Scientific American - News

Circulation of LHC Beams Could Resume in Earnest over the Weekend

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:50:00 EST

The Large Hadron Collider , the world's most powerful particle accelerator, is drawing near to its long-awaited reboot. More than a year after the European collider's initial start-up was quashed by a helium leak caused by a faulty electrical connection , particle beams have been injected into the collider, known as the LHC, and may be guided fully through its rings in the coming hours. [More]

How Long Can a Nuclear Reactor Last?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:27:00 EST

Could nuclear power plants last as long as the Hoover Dam?

Increasingly dependable and emitting few greenhouse gases, the U.S. fleet of nuclear power plants will likely run for another 50 or even 70 years before it is retired -- long past the 40-year life span planned decades ago -- according to industry executives, regulators and scientists.

[More]

Novel Nova: Stellar Blast Powered by Helium May Leave a Tantalizing Remnant

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:05:00 EST

A stellar explosion known as a nova that was detected in 2000 formed a two-lobed shell of material ejected from the star. Shaped like a bow tie, it continues to swell at great velocity. But, curiously, the coat of ejecta flowing outward from the star lacks hydrogen, the most common gas in the universe. [More]

Cracked Corn: Scientists Solve Maize's Genetic Maze

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:48:00 EST

The complex corn genome--coming in at a hearty two billion base pairs (compared with the human genome's 2.9 billion base pairs)--has been mapped by more than 150 researchers, who worked for years to decipher the grain's genetic code . It's the most complicated plant genome to be deciphered to date and promises to increase the efficiency of the crop itself. [More]

Can Flywheels Help Balance Electricity Supply and Demand?

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:48:00 EST

Beacon Power Corp. broke ground today on a 20-megawatt, energy-storage facility in southeastern New York. [More]

Sinking Global Warming: Is There a Reliable Way to Track Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Levels?

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:31:00 EST

The planet soaks up excess carbon dioxide via oceans, plants and soils, among other natural systems, locking away some of the greenhouse gases emitted by burning fossil fuels . In fact, every year these natural "sinks" absorb a larger and larger tonnage of emissions--but thanks to the increasing amount of CO 2 and other greenhouse gases dumped in the atmosphere by human activity, the proportion that is reabsorbed is beginning to dwindle, according to new studies. [More]

Ultrathin, Now Ultraflat: Ripple-Free Graphene May Hold Key to Material's Mysteries

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:01:00 EST

Graphene has been a hot topic in physics and materials science since its discovery five years ago . The sheets of carbon, just an atom thick, have a host of intriguing properties , including transparency, strength and a structure that lets electrons zip through almost unimpeded. Graphene's characteristics and near two-dimensionality recommend it for use in next-generation displays, electronics or structural composites , but like many materials du jour, it has yet to find applications on a significant scale. [More]

Researchers Try to Solve the Mystery of HIV Carriers Who Don't Contract AIDS

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:55:00 EST

More than half a million people in the U.S. have died from HIV infection , and more than a million currently live with the virus, but a relative handful of people infected with HIV never get treatment for it and never get sick from it. The immune systems of this small population--perhaps 50,000 Americans--somehow control the virus for long periods of time. Of course, there is typically a bell curve of response to any disease, but figuring out how these people control the virus is one of the most vexing mysteries of the AIDS pandemic . Solving it might unlock new ways to prevent and treat HIV infection, and now several research teams are going after the answer. [More]

Fish Kill: Nanosilver Mutates Fish Embryos

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:44:00 EST

Smaller than a virus and used in more than 200 consumer products, silver nanoparticles can kill and mutate fish embryos, new research shows.

Tiny particles of silver – potent anti-microbial agents that can kill bacteria on contact – are becoming increasingly popular in consumer goods, including washing machines, refrigerators, clothing and toys. [More]

E-Transportation Jump-Start: Coalition Seeks to Pave the Way for Electric Vehicles

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST

Although the widespread adoption of electric vehicles and their related infrastructure has always suffered from chicken-and-egg syndrome , Nissan and FedEx, along with several utilities and technology companies have formed a coalition to break the stalemate. At a press conference Monday in Washington, D.C., the Electrification Coalition announced its formation as well as a new 130-page report on the dangers of oil dependence, the benefits of electric vehicles, and ways to overcome roadblocks that have kept these vehicles from being deployed en masse. [More]

Renewed Hope for an AIDS Vaccine

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:01:00 EST

The long search for an AIDS vaccine has produced countless false starts and repeated failed trials, casting once bright hopes into shadows of disenchantment. The now familiar swings appeared in high relief this past fall, with news of the most recent, phase III trial in Thailand . Initial fanfare for a protective outcome gave way to disappointment after reanalysis showed that the protection could be attributed only to chance. But rather than dashing all hopes for an AIDS vaccine, the trial has heartened some researchers, who see new clues in the battle against the fatal illness. [More]

Nanodevices Bend under the Force of Light

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:01:00 EST

A team of researchers has fabricated a micron-scale device that deforms significantly under the force of light, a technology that could form the basis for tiny light-actuated switches or filters in future optical devices. [More]

Can Alternative Energy Save the Economy and the Climate?

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST

BRIGHTON, Colo. - The low-carbon economy has already arrived on the windy prairie north of this fast-growing Denver 'burb. It's here that Danish wind-turbine giant Vestas converted 298 acres of hayfield into the West's largest turbine factory - and turned Brighton into a magnet for "green" energy companies. [More]

Heavy Metal: Researchers Try to Get the Lead out of Piezoelectronics

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:50:00 EST

Gadget makers often rely on piezoelectricity --the ability that some solids have to produce voltage when pressure is applied to them--to power tiny embedded systems, such as a BlackBerry Storm 2's touch screen or a car's airbag sensor . Whereas lead-based compounds typically have the greatest piezoelectric potential, the heavy metal has fallen out of favor as device-makers push to eliminate it from all electronics in an attempt to reduce toxic waste . [More]

Engineering the Planet to Dodge Global Warming

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:01:00 EST

Failure to make difficult choices to cut greenhouse gas emissions exposes humanity to an increasingly dire set of climate scenarios. But there is a way to buy time: Geoengineering. [More]

Out of Africa: The Tobacco War's New Battleground

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:30:00 EST

Africa is already beleaguered by infectious diseases, such as AIDS and malaria, but now the continent's residents face growing health threats from preventable illnesses brought on by lifestyle changes, such as from poor diets and smoking. [More]

Can Local Governments Solve Global Warming?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:02:00 EST

BOULDER, Colo. Here's what this affluent Rocky Mountain city of 100,000 does about a revenue shortfall in the darkest economic hour since the Great Depression: [More]

Planets May Affect the Chemistry of Their Stars

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:01:00 EST

Planets are, by and large, at the mercy of their stars. Not only do stars provide a ready energy source of radiated light and heat, but the mass and gravitational pull of stars flat-out dwarfs the summed masses and pulls of any orbiting companions. In our solar system, which has more planets--regardless of where one stands on the Pluto debate--than any other planetary system we know of so far, the sun still makes up more than 99.8 percent of its system's mass. [More]

What Would Failure at Copenhagen Mean for Climate Change?

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:48:00 EST

This is the consequence of failure at Copenhagen: A marked shift in scientific effort from solving global warming to adapting to its consequences, a hodge-podge of uncoordinated local efforts to trim emissions - none of which deliver the necessary cuts - and an altered climate. [More]

Faster Than a Speeding Particulate: Why Powdery Materials Disperse So Fast on Liquids

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:10:00 EST

Here's one you can try at home: Fill a dish with water and drop a small amount of flour onto the surface. The flour particles disperse rapidly, like a tiny starburst, and spread out over the liquid surface. [More]