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Device makes power conversion more efficient
Power electronics, which do things like modify voltages or convert between direct and alternating current, are everywhere. They’re in the power bricks we use to charge our portable devices; they’re in the battery packs of electric cars; and they’re in the power grid itself, where they mediate between high-voltage transmission lines and the lower voltages…
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Scientists Home in on Causes of High Radium Levels in Key Midwestern Aquifer
Oxygen levels, dissolved minerals among factors responsible for high concentrations of radium in untreated water from aquifer that underlies six statesU.S. Geological Survey scientists have shed new light on processes that happen deep underground.
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Stopping the next wave of invasive species in Saskatchewan lakes
Invasive species continue to be a critical threat to freshwater ecosystems in Saskatchewan and across North America.But the species that have yet to enter Saskatchewan waters might be of greatest concern.
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Researchers establish long-sought source of ocean methane
An abundant enzyme in marine microbes may be responsible for production of the greenhouse gas. Industrial and agricultural activities produce large amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. Many bacteria also produce methane as a byproduct of their metabolism. Some of this naturally released methane comes from the ocean, a phenomenon that…
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Transportation Replaces Power in U.S. as Top Source of CO2 Emissions
Power plants have been the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States for more than 40 years. But according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, transportation has now claimed the top spot.
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New screening technique will allow crop breeders to develop drought resistant varieties faster
Chithra Karunakaran and Karen Tanino’s team developed a simple non-destructive method to screen hundreds of wheat leaf samples in a day, reducing the time and cost associated with traditional breeding programs to select varieties for drought tolerance. Their findings were published in the November issue of Physiologia Plantarum.“Developing these types of tools better enables physiologists…
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Successful Nigerian business-NGO partnerships rooted in collaboration
What’s the key ingredient to successful partnerships? York University Development Studies Professor Uwafiokun Idemudia reviewed existing research on an unorthodox union between a non-governmental organization (NGO) and an oil company with a history of spills in Nigeria. He found that collaboration was beneficial even when innate creative tensions exist, and to reach sustainable targets, the…
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Quantifying the Greenhouse Gas Footprint of Crop Cultivation
"Climate-smart” crop cultivation, characterized by a low greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint, low synthetic nitrogen consumption, and simultaneously high yields (Figure 1), is an approach in agriculture for implementing the Paris Agreement as part of mitigating climate change. The GHG footprint is an index used to indicate the climate change impact potential exerted by crop production.…
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Clean Energy: Experts Outline How Governments Can Successfully Invest Before It's Too Late
Governments need to give technical experts more autonomy and hold their nerve to provide more long-term stability when investing in clean energy, argue researchers in climate change and innovation policy in a new paper published today.
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Researchers Model Optimal Amount of Rainfall for Plants
Researchers have determined what could be considered a “Goldilocks” climate for rainfall use by plants: not too wet and not too dry.