Science
Scientists unmask ‘Ghost Mountains’ of Antarctica at last
|
Scientists this week revealed startling new images of the Gamburtsev Mountain Range of Antarctica, a huge and mysterious “ghost range” buried beneath more than a mile of ice.
Science
Researchers edge toward artificial photosynthesis
|
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have discovered a process that allows them to imitate photosynthesis—a potentially critical breakthrough in the search for clean, sustainable energy.
Culture
High-speed rail is all the rage: here, there and everywhere
|
High-speed rail seems to be top of mind among the world’s transportation wonks and policy makers, with action in the U.S., Europe and, most of all, China.
Science
Official: ‘We have failed the wild tiger’
|
The head of an international wildlife organization says it has “failed miserably” to halt the precipitous population decline of tigers in the wild. “How have we let this happen?”
Culture
Shear beams, engineering and the science of the new Bay Bridge
|
Putting aside mind-blowing cost overruns, along with delays at a Chinese steel fabrication plant, engineers and scientists are following the equally mind-blowing construction feats in the eastern span of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge.
Culture
Blame Haiti’s deaths on shoddy construction
|
The blame for Haiti’s staggering death toll from the 7.0-magnitude earthquake on Jan. 12—the toll is expected to rise to over 200,000— lies at the feet of that country’s c0nstruction industry, says a Berkeley, Calif. engineer.
Science
In California’s high desert, a solar gamble
|
The California Owens Valley, the scene of decades of intense environmental hostilities and the subject of the famous Roman Polanski film “Chinatown,” once more finds itself at center stage. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which turned Owens Lake into a dry wasteland and created one of the most prodigious polluters in America, wants to turn its lake bed into one of largest sources of solar power in America.
Science
New tech turns ordinary windows into solar cells
|
New thin-film technology could also be applied to other surfaces, turning buildings into power generators.
Science
Turks turn tires into ‘stardust’
|
If successful, the process could prove instrumental in the vexing environmental challenge of dealing with landfill-hogging tires. In Europe alone, 325,000 tons of tires are buried in landfills each year.
Science
A damming effect on giant catfish
|
The Giant Southeast Asian catfish is in danger of extinction, a recent report concluded.