Tag: Science

Australian Engineers Say ‘Intelligent Compaction’ Will Reduce Potholes

If John Lennon reckoned 4,000 potholes in Blackburn, Lancashire, he might have devoted an entire album to the state of Australia’s roads after months of rain and floods. An estimated half of the nation’s A$16 billion (US$10.73 billion) public roads budget is spent on maintenance and repairs, according to Infrastructure Partnerships Australia. State governments invest more…


Biden Announces War on Methane Emissions and Increased Investments for Clean Energy During Climate Summit

President Joe Biden announced increased investments in countries and projects related to climate change in an effort to adhere to global climate targets, while declaring steps to limit methane emissions within the country in remarks given at the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27). “Today as a…


Biden Tightens Methane Emissions, Increases Climate Change Investments

President Joe Biden announced increased investments in countries and projects related to climate change in an effort to adhere to global climate targets, while declaring steps to limit methane emissions within the country in remarks given at the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27). “Today as a…


Divers Find Challenger Space Shuttle Wreckage Off Florida Coast

Divers from a documentary crew looking for the wreckage of a World War Two aircraft off the coast of Florida found a 20-foot section of the space shuttle Challenger, which exploded and broke apart shortly after its launch in 1986, NASA said on Thursday. The divers contacted NASA after spotting a large, clearly modern object…


Study: Blood Disorder Treatment May Activate Cancer-Causing Gene in Some Patients

The current treatment for a group of blood cancers called myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) involves demethylating drugs that inhibit the growth of cancer cells. However, a multinational team led by researchers from Taiwan, Singapore, and the United States has found that the drugs may actually activate a known oncogene—a gene that under certain conditions can cause…


Hubble Telescope Reveals Huge Star’s Explosion in Blow-by-Blow Detail

WASHINGTON—About 11.5 billion years ago, a distant star roughly 530 times larger than our sun died in a cataclysmic explosion that blew its outer layers of gas into the surrounding cosmos, a supernova documented by astronomers in blow-by-blow detail. Researchers on Wednesday said NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope managed to capture three separate images spanning a…


US Weather Satellite, Test Payload Launched Into Space

LOS ANGELES—A satellite intended to improve weather forecasting and an experimental inflatable heat shield to protect spacecraft entering atmospheres were launched into space from California on Thursday. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the Joint Polar Satellite System-2 satellite and the NASA test payload lifted off at 1:49 a.m. from Vandenberg Space Force…


In California, Water Worries a Farmer-Congressman

On the road from Yuba City to Chico in the northern half of California’s heavily agricultural Central Valley, it’s hard to stop thinking about water—especially during election season. Political signs advertise candidates’ positions on the issue, an indication of its virtually unmatched importance to the people and communities between the Sierra Nevadas and the California…


UN Nuclear Chief Says Recycling Nuclear Waste ‘Difficult’ After Biden Looks to Fund Reprocessing Projects

Rafael Grossi, director-general of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has downplayed the chances of nuclear reprocessing becoming a reality in many nations. In an interview with Reuters, Grossi said he doesn’t see many nations looking seriously into reprocessing as it is a “very difficult technology” that requires a lot of infrastructure. However, if…


New Wastewater Technology to Clean Great Barrier Reef With Macroalgae

Australian researchers have come up with a new wastewater technology to clean the waterways of the Great Barrier Reef, one of the nation’s most precious natural assets. Developed by biotechnology company Pacific Bio, the RegenAqua technology uses native Australian seaweed and macroalgae, combined with sunlight, to remove harmful nutrients from wastewater before it enters waterways…