Do you remember that flawed Himalayan glacier melting prediction? Here’s what is truly going on in the world’s highest mountain range – and yes, these figures are science-derived.
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New catalyst developed to produce isobutene from bio-ethanol
The largest application for biomass is to burn it directly or to ferment it to produce ethanol. Converting biomass into other chemicals is often costly or inefficient, due to the many production steps needed.
However a new catalyst developed by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and at Washington State University (WSU) can turn bio-ethanol into isobutene in just one production step. Isobutene is an industrially important chemical mostly used for rubber production, as a solvent and as fuel additives.
Closing in on CCD: a cocktail of cocktails is killing the bees
Although that would of course be much more convenient when trying to solve the problem, research shows Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD, that sudden die-off of bee populations in Europe, North America and Asia, cannot be attributed to one single cause.
Instead there are many factors at play, possibly ranging from climate change (and the spread of exotic plant species and general biodiversity decline it causes) to our use of cell phones (as paradoxically bees seem not to like the buzz).
But rather than one big heavy pile of environmental stressors adding their weight to eventually crush the beehives, a new picture is emerging, of several alliances of silent assassins.
New mutations identified in head and neck cancer
Efforts are underway to indentify the mutations in tumor cells that may give rise to cancer. Analysis of mutations in tumors from patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) identified some familiar players (TP53, CDKN2A, PTEN, PIK3CA, HRAS ) along with some new faces (NOTCH, IRF6, TP63, CASP8, EZH2).
CCD not only pollination disturbance – intensive agriculture may lure bees away from rare wild plants
Researchers of Oxford University and Earthwatch UK find farmland rich in pollen distracts pollinating insects from nearby nature reserves.
Climategate’s raw data released to the public
In 2009 the Climate Research Centre (CRU) at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK was accused of withholding and manipulating data. But while it was later cleared of the charges, the accusations still put a serious dent in the credibility of not just climate researchers, but researchers in general. For those of you wondering who was wrong and who was right in this so-called climategate now is your chance, since the CRU has released the raw data that was at the centre of it all.
Eemian sea level rise update: just 1.6-2.2m from Greenland – Antarctic ice sheet less stable than we think?
Last week we learned 5 percent of the Eemian sea level rise was thermal expansion of the oceans. Today we learn the slightly higher temperatures led Greenland to ‘only’ add an extra 1.6-2.2m. Do we fail to spot the Antarctic Achilles’ heel?
Protected areas are too few and growth too slow to prevent biodiversity loss
The current global network of protected areas is quite extensive, covering 17 million square kilometers of land and 2 million square kilometers of oceans. But the more than 100,000 areas appear to be insufficient to halt global biodiversity loss, according to an assessment published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series.
Until 2050 97% of population growth comes from less developed regions
This year we will hit 7 billion. But the big demography news is not just the net growth figure, but also the differentiation – where it takes places. A new Harvard study has sifted through the billions of unborn people of this year’s UN Population Prospects and concludes we may need to consider policy.
Soy protein – with isoflavones – helps training women slim faster
If you ignore bonus doses of saturated fat, dioxins, hormones and antibiotics, animal protein can be very nutritious. Too bad ‘from October 31’ there will be 7 billion of us – and science shows that many people can’t all be dining on beef. That’s why here on Bitsofscience.org we try to prove a very simple point: plant proteins consist of amino acids too – and it is a myth ‘these go without the essential ones.’
When however you dig through the piles of plant protein research you soon end up entangled in the soy debate. Here too, it proves, myths exist and myths can be busted. Meanwhile we discover other stuff we can’t keep from you.