TREEPODS, Cristian Canonico, Mario Caceres, Boston, Dr. Klaus Lackner, solar energy, sustainable design, green urban design
Trees naturally filter and clean our air, but in today’s heavily polluted world, it’s just too huge of a task to expect Mother Nature to take care of herself. Taking this into account, designers Mario Caceres and Cristian Canonico have designed a set of beautiful air-filtering trees for the SHIFTboston urban intervention contest. Called TREEPODS, the designs harnesses biomimicry to efficiently emulate the carbon filtration qualities of trees.

Biomimicry, de-carbonization, air cleaning, air purification, kinetic energy, TREEPODS, Cristian Canonico, Mario Caceres, Boston, Dr. Klaus Lackner, solar energy, sustainable design, green urban design

The TREEPOD systems are capable of removing carbon dioxide from the air and releasing oxygen using a carbon dioxide removal process called “humidity swing,”. In addition to their air-cleansing abilities, TREEPODS will also include solar energy panels and will harvest kinetic energy through an interactive seesaw that visitors can play with at the TREEPOD’s base. As passersby play on the seesaws they power displays that explain the TREEPODS’ de-carbonization process. Both the solar panels and the kinetic energy station will power the air filtration process, as well as interior lights.
The TREEPODS themselves will be made entirely of recycled/recyclable plastic from drink bottles. Based not only on trees, but on the human lung, the design of the “branches” will feature multiple contact points that serve as tiny CO2 filters. The proposed design, giant white and translucent canopies of trees, can be installed among existing trees or on their own. Interestingly, the TREEPODS have been compared to “urban furniture”: sleek yet functional design pieces that would fit into any urban environment. At night, the TREEPODS light up in an array of eye-catching colors.
Caceres and Canonico hope that these “trees” will function not just as examples of gorgeous urban design and sources of sustainable energy, but also as meeting places, allowing citizens to have an air purifying tree to sit under with friends and enjoy the day.


Glowing trees could replace street lamps

Posted date: 8:05 PM / comment : 0 , ,

Glowing bio-LED trees could replace street lamps

Glowing trees could replace street lamps

Trees with naturally-glowing leaves could provide an environmentally-friendly alternative to street lamps. Researchers in Taiwan have discovered that adding nanoparticles of gold to the leaves of the Bacopa Caroliniana tree causes its leaves to glow.LED glow

Dr Ye-Hsun points out that this is potentially a win-win-win situation, with the glowing plants reducing power usage, and lowering light pollution, while absorbing CO2.

Dr Yen-Hsun Su from at Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University was working on alternatives to LED lights when the discovery came about.LED glow

‘Bio-LED’ lights

The tiny particles of gold cause chlorophyll in the plants leaves to produce a reddish luminescence.LED glow

Dr Yen-Hsun Su told Chemistry World: “In the future, bio-LED could be used to make roadside trees luminescent at night. This will save energy and absorb CO2 as the bio-LED luminescence will cause the chloroplast to conduct photosynthesis.”

ETA comment: Too many lights

I have often wondered why so many lights are left on – especially between one and five in the morning. Pedestrians and motorists require different types of lighting. Lighting just for pedestrians is cheaper.

If organisations responsible for lighting, as part of their planned maintenance and replacement programs devised lighting that catered specially for driving and lighting that was especially for walking separately then they would be able to turn off the lights for drivers but keep on the lower-powered lights for pedestrians. Naturally, this would generally only apply to main roads, but bio-LED technology could provide an ideal solution for lighting for pedestrians. LED glow

How to keep your house cool in a heatwave

Posted date: 3:54 PM / comment : 0 , ,

How to keep your house cool in a heatwave

If overnight temperatures are due to fall below your inside temperature, open the house as much as possible from late afternoon

Should you open or close your house to keep cool in a heatwave? Many people believe it makes sense to throw open doors and windows to the breeze; others try to shut out the heat. 

Listen to talk radio during a hot spell and you are likely to hear both views.
In a modern house the best advice is to shut up shop during the heat of the day, to keep the heat out. Then, throw open the windows from late afternoon onwards, as long as overnight temperatures are lower outside than inside.
But our research shows that opening and closing doors, windows and curtains is just one of the factors at play. To really stay cool when the heat is on, you also need to think about what type of house you have, and what its surroundings are like.
The traditional “Queenslander” house has long been seen as ideally suited for hot weather. Such houses have great design features for cooling, including shady verandas and elevated floors. But the traditional timber and tin construction provides very little resistance to heat transfer.
If uninsulated homes are closed up during a heatwave they would very likely become too hot. This has led people to opening up their house, to stop them getting much hotter inside than outside.
But in temperatures of 40C and above, one could argue that both strategies (opening and closing) in an uninsulated house would result in very uncomfortable occupants. Such houses would also not meet current building regulations, as insulation has been required in new houses since 2003 (or earlier in some parts of Australia).
Our research explores the role of design and construction on occupant comfort in hot weather. We have looked at brick and lightweight houses, as well as those made from less common materials such as structural insulated panels, earth, straw, and advanced glass and roof coatings.
We found that three factors influence the comfort of people inside a house: whether is it opened or closed; its urban context; and its construction materials. Having a better understanding of these factors could help you to keep cool this summer – or prepare for the next one.

To breeze or not to breeze

Whether they have air-conditioning or not, we found that people usually approach hot weather in the same way: by opening doors and windows to capture breezes.
People in both groups also tended to shut up the house if it gets hot outside, or if there is no breeze, or before switching on the air-conditioner if they have one. Most participants in our survey, which looked at homes less than 10 years old, also used ceiling fans to create air movement.
Occupants tape foil to the inside of windows to try to stop their home from overheating in Queensland.
But our research showed that many people failed to take advantage of cooler overnight temperatures, meaning their homes were hotter than the outside during the night. This may mean that houses have not been designed to get rid of daytime heat. Or that people aren’t opening the windows overnight to allow the house to cool down.

The impact of context

The research shows that occupants first try natural ventilation for achieving comfort. But the success of this strategy depends on the urban context of the house. This includes factors such as housing density, street scape and microclimate.
For example, during a hot spell in 2013 an Ipswich estate experienced minimum and maximum temperatures that were 3-4C hotter than the local weather station. Restricted air movement due to nearby buildings, and radiant heat from hard surfaces such as concrete, can both drive temperatures up.

Built for comfort

Both the housing industry and occupants seem to have little understanding of the impact design and construction have on the temperature inside the building. As a result, air-conditioning is now seen not as desirable, but as a necessity. This does not have to be the case.
Most houses are built to minimum regulations (5-6 stars out of 10). There is also evidence that, with poor construction practices and virtually non-existent compliance testing, many would fail to meet even this level.
What does this mean for comfort year-round, and in a heatwave?
In inland southeast Queensland, a 6-star home will have an internal temperature of 18-28C for 80-85% of the time. In a typical year, its temperature will be above 30C for between 300 and 350 hours (3.5% of the time). Heat-wave conditions would result in more hours above 30C.
In contrast, a 9- or 10-star house in the same climate would deliver more “comfort” hours (85-95%) and would be above 30C less than 2% of the time. These houses are designed to slow down the transfer of heat, meaning they naturally stay cooler for longer. And there is no (or little) need for air-conditioning!
This 9-star home uses 48% less electricity than the south-east Queensland average.
A wide variety of design and construction techniques and materials can be used to achieve such high performance houses in every climate zone in Australia.

Open and shut case

So when facing a heatwave, should we open up our houses or close them up? The answer is… it depends.
If your home is well insulated and shaded, it should be able to resist several days of extreme heat. Closing doors, windows and curtains during the heat of the day can help the house stay cooler than outside. Ceiling fans provide air movement to make you feel cooler.
Opening the house as much as possible from late afternoon to early morning is beneficial if overnight temperatures will fall below your inside temperature.
Air conditioning a poorly insulated house with little shading is expensive and futile. In a well-insulated and shaded house, air-conditioning can be used quite efficiently by using the same strategies as above. A higher thermostat setting (perhaps 26-28C), combined with ceiling fans, can provide comfort with lower running costs. This can also reduce strain on the electricity network.
Whether air-conditioned or not, houses can be designed specifically for their climate, to limit the flow of heat between the outside and inside. The higher the star rating of the house, the more effectively it stops unwanted heat from entering the house. Different strategies are required for different climates.
Of course, the knowledge that you might be more comfortable in a different house is likely to be cold comfort as you swelter through this summer. But perhaps you can prepare a “cool comfort” plan for next summer.

Stillbirth rates tied to lead in drinking water

Posted date: 7:24 PM / comment : 0 , ,

High fetal death rates coincided with releases of toxic metal into Washington D.C.’s pipes
DANGEROUS WATER  The rate of stillbirths increased during two recent episodes of elevated lead levels in Washington, D.C.’s drinking water.
Stillbirth rates in Washington, D.C., rose in parallel with two recent spikes in lead levels in drinking water, a new analysis finds.
Virginia Tech environmental engineer Marc Edwards and colleagues, in an earlier study, tied a 2001–2004 increase in children’s blood lead levels to a switch in the chemical that Washington’s water authority uses to disinfect drinking water (SN Online: 1/27/2009). After 2004, when city officials warned the public and the utility distributed water filters, blood lead levels fell.
Long-established science suggests that the elevated lead levels should have also increased stillbirths, which are fetal deaths in the second half of the normal 40-week gestation period. The new study, published December 9 in Environmental Science & Technology, provides evidence that such an increase occurred during Washington’s lead crisis. Edwards found that in 2001, Washington’s annual fetal death rate jumped by 32–63 percent relative to the rates in 1997–1999; no comparable increase occurred in Baltimore, which did not suffer lead level spikes.
Washington’s stillbirth rates returned to normal in 2004. But the city’s fetal death rate rose again in 2007–2009, when pipe replacements released lead into some homes’ drinking water. 

Citations:
M. Edwards. Fetal death and reduced birth rates associated with exposure to lead-contaminated drinking water. Environmental Science & Technology. Published online December 9, 2013. doi: 10.1021/es4034952. 

References:
J. Raloff. 'Science fraud' alleged in urban lead incident. Science News Online, January 28, 2009.
J. Raloff. Water-cleanup experiment caused lead poisoning. Science News Online, January 27, 2009.
M. Edwards, S. Triantafyllidou and D. Best. Elevated blood lead in young children due to lead-contaminated drinking water: Washington, DC, 2001–2004. Environmental Science & Technology. Vol. 43, January 27, 2009, p 1618. doi: 10.1021/es802789w. 

Dolphins Suffering From Lung Disease Due to Gulf Oil Spill, Study Says

Posted date: 9:33 AM / comment : 0 ,

Study Finds Strong Connection Between Deepwater Horizon Spill and Dolphin Deaths

A dolphin swims by as workers collect tar balls deposited on a beach in Grand Isle, La., following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident.
Dolphins in an area hard hit by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010 are suffering from lung diseases and other abnormalities that are consistent with toxic exposure to oil, according to a study backed by the federal government and released on Wednesday.
The peer-reviewed paper, which was disputed by BP BP.LN +1.65% PLC, was published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. The paper makes the strongest connection to date between the BP spill and dolphin deaths, which jumped in the Gulf of Mexico after the spill.
"It is related to oil," said Lori Schwacke, the study's lead author and a wildlife epidemiologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "The weight of evidence is there."
BP, which paid for the study, disputes that it shows a clear link between the spill and dolphin illnesses. NOAA "still hasn't provided BP with any data demonstrating that the alleged poor health of any dolphins was caused by oil exposure," said BP spokesman Jason Ryan in an email.
The study was released the same morning a federal jury in New Orleans convicted an engineer who worked for BP in 2010 of destroying evidence about the oil spill. Prosecutors argued that the engineer, Kurt Mix, deleted hundreds of text messages to try to hide evidence that the company knew more oil was leaking than it had revealed publicly.
Mr. Mix was found guilty of one count of obstruction of justice but acquitted on a second count. The count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but his lawyer said he would appeal.
For the dolphin study, scientists caught, examined and released about 30 bottlenose dolphins in Barataria Bay, La., in 2011. Moderate to severe lung diseases associated with oil contamination were prevalent among many of the dolphins, and almost half had "a guarded or worse prognosis, and 17% were considered poor or grave, indicating they weren't expected to live," according to the study. Dolphins in the area likely will have more difficulty reproducing, the study found.
The scientists also looked at dolphins in Sarasota Bay, Fla., as a control, because that area wasn't hurt by the oil spill. The study didn't find elevated lung diseases in that population.
"Finally, we get the truth," said Casi Callaway, executive director of Mobile Baykeeper, an environmental group on Alabama's coast. "Having this information gets us started on the path toward a solution, toward fixing what has been broken for 3½ years."
If top ocean predators like dolphins are suffering, scientists must learn how the spill has affected other animals, including "smaller sea creatures, and larger life, even humans," she said.
BP said the study failed to make a connection between the spill and sick dolphins. "The symptoms that NOAA has observed in this study have been seen in other dolphin mortality events that have been related to contaminants and conditions found in the northern Gulf, such as PCBs, DDT and pesticides, unusual cold stun events, and toxins from harmful algal blooms," Mr. Ryan said in his email.
In April 2010, an explosion erupted on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig about 40 miles off the Louisiana coast, after a blowout of the BP-owned well 5,000 feet below the ocean surface. Over 87 days, oil slicks spread across open water and fouled more than 1,000 miles of coastline. About 4.2 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf, according to official estimates, although BP argues it was closer to 2.45 million barrels. It was the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
The dolphin study was done as part of a process led by NOAA called a Natural Resource Damage Assessment. If studies find a link between the spill and any damage, BP would be expected to pay compensation, though the company can appeal findings in court.
Though BP paid for the study, it wasn't involved in the analysis.

Wastewater Microbes Fuel New Type of Battery

Posted date: 10:41 AM / comment : 0 , , , ,

Microbial battery with annotation
A team at Stanford University is working on new system that could eventually power wastewater treatment plants via the energy generated by microbes breaking down organics.

October 22, 2013—Researchers at Stanford University have developed a microbial battery system that harnesses the electrons created by microorganisms digesting organic material in wastewater to create electricity. The team is optimistic that this development will eventually lead to wastewater treatment plants that are energy self-sufficient. 

Approximately three percent of all electricity consumed in developed countries goes to the treatment of wastewater. However, the organic material in the wastewater is sufficient to generate three to four times that amount of energy, according to the results of this research, which were published recently in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The paper, “Microbial Battery for Efficient Energy Recovery,” was written by Yi Cui, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford. The research was designed by Cui, Craig Criddle, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Xing Xie, an interdisciplinary fellow. 

Their work builds on the concept of microbial fuel cells, which have been under development for decades but are limited by the energy losses inherent in the biological and chemical processes that are used in such cells. Microbial fuel cells also tend to generate methane gas, a health hazard. But Cui says that the microbial battery has vastly superior efficiency. “Using this microbial battery to replace microbial fuel cells, we can increase energy efficiency by 5 to 10 times,” Cui says. “The efficiency can go up in the range of 30 percent.” 

To make the battery, researchers introduced a microbial anode and a silver oxide/silver cathode into a container of wastewater, the two connected by an external circuit. Microbes attached to the anode oxidize the organic material in the wastewater, releasing electrons that pass through a circuit to the cathode. The cathode is then removed and oxidized to retrieve the energy and recharge the system. 

“These microbes consume these organic carbon/hydrogen bonds and generate electrons,” Cui says. “They can use these electrons for synthesizing more organic molecules. So they can use this to grow or generate more microbes. Or—if you take out these electrons before they can use them—then you can let the electricity go out to do useful work.” 

That work could include powering wastewater treatment plants, Cui says. 

“In the wastewater treatment plant you need to consume the organics, anyway,” Cui says. “That’s a required step. Now this required step can turn into an energy-generation process to power the wastewater treatment plant. So that’s a good deal. It’s going to be self-sustained.” 

But before the technology can be tested in the field, the research team needs to answer a challenge. Creating a large-scale version of the microbial battery they have tested would require a prohibitively expensive amount of silver oxide/silver. 

“Using silver is expensive. For the large-scale deployment, that will be hard. In our labs, we are now developing a new electrode material to replace silver/silver oxide. We have some really promising candidates right now,” Cui says. Early indications are they have found a replacement that “costs virtually nothing.” 

If further testing bears out the suitability of this replacement material, Cui says the next step is a pilot scale demonstration of the battery at a wastewater treatment plant. This could happen within two years if things go well. 

“We would like to do our own field study and see what potential issues this might have,” Cui says. “After getting some of that understanding, we are going to move forward.” 

Although their research has focused on wastewater because it is a plentiful source of organic fuel for a microbial battery, Cui says that deep-water environments—oceans and lakes—also have vast stores of organic material. Additionally, such solid wastes as the by-products from cheese and corn production could potentially be suspended in liquids as another source of energy for the microbial batteries.

Water Waste

Posted date: 9:19 AM / comment : 0 ,

Panda Poop Can Help Turn Plants Into Fuel

Posted date: 8:20 AM / comment : 0 , , ,

Panda Cub Eating Bamboo
The same organisms that make pandas effective at digesting bamboo may help turn plant waste into biofuels, according to researchers.

Brian Handwerk
Can panda poop help power the greener vehicles of tomorrow? It just might, scientists say, by yielding microbes that efficiently turn plant waste into biofuel—and the research just might help protect pandas at the same time. (See related quiz: "What You Don't Know About Biofuel.")
"We have discovered microbes in panda feces might actually be a solution to the search for sustainable new sources of energy," Mississippi State University biochemist Ashli Brown, who led the study, told attendees at a meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Tuesday. "It's amazing that here we have an endangered species that's almost gone from the planet, yet there's still so much we have yet to learn from it. That underscores the importance of saving endangered and threatened animals."
Biofuels made from corn, soybeans, and other edible crops cause concerns over their potential impact on food supply and prices. Some even argue that such biofuels ultimately may produce even more carbon emissions than petroleum. (See related coverage: "Biofuels at a Crossroads.")
Waste plant material, such as corn cobs and discarded stalks, long has been eyed as a rich, renewable source of biofuel feedstock. But in order for cellulosic biofuel to truly go mainstream, it must be transformed into ethanol efficiently and economically. That's where panda stomachs could give producers a valuable head start. (Vote in poll: "Are Biofuels Worth the Investment?")
"These microbes may be very well suited to break down this biomass," said co-researcher Candace Williams, who originally developed the study several years ago while working on her Master's degree. "That's what they are doing in the gut of the panda with all of the bamboo the animal eats."
The Panda's Powerful Gut
Currently, plant waste biofuel processors must break down the tough composition of stalks or stems by cooking them with heat and/or pressure, or by treating them with substances like acids, to produce the simple sugars that they ferment into a final product—processes that can be difficult to scale economically.
Microbes could help make this process faster and cheaper, and the bacteria that dwell within pandas might be especially effective. After all, the tiny organisms can handle the 20 to 40 pounds of bamboo an adult panda eats each day. Pandas eat bamboo almost exclusively, munching for 12 hours out of every 24 each day.
Thanks to fecal contributions from Ya Ya and Le Le, giant pandas at Tennessee's Memphis Zoo, Brown and Williams have identified more than 40 different panda gut microbe species so far.
"We started out with the pandas because of their diet," Williams said. "They are really unique animals in that they are physiologically like a carnivore, but they eat a herbivorous diet. If you're studying these microorganisms that allow the panda to use this cellulose in bamboo for nutrition, you can see how they might be useful for investigating one of the main problems for biofuels—breaking down those lignocellulosic materials to produce sugars."
Pandas also have short digestive tracts for such large animals, and just a single stomach chamber, Williams added. (Cows, in comparison, use four different stomach regions to gradually remove the energy from grass.) "This means their bacteria have to be even more potent at breaking down the material quickly," she said, "making them very efficient and perhaps even more promising for biofuel production."
Pandas eat both the tough stalks and more tender leaves of the bamboo plant, and their many species of gut microbes wax and wane in number with these dietary changes, Williams said. In addition to producing sugars, some microbes in the lab were even able to accumulate lipids, which can produce the fatty acids needed for biofuel production.
Either the gut bacteria themselves, or the enzymes they use to do the work, possibly could be co-opted for cheaper, easier industrial biofuel production processes, the study's authors said. Yeasts, for example, could be genetically engineered to produce the beneficial enzymes and then grown on a large scale.
Fuel From Whisky, Fat, and Algae
Panda poop is just one promising avenue of research into how waste can be transformed more easily into greener energy.
Some projects are already producing fuel from plant waste materials. Earlier this year, Mississippi-based KiOR shipped what it says is the world's first commercial volume of cellulosic diesel fuel, made from pine wood chips. (See related story: "Beyond Ethanol: Drop-In Biofuels Squeeze Gasoline From Plants.") In August, Florida's Indian River BioEnergy Center also began shipping cellulosic ethanol (sourced from wastes, woodchips, cornstalks and grasses) at commercial scale. The plant's operator, INEOS Bio, said the facility will produce some eight million gallons of ethanol from yard clippings and wood scraps, using hybrid gasification-fermentation technology.
"Electrofuels" researchers are using microorganisms to produce biofuels in the lab without any plants at all by genetically engineering microorganisms to "poop out" chemicals that can burn right in the gas tank. The U.S. Department of Energy helps fund this and similar initiatives out of its Bioenergy Technologies Office.
Some scientists believe algae can help power the future. Animal fat is another potentially enormous resource: Dynamic Fuels, a joint venture between Tyson Foods and synthetic fuel producer Syntroleum Corporation, is turning it into energy that can be burned in the tank.
For the next phase of panda poop research, droppings from another pair of giant pandas, the Toronto Zoo's Er Shun and Da Mao, may soon be added to the microbe investigation.
Brown explained at her ACS presentation that charismatic and endangered pandas like them may benefit from the research as well as biofuel producers. Detailed analysis of their gut microbes could reveal better ways to keep them healthy, because most of the diseases that affect pandas occur in the gut, Brown said.
"Understanding the relationships between the microbes and the pandas, as well as how they get their energy and nutrition, is extremely important from a conservation standpoint," she said, "as fewer than 2,500 giant pandas are left in the wild, and only 200 are in captivity."
This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visitThe Great Energy Challenge.

Environmental Engineering MCQs for Public Service Commission Exam/ All kind of Exams Part 8

Posted date: 8:13 PM / comment : 0

1.       Tires & Rubber waste comes under:


a) Yard waste            b) Metal waste             c) Organic waste           d) Paper waste

2.       White Goods waste comes under:

a) Yard waste            b) Metal waste             c) Organic waste           d) Paper waste
                                                                   
       3)   Sewerage sludge comes under:

a) Organic waste category                                    b)Special waste category                                               c)  Yard waste category                                           d) Plastic category

4)  In Rawalpindi, generation of solid waste in 2002 is:
a)  0.65 kg/c/day                       b) 0.75 kg/c/day                                                
c) 0.85 kg/c/day                                        d)  0.95 kg/c/day

5) _________  are used to reduce to desirable sizes for treatment of composting etc.

a) Shredders                                                 b)  separators                                
 c) scrappers                                                  d) both (a) and (b)

6)  Density of Solid Waste varies with:
a) length of time                         b) location                          
c) season                                    d) all of the above

7) Field capacity of un-compacted commingled wastes from residential & commercial sources is about:

a) 20-30%.      b)  30-40%.                      
 c)  40-50%.     d)  50-60%.

8) Typical fusion temp ranges from:


a) 1000-1200F                               b) 2000-2200F                                                
  c) 3000-3200F                              d) 4000-4200F 

9) Almost all organic fraction of MSW can be converted biologically to:

a) solids                           b) liquids                                             c) plasma                              d) gases

10 ) According to mode of operation, the collection system  classified into _______ categories:

a) two                              b) three                                           
 c) four                           d) five
11) There are _______ main types of Haul Container Systems:
a) two                              b) three                                           
 c) four                           d) five


12) Mesophilic Temperature ranges from:

a)    25 o to 35o C              b)      35 oto 45o C                                       
  c)    45 oto 55o C            d)        55 o to 65o C        

13) Psychrophilic Temperature ranges from:

a)    15 o to 20o C                    b) 25 o to 30o C                                      
  c)    35 oto 40o C            d)  45 o to 50o C   

14) Thermophilic Temperature ranges from:           

a) 20 o to 30o C                               b) 30 o to 40o C                                               
  c) 40 o to 50o C                           d) 50 o to 60o C

15) At the ideal moisture level, Optimum oxygen levels are:

a)  15 to 20 per cent                                   b) 25 to 30 per cent                                      ‘
 c) 35 to 40 per cent                    d) 45 to 50 per cent

16) Optimum C/N ratio is:

a) 20                                 b) 30                     c) 40                        d) 50

2. Materials that are a good source of nitrogen are called:

a) Blue                                             b) White                             c) Green                               d) Red

17)  Materials that are high in carbon are called:

a) Brown                                         b) Yellow                            c) Blue                                   d) White

18) Psychrophiles are:

a)    low temperature bacteria                              b) medium temperature bacteria
c) high temperature bacteria                              d) none of the above

19) Mesophiles are;

a)    low temperature bacteria                               b) medium temperature bacteria
c) high temperature bacteria                              d) none of the above

20) Thermophiles are:
a)    low temperature bacteria                               b) medium temperature bacteria
c) high temperature bacteria                             d) none of the above

21) Copper is:
a) Light metal                                b) Heavy metal                                                c) toxic metal                      d) non metal
       21) About _______ of the Earth’s land surfaces (excluding Antarctica) are covered with forest and woodland:

a) 30%                              b) 35%                                              
  c) 40%                         d) 45%
22) The original forest cover of the Earth approached ________ of land area.


a) 20%                              b) 30%                                              
 c) 40%                           d) 50%

•    23) ____________ is a forest harvest technique in which all trees in a particular area are cut, regardless of species or size.


a) Shelter-wood Cutting            b) Selective Cutting
c) Clear-cutting                           d) Biomass harvesting

24. __________ are fires that burn within the organic matter and litter of the soil

a) Ground fires                            b) Surface fires                                c) Crown fires                     d) Plank fire
25) The most comprehensive piece of legislation regulating protection of all species of flora and fauna is the Endangered Species Act (ESA), passed in .


a) 1965                                             b) 1968                                                c) 1971                                                   d) 1973
26) __________ burn on the ground surface, consuming litter as well as the herbaceous and shrubby vegetation of the forest floor.

a) Ground fires                            b) Surface fires                                c) Crown fires                     d) Plank fire


27) ____________ burn treetops as well as low vegetation, usually killing all or almost all above-ground vegetation.
a) Ground fires                            b) Surface fires                                c) Crown fires                     d) Plank fire

28) __________ is a timber-harvesting technique in which only trees of specified size or species are taken, leaving other trees.
       a) Shelter-wood Cutting            b) Selective Cutting
       c) Clear-cutting                           d) Biomass harvesting
29) ________ is a forest harvest technique in which whole trees are chipped and used as fuel or to make pulp.
       a) Shelter-wood Cutting            b) Selective Cutting
       c) Clear-cutting                           d) Biomass harvesting

30) WASA is formed in:

a) 1994                             b) 1995                               c) 1996                                                   d) 1997

31) Public Health Service was established in:

a) 1798                                             b) 1805                                                c) 1808                                                   d) 1810
32) EPA was established in :

a) December 4, 1970         b) December 3, 1970
c) December 2, 1970         d) December 1, 1970

33) Total generation of Solid Wastes in Rawalpindi City is:

a) 703 tons per day       b) 713 tons per day
       c) 723 tons per day       d ) 733 tons per day

34) Specific wt, expressed in material per unit volume, units are:

a) lb/m3                   b) lb/ft3
       c) lb/yd3                 d) lb/in3

35) Lignin content of VS, expressed as a % by _________:


a) Mass                                           b) Volume                                          c) Weight                             d) either (a) and (b)

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
Copyright © 2014 Science and Nature
⬆
Top