Proteins as a base for biorefining and biofuel

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Jorn van Dooren

Researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, in Los Angeles have developed a way to utilise proteins, one of the most abundant biomolecules in the world, as a raw material for biorefining and biofuel production. Currently only carbohydrates and lipids are used for the production of respectively bioethanol and biodiesels.

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Diamond nanoparticles to treat cancer

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Judy Keen

Diamond chips and chemotherapeutics attached to nanoparticle reduced lung cancer tumor growth in mice. Using these diamond-nanoparticles, higher doses of the chemotherapy, dox, could be given without liver and other toxicities that can normally occur.

Yesterday’s paradox: pine forests bad for climate

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

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Crop albedo geoengineering: plant albino sugar beet and have a 1 degree cooler summer

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

But in order to save the climate it would be advised to first chop down that dark pine forest.

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Plants have 34% less breathing pores due to 150 years of rising CO2

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

According to new research by Utrecht University in the Netherlands that will be published in two separate papers in the upcoming edition of PNAS, plants react strongly to rising CO2 levels. This may in turn have strong climate implications, as the plants release less water to the atmosphere.

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Sixth mass extinction underway: 75% of species could die out in next 300 years

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

The Earth is en route to its sixth mass extinction, say a group of paleobiologists in the latest edition of Nature.

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Eastern cougar officially extinct

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

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Glacier formation proves two-sided

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

Conventional reading suggests glaciers and ice sheets are formed top-down, by the cumulative compaction of snowflakes. New research published in Science today shows there is a bottom-up component too – at least for the East Antarctic ice sheet.

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Panel to review bioethics rules

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Judy Keen

New evidence of a clinical trial conducted in the 1940s containing blatant ethical abuses has prompted President Obama to establish a panel to investigate clinical trial ethical rules and ensure safety of human subjects.

A bit of green on Antarctica to aid against global warming

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Jorn van Dooren

Brilliant green pools teeming with life have been found among remote Antarctic sea ice. The pools owe their colour to the high amounts of algae in the water. The pools were observed in the Amundsen Sea’s polynya, a region of seasonally open water surrounded by sea ice.

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