REALscience » Environment

Microsoft Imagine Cup Rewards Students Who Solve Global Problems

Michael Bradbury — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:45:05 +0000

The Imagine Cup, now in its eighth year, encourages high school and university students around the world to develop software aiming to solve global problems.

Team Skeek from Thailand took home the top prize for software design for creating a program that translates text into sign language using speech and facial recognition. Their application eyeFeel lets hearing impaired people communicate using a visual augmented reality environment.

Team Skeek Wins Top Prize at Imagine Cup, photo courtesy of Microsoft

SmarterME from Taiwan won the embedded development category with a device that targets the biggest energy-suckers in the home. The application lets homeowners see the appliances that use the most power and raise the electric bill.

By Implication from the Philippines won in game design for an X-Box enabled game that allows players to perform human intelligence tasks and gets young people interested in volunteering. It uses an X-Box controller and social media to encourage youth to help battle some of the worlds biggest problems, ranging from poverty to environmental disasters.

The game Wildfire was inspired byTyphoon Ketsana, a devastating storm that ravaged the island nation.

The winning team in each of the five categories took home $25,000. The other winners were:

WeiQiu Wen from China, IT Challenge
Mirror Vita from Taiwan, Digital Media
Jigga-Dongxi from Taiwan, Envisioning 2020 Award
Xormis from Jamaica, Interoperability Award
Wanna Be Alice from Korea, Next Generation Web Award
Team Note-Taker from the United States, Touch and Tablet Accessibility Award
Beastware from the United States, Windows Phone 7 Rockstar Award
Rhea from Poland, Internet Explorer 8 Award

Scientists Simulate BP Oil Spill Day 360

Michael Bradbury — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 22:16:24 +0000

Simulation of BP Oil Spill, Day 360, courtesy of University of Hawaii

University of Hawaii scientists Researchers Axel Timmermann and Fabian Schloesser have been trying to answer a question that few will even dare to ask. They want to how not if but when the oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will round the tip of Florida and race up the east coast, polluting beaches and destroying fisheries along the Atlantic seaboard.

Their answer may frighten many. After some serious number crunching and based on historical ocean current movement, they determined that the entire eastern shoreline of the U.S. will see signs of the BP oil spill within the next three months. And a year from he accident — April 20, 2011 — the oil will stretch across the Gulf of Mexico, up the Atlantic and be half way to Europe.

“After one year, about 20 percent of the particles initially released at the Deepwater Horizon location have been transported through the Straits of Florida and into the open Atlantic.” — Axel Timmermann, University of Hawaii at Manoa oceanographer

The School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology Computer Simulation

Disclaimer: The dispersal of the particles does not capture such effects as oil coagulation, formation of tar balls, chemical and microbial degradation. Computed surface concentrations relative to the actual spill may therefore be overestimated. The animation, thus, is not a detailed, specific prediction, but rather a scenario that could help guide research and mitigation efforts.

This simulation is also based on the estimated flow of oil from the spill of 50,000 barrels a day for 150 days.

Scientists Study Gulf Oil Spill Impact on Marine Life

Michael Bradbury — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 16:35:35 +0000

University of Florida’s Neil Hammerschlag is studying whether sharks along the Gulf Coast of Florida can sense oil and move away from it.

Hurley the hammerhead shark disappeared from satellite tracking two days after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill as researchers were studying migration patterns of these misunderstood fish.

Now when the sharks for this study are caught and tagged, a tissue and blood sample is also taken and tested for hydrocarbons to see if they are absorbing any oil from the ongoing BP oil disaster.

There is likely to be enough work keeping researchers busy studying the effects of oil on sharks for decades.

A marine biologist from the National Aquarium in Baltimore is heading to Florida to study the potential impact of the BP oil spill near Sarasota.

National Aquarium’s Erik Rifkin wants to study the ecological disaster that the BP oil spill caused. He’s joined forces with scientists from Johns Hopkins and the Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida.

The team will be deploying 100 devices to detect water pollution near Sarasota, Florida, an area that has not been affected by the oil spill yet. He says positioning the collectors there will help establish a baseline before the oil reaches that area. That way they can measure the impact if and when the oil does flow that way.

Even NASA is getting in on the animal cleanup action. Besides providing satellite images to help contain surface oil as it nears barrier islands near Louisiana, the first sea turtle hatchlings whose eggs were evacuated from the Gulf Coast oil spill to Florida’s Kennedy Space Center have been released into the Atlantic Ocean.

The Virginia Aquarium has been sending its staff down to New Orleans to help clean oil off stranded sea turtles. The aquarium’s stranding team is getting a first-hand look at the effects of oil on the keystone species of sea turtles.

For now members of the team are going to the turtles but soon the turtles may go to the Virginia Aquarium for rehabilitation.

“We expect to be dealing with the after effects of this for well over a year.” — Mark Swingle, Virginia Aquarium director of research and conservation

But it’s not just scientists and citizen scientists who are concerned about the effects of oil on marine life.

Even Federal Express is helping out.

The shipping company will work with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to ship up to 70,000 loggerhead sea turtle eggs from the shores of the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic coast this summer, in an effort to move the eggs to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral.

BP Replaces Oil Cap and Runs Pressure Tests to Stop Oil Leak

Michael Bradbury — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 01:03:59 +0000

With a tight new cap freshly installed on its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico, BP planned gradual tests starting Tuesday to see if the device can stop oil from pouring into the sea for the first time in nearly three months.

The next step will be to slowly close the valves on that cap to see if it can withstand the pressure of the oil pushing out of the seabed.

“The goal is to slowly close that down and understand the changes in pressure.” — National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen

Some scientists, including Energy Secretary Steven Chu and U.S. Geological Survey’s Marcia McNutt are worried that when the new cap is tightly fitted, the pressure of oil trying to escape will cause tiny ruptures in the pipeline and cause oil to leak through rock formations in the seabed.

Update

A pivotal moment in the Gulf oil crisis hit an unexpected snag Tuesday evening when officials announced they needed more time before they could begin choking off the geyser of crude at the bottom of the sea.

Oil Gushes Freely for Two Days

Michael Bradbury — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:47:36 +0000

Robotic submarines removed the cap from the gushing well in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, beginning a period of at least two days when oil will flow freely into the sea.

And BP isn’t convinced that putting the new Top Hat Number 10 cap on the leaking wellhead will solve the problem. If the new cap fails, the company is prepared to go to Plan B — placing a Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP) cap on the damaged riser.

BP spokesman Mark Proegler told the Associated Press that he cap was pulled off Saturday so workers could begin clamping on a dome that can capture more of the oil and funnel it up to collection ships on the surface.

This move makes the worst oil spill in U.S. history even worse — at least until the new containment dome can be fitted, sometime early this week.

But BP is confident by removing the leaking cap and replacing it with a one that fits more tightly, less oil will leak into the Gulf as drilling on the relief well continues.

“Over the next two weeks or so we’ll get to about 60,000-80,000 barrels a day of containment.”– BP Senior Vice President Kent Wells

Capping the BP Oil Leak on the Horizon

Michael Bradbury — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 23:11:14 +0000

The BP oil leak could be completely contained as early as Monday if a new, tighter cap can be fitted over the blown-out well, the government official in charge of the crisis said Friday in some of the most encouraging news to come out of the Gulf in the two and half months since the disaster struck.

After several failures to cap the leaking oil gusher 5,000 feet below the Gulf of Mexico, BP is going to install a new cap, known as Top Hat Number 10 this weekend, in an effort to contain the oil spewing into the gulf.

Since the spill on April 20, underwater robots have done most of the heavy lifting at these depths. They will cut the damaged cap and replace it with the new 75-ton solution. While this will contain most of the oil, it will not stop the leak. The leak will stop when the oil company completes drilling of a relief well, sometime in early August.

A 175-foot low-flying blimp also joined the fight this week. It will seek out oily hotspots from the air so a new ship with actor Kevin Costner’s oil from water separation device can start cleaning up the surface of the Gulf.

Still 1.5-2.5 million gallons per day continue leaking leaking from the Horizon Deepwater oil disaster. When the robots uncap the well the oil and gas will rush into the gulf at full force –which scientists estimate at around 3.4 million gallons per day — until the new cap can be placed, hopefully by July 12.

“Everything done at that site is very much harder than anyone expects,” he said. Overton said putting on the new cap carries risks: “Is replacing the cap going to do more damage than leaving it in place, or are you going to cause problems that you can’t take care of?” — Louisiana State University environmental sciences professor Ed Overton

2010: A Space Policy

Michael Bradbury — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:36:41 +0000

President Obama unveiled his new plan(PDF) for NASA. After scrapping the manned space program Constellation last fall the President pushed back plans to return to the moon and send a manned mission to Mars. This announcement and policy reversal struck some stargazers and scientists as disappointing.

The President’s plan reverses former President Bush’s plan for a new moon shot and focuses on private space flight, international cooperation and near-earth environmental observation.

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke says the new space policy will be good for business and inspire new jobs in the burgeoning private space industry.

“This policy is about energizing competitive domestic industries through innovation, entrepreneurship and technological leadership in space. It recognizes the sea changes occurring in the space community, with federal budgets tightening at the same time that commercial space capabilities and markets are gaining momentum.”– Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke

The new plan includes robotic probes to the sun, a manned mission to an asteroid and to Mars. It also puts new emphasis on near-Earth monitoring satellites to study climate and other environmental changes.

“Fifty years after the creation of NASA, our goal is no longer just a destination to reach. Our goal is the capacity for people to work and learn and operate and live safely beyond the Earth for extended periods of time, ultimately in ways that are more sustainable and even indefinite. And in fulfilling this task, we will not only extend humanity’s reach in space—we will strengthen America’s leadership here on Earth.”—President Barack Obama

Falcon Rocket, courtesy of SpaceX

Goals for Space Science, Exploration, and Discovery

The Administrator of NASA shall:
•Set far-reaching exploration milestones. By 2025, begin crewed missions beyond the moon, including sending humans to an asteroid. By the mid-2030s, send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to Earth

•Continue the operation of the International Space Station (ISS), in cooperation with its international
partners, likely to 2020 or beyond, and expand efforts to: utilize the ISS for scientific, technological, commercial, diplomatic, and educational purposes; support activities requiring the unique attributes of humans in space; serve as a continuous human presence in Earth orbit; and support future objectives in human space exploration

•Seek partnerships with the private sector to enable safe, reliable, and cost-effective commercial spaceflight capabilities and services for the transport of crew and cargo to and from the ISS

•Implement a new space technology development and test program, working with industry, academia, and international partners to build, fly, and test several key technologies that can increase the capabilities, decrease the costs, and expand the opportunities for future space activities

•Conduct research and development in support of next-generation launch systems, including new U.S. rocket engine technologies

•Maintain a sustained robotic presence in the solar system to: conduct scientific investigations of other planetary bodies; demonstrate new technologies; and scout locations for future human missions

•Continue a strong program of space science for observations, research, and analysis of our Sun, solar system, and universe to enhance knowledge of the cosmos, further our understanding of fundamental natural and physical sciences, understand the conditions that may support the development of life, and search for planetary bodies and Earth-like planets in orbit around other stars

•Pursue capabilities, in cooperation with other departments, agencies, and commercial partners,
to detect, track, catalog, and characterize near-Earth objects to reduce the risk of harm to humans from an unexpected impact on our planet and to identify potentially resource-rich planetary objects.

BP Spins Kevin Costner Oil-Separating Centrifuge into Action

Michael Bradbury — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 22:44:25 +0000

“I’ve been to all the oil spill conferences around he country and all I see are booms and the latest helicopter. But I’ve never seen one machine that deals with getting the oil out. That’s me.” — Kevin Costner

Actor Kevin Costner was visibly frustrated when he testified before Congress earlier this month about the lack of ingenuity he was seeing when it comes to cleaning up the Horizon Deepwater oil spill which began on April 20. His $24 million idea uses a centrifuge to suck in polluted water and separate the oil then spit out the cleaned seawater.

And this week BP has signed on to use 32 of Costner’s devices — which can unmix oil and water at a rate of up to 200 gallons per machine per minute — to help clean up some of the oil that is polluting the Gulf of Mexico.

“It may seem an unlikely scenario that I’m the one delivering this technology at this moment in time. but from where I’m sitting it’s equally inconceivable that these machines are not already in place.” — Kevin Costner

Costner has been developing his centrifuge technology over the past 15 years, after watchingthe devastation following the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in 1989.

Physicist Michio Kaku talked to CBS News about Costner’s solution and other innovations in late May.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

“In chemistry class we learned that oil and water don’t mix. Everybody knows that. But that’s not really true.” — Physicist Michio Kaku

BP Flow Rate Technical Panelist Says Scientists Need Data Not Speculation

Michael Bradbury — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:27:12 +0000

Over the last few weeks, scientists — including those on the government’s Flow Rate Technical Panel — have been unable to pinpoint how many gallons of oil are flooding the Gulf of Mexico.

Ira Leifer who is part of a 12-scientist panel guiding the Obama administration as it tries to get a handle on how much oil is flowing from the ruptured well 5,000 feet below the surface in the nation’s worst environmental disaster.

For several weeks BP estimated that about 1,000 barrels of oil a day were leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. Then that number started to rise as the days wore on. In the last several weeks, the official number has been raised to 40,000 barrels a day. But the estimate does have a higher range — of 100,000 barrels a day, which Dr. Leifer says is BP’s worst case scenario. And he sees no reason to doubt those numbers.

Unfortunately scientists do not have all the data they need to take good measurements. So far BP has supplied the technical panel with 45 minutes of video and a few other documents but not enough data to determine how much oil is really flowing.

“We do not know what was happening five minutes before. We do not know what was happening five minutes afterwards.” — Ira Leifer, UC Santa Barbara

Add to that the complication that this is not a standard well. Besides the pressure differentials at this great depth, this well consists of a pipe punched into a geologic formation, which means the flow rate can fluctuate over time.

This resevoir is massive. It could easily flow that kind of oil for the next 20 or 30 years if it was left to go unattended. — Ira Leifer

100,000 barrels of oil is the equivalent of 4.2 million gallons.

Dr. Leifer is quick to point out that there is no way to say for sure that is how much oil is dumping into the Gulf but that is because he and other scientists need more data.

Even as scientists been creating and revising flow rate estimates for weeks, a new undated BP internal document was released this week showing that the company placed its worst case scenario at 100,000 barrels of oil a day.

PBS has created a Leak Meter to monitor the flow of oil but it needs to start with the right data to be accurate (numbers below are gross estimate)

Mystery of Hole Punch Clouds Explained

Michael Bradbury — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:49:08 +0000

New research from the National Center for Atmospheric Research has solved the mystery of so-called hole punch clouds. As turboprop and jet aircraft climb or descend under certain atmospheric conditions, they can inadvertently seed mid-level clouds and cause narrow bands of snow or rain to develop and fall to the ground.

“Any time aircraft fly through these specific conditions, they are altering the clouds in a way that can result in enhanced precipitation nearby.” — Andrew Heymsfield, NCAR scientist

Dr. Heymsfield flew through a hole punched cloud and realized that the air is forced back as a plane flies through it and cools rapidly, forming ice crystals. This can lead to bands of airplane-induces snow under the right conditions.

Ocean Watch Returns after Circumnavigating the Americas

Michael Bradbury — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 18:17:21 +0000

pacsci on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

After a 13-month journey around North and South America the crew of Ocean Watch is returning to Seattle today. They have sailed around the Americas raising awareness about ocean health and conducting a few science experiments along the way.

Join the conversation here tomorrow as the crew of Ocean Watch participates the Marine Health Symposium at University of Washington in Seattle. Much of the symposium will be live-streamed from 1:00-5:30 p.m. PDT.

President Obama Addresses Nation from the Oval Office About the BP Oil Spill

Michael Bradbury — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:14:24 +0000

Full Transcript of President Obama’s speech, “A Faith in the Future that Sustains us as a People”

President Obama addressed the nation last night, assuring all Americans that he is working hard, with scientists, engineers, oil company executives and 30,000 volunteers and aid workers to help stop and clean up the oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico from the April 20 BP Horizon Deepwater oil rig explosion. The President called this the greatest environmental disaster in the history of the United States of America.

That’s why just after the rig sank, I assembled a team of our nation’s best scientists and engineers to tackle this challenge — a team led by Dr. Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and our nation’s Secretary of Energy. Scientists at our national labs and experts from academia and other oil companies have also provided ideas and advice.

He talked about the cleanup effort, already underway, to prevent oil from reaching beaches and shorelines along Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

Because of our efforts, millions of gallons of oil have already been removed from the water through burning, skimming and other collection methods. Over five and a half million feet of boom has been laid across the water to block and absorb the approaching oil. We’ve approved the construction of new barrier islands in Louisiana to try to stop the oil before it reaches the shore, and we’re working with Alabama, Mississippi and Florida to implement creative approaches to their unique coastlines.

President Obama asked Ray Mabus, the Secretary of the Navy to lead the development of the Gulf Coast Restoration Plan.

The plan will be designed by states, local communities, tribes, fishermen, businesses, conservationists and other Gulf residents.

To ensure a disaster like this doesn’t happen again, the President has launched an investigation to find out why this oil spill happened. After issuing permits for experimental offshore drilling, he has placed a six-month moratorium on offshore drilling until he is satisfied that this type of deep-oil extraction can be done safely.

And so I’ve established a National Commission to understand the causes of this disaster and offer recommendations on what additional safety and environmental standards we need to put in place.

On Monday, President Obama appointed members of the new BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling Commission, which consists of scientists, academics and environmental experts.

They are:

Frances Beinecke

Don Boesch

Terry D. Garcia

Dr. Cherry Murray

Fran Ulmer

President Obama took the opportunity the BP oil spill afforded to make a plea for all Americans to band together to wean ourselves off fossil fuels and to innovate toward a new alternative energy future.

So I’m happy to look at other ideas and approaches from either party -– as long they seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels. Some have suggested raising efficiency standards in our buildings like we did in our cars and trucks. Some believe we should set standards to ensure that more of our electricity comes from wind and solar power. Others wonder why the energy industry only spends a fraction of what the high-tech industry does on research and development -– and want to rapidly boost our investments in such research and development.

The President challenged the nation to turn this tragedy into an opportunity to do something unexpected and very difficult to secure a brighter energy future and at the same time reduce the effects of climate change.

But the one approach I will not accept is inaction. The one answer I will not settle for is the idea that this challenge is somehow too big and too difficult to meet. You know, the same thing was said about our ability to produce enough planes and tanks in World War II. The same thing was said about our ability to harness the science and technology to land a man safely on the surface of the moon. And yet, time and again, we have refused to settle for the paltry limits of conventional wisdom.

Oil-eating Microbes Could Help in Gulf Disaster

Michael Bradbury — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:41:34 +0000

A small bioremediation company in San Antonio is offering the use of its oil-eating microbes to help reduce the impact of the Horizon Deepwater oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The government is also looking for credible suggestions to sop up oil on facebook.

Health Concerns Rise Over Use of Oil Dispersant Corexit

Michael Bradbury — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:56:55 +0000

Seven Louisiana fishermen reported getting sick after exposure to the oil dispersant that is being used to thin the oil slick on the Gulf of Mexico.

Nalco, the company that makes Corexit, the dispersant used after the April 20 Horizon Deepwater oil spill, says it has faith in its product. It insists that the product is biodegradable and that when it breaks down into tiny droplets, microscopic organisms then eat the oil and dispersant, cleaning the ocean in the process.

“The use of COREXIT dispersants to break up the oil in the Gulf of Mexico has been widely acknowledged by government officials as a safe, effective and proven response. Its ingredients rapidly biodegrade, do not bio-accumulate and are commonly found in popular household products. And because the dispersant works by spreading oil particles evenly through the water column, it is extremely unlikely that individuals along the Gulf Coast would come into contact with it.” — Nalco Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Manian Ramesh

But after health concerns began emerging the EPA is trying to curb the use of Corexit. To date, BP has sprayed more than one million gallons of the dispersant to prevent a massive oil slick from reaching the shorelines of the gulf states.

Scientists Struggle To Narrow Oil Leak Estimate

Michael Bradbury — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 20:10:37 +0000

British Petroleum’s oil leak is dumping an Exxon Valdez worth of oil into the Gulf of Mexico every 8-10 days, according to new estimates by scientists who are watching the black geyser a mile beneath the surface very closely.
New estimates show the damaged well leaking twice as much oil as previously estimated but no one knows for sure.

Even scientists disagree–ranging from 12,000-50,000 barrels of oil a day. The one thing they do agree on is that BP has been grossly underestimating the damage so far.

On June 3, University of Washington scientists as part of a federal panel of experts placed the leak at 12,000-19,000 barrels a day before BP cut the riser pipe and capped it. Other scientists think those estimates are too conservative, placing the leak at between 25,000 and 50,000 barrels a day. But the new official estimate from the U.S. Geological Survey is somewhere between 20,000 and 40,000 barrels of oil, much higher than BP’s original estimate of 5,000 barrels of oil a day.

The Washington Post has a story today about the varied estimates and explains why it is important to find out how much oil has polluted the Gulf of Mexico.

Reuters has the story as Jon Decker reports.

Oceanographers Join the Oil Spill Fight with Robot Subs

Michael Bradbury — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 01:41:25 +0000

An autonomous underwater vehicle from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute just returned from gathering important data about the gulf Oil spill as scientists begin to help figure out how much oil is continuing to leak day by day and what’s happening almost a mile below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.

BP Cap Collects Oil as Underwater Plumes are Mapped

Michael Bradbury — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 17:22:39 +0000

BP has begun to have some success in closing the Gulf of Mexico oil leak, CBC’s David Common reports

Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said the newly installed wellhead cap is now containing about 462,000 gallons of oil a day from leaking into the Gulf. The new cap is slowing the leak, up from about 441,000 gallons on Saturday and about 250,000 on Friday.

Officials previously estimated the ruptured pipe is leaking between 500,000 gallons and 1 million gallons a day.

Two University of Washington engineers have helped the U.S. government calculate the latest figures for the amount of oil flowing from pipes into the Gulf of Mexico. Mechanical engineers Alberto Aliseda and James Riley are among 10 academic experts who joined 12 government experts over the past two weeks.

The panel’s estimate, released last Thursday, was 12,000 to 19,000 barrels per day. This widely reported number puts the spill to date at twice the volume of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska’s Prince William Sound.

Oil Spill: BP Fails at Top Kill as Oil Continues to Flow

Michael Bradbury — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 22:03:04 +0000

The White House warns that oil from the Gulf of Mexico disaster will likely continue leaking until August after BP declares its ‘top kill’ operation a failure, the CBC’s David Common reports.

Editor’s note: Why doesn’t a consortium of structural, ocean and even geo engineers get together and start looking at quick and innovative approaches to stopping what is now the worst oil spill in U.S. history?

BP Starts Top Kill Procedure to Stop Oil Leak

Michael Bradbury — Thu, 27 May 2010 22:21:51 +0000

After over a month of spewing millions of gallons of oil deep into the Gulf of Mexico, BP has begun it’s “top kill” approach which requires jamming mud into the hole created on April 20. The trick is that the pressure of the mud being pushed into the pipe to stem the oil flow must exceed the pressure of the oil pouring out.

Scientists estimate that pressure to be about 5,000 psi (pounds per square inch)–more pressure than a scuba tank. And this procedure may force the oil to find new ways to escape through rock formations or by blowing a new hole in the pipe.

Underwater Video Shows Oil Spewing into Gulf of Mexico

Michael Bradbury — Thu, 20 May 2010 23:16:18 +0000

Five-thousand feet below the oily surface of the Gulf of Mexico a new vantage point at the site of the devastating oil spill shows the unending flow of crude live. Congressman Edwin Markey (D-MA) was tired of the little clips of video BP was releasing following the April 20 oil spill. So he started streaming it live from his congressional website. Here’s the feed to watch the oil spew.

NASA Looks for Ways to Mop Up Space Junk

Michael Bradbury — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 16:08:11 +0000

One New Mexican is looking to clean up space, and NASA recently invited him to share his opinions at a national conference.

Methane Bubbles up from the Arctic

Michael Bradbury — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:00:52 +0000

Researchers at University of Alaska Fairbanks are afraid the permafrost in the Siberian continental shelf is beginning to fail. If it does the trapped methane below will release into the ocean and eventually into the atmosphere. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas — about 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Dr. Natalia Shakhova says the concentrations of atmospheric methane measured in the Arctic are the highest in 400,000 years. More research is underway to determine how much methane is capped below the permafrost under the Arctic Ocean so scientists can better understand the near and long term consequences to the sudden release of trapped methane.

University of Alaska Fairbanks Professor Katey Walter Anthony takes us onto a frozen lake in Fairbanks, AK to demonstrate why methane gas has “exploded” onto the climate change scene. DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME.

EPA to Study Oil and Gas “Fracking”

Michael Bradbury — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:12:35 +0000

The Environmental Protection Agency is going to spend $1.9 million to study the practice of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” by the oil and natural gas industry to reach deep natural resources. The process injects water, sand and chemicals deep into the ground to get to buried oil and natural gas pockets.

The EPA will study the effects the process has on human health, water quality and the environment.

Mammoth Icebergs Could Alter Ocean Currents, Weather

Michael Bradbury — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:40:06 +0000

An iceberg about the size of Luxembourg, which struck a glacier off Antarctica dislodging another massive block of ice, could lower oxygen levels in the world’s oceans, affect ocean currents and even change global weather patterns.

With the equivalent of the world’s annual freshwater consumption frozen in these slow moving islands of ice, scientists believe it could take up to 30 years to reach warm enough waters where the bergs will melt away.

Right now, the freshly-calved iceberg that broke off from the Mertz Glacier in eastern Antarctica, is floating in the Southern Ocean with the larger iceberg which broke off in 1987. Both icebergs are heading in the general direction of Australia and New Zealand.

During the International Polar Year, scientists outfitted the new iceberg with GPS beacons so they can study the calving of large icebergs and measure their environmental impact. The two-year study is called Cooperative Research into Antarctic Calving and Iceberg Evolution or CRACICE.

Bloom Box May Rock Fuel Cell World

Michael Bradbury — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:25:26 +0000

With California’s governor and a former Secretary of State on hand, Bloom Energy held its official launch. The clean-energy startup revealed some of its plans for making fuel-cell technology affordable enough for people to buy for their homes.

With roots in NASA’s Mars program, here’s what Bloom Energy says about its solid oxide fuel technology.

Derived from a common sand-like powder, and leveraging breakthrough advances in materials science, our technology is able to produce clean, reliable, affordable power,… practically anywhere,… from a wide range of renewable or traditional fuels.

The initial rollout is underway at big companies like eBay, Google and Bank of America but the plan is to get these generators to power homes in the near future.

New Study Shows Accelerated Arctic Heating

Michael Bradbury — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:28:17 +0000

An ice-free Arctic in the summer may just be a few years away, according to preliminary Canadian Research that began during the International Polar Year.

And less sea ice this winter allowed the coast guard icebreaker Amundsen to spend the whole winter research season in the Arctic, studying the climate changes at are changing life in the high latitudes.

Branson Explores Underwater Flight

Michael Bradbury — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:56:54 +0000

The man who is planning to send tourists to space is diving into the world of ocean exploration. The first underwater plane is designed for use by Sir Richard Branson’s guests who visit his private Caribbean island.

This fun toy could be the beginning of a new Virgin brand — this called one Virgin Oceanic.

After taking possession of the new Necker Nymph later this month Branson will continue on adapting jet-fighter technology for a new class of submarine, capable of plumbing the depths of the 35,000-foot Mariana Trench.

The Sun’s Hot Solar Promise

Michael Bradbury — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:33:47 +0000

The sun is one-stop shopping when it comes to finding an unlimited supply of power. But harnessing light and turning it into electricity has proven to be a tricky and expensive proposition.

But if we could squeeze our huge thirst for power from the sun, one way to go may be something called “solar chemical“.

It uses a chemical process to break the bonds of molecules like water or carbon dioxide in order to create a solar fuel. Using solar energy to turn a greenhouse gas like carbon dioxide into electricity and fuel would be a simple way capture that nuisance greenhouse gas and create a clean fuel at the same time.

Some people, including Bill Gates, are suggesting more funding for basic solar chemical research as one way to solve the ever present solar storage problem.

Make Room for the Mesopredators

Michael Bradbury — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:50:41 +0000

The top predators in every animal niche are disappearing. Development and other forces are pushing these animals toward the brink of extinction.

New research shows that conservation efforts and a plan to return apex predators to the wild may be more cost-effective than trying to control the predators in waiting — called mesopredators.

A House of Cards in the Columbian Jungle

Michael Bradbury — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 20:46:11 +0000

Dedicated environmentalists, or eccentric architects? Nearly a decade ago, the Jimenez family moved from the Colombian city of Cali to a humble home in the jungle made entirely out of paper.

They keep cool, cook, do laundry and demonstrate how to live off the grid by generating their own energy.

Science Looks for Plan B after Getting the Cold Shoulder at Warming Talks

Michael Bradbury — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:57:35 +0000

Many scientists are disappointed after two weeks of climate change negotiations resulted in a toothless agreement that didn’t limit carbon dioxide, the main culprit of global warming. The new Copenhagen Accord(PDF) did not cut emissions as previously thought, dimming some hope that a global treaty would help improve the climate.

Some are calling for Plan B just in case reducing emissions ends up being too little, too late. Intervening in the climate is considered a last-ditch effort if we find ourselves in dire climate straits. But now geoengineering is starting to get some attention as several top scientists are calling for new research initiatives and its inclusion as part of broader climate solutions.

Even former Microsoft technology guru and physicist Nathan Myhrvold thinks we need to start preparing for every eventuality.

Owning the Weather, panel discussion on geoengineering, from COP 15 in Copenhagen.

Artist rendering of blimps spewing sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, courtesy of The Atlantic.

Tree Kangaroos Fate Up in the Air

Michael Bradbury — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:43:31 +0000

Matschie's Tree Kangaroo courtesy of Woodland Park Zoo

Climate negotiations over how to limit carbon dioxide emissions are heating up in Copenhagen. But one other important area negotiators are addressing — how to sequester existing CO2.

Climate sinks — like oceans, forests and permafrost — are natural solutions. But tropical rain forests are falling faster than they can be preserved.

One cute and cuddly (looking) tree kangaroo may become the unwitting ambassador for forest conservation.

Biologist Lisa Dabeck, from the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, is the director of the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Project, which has been able to set aside almost 200,000 acres of pristine forest, where the matschie’s tree kangaroo lives.

Here is the National Geographic tree kangaroo critter cam.

Here is the Lincoln Zoo tree kangaroo critter cam. (Sad news. One of the twin joeys died in September after falling from a branch in the exhibit.)

Nightline followed Dr. Dabeck to New Guinea in search of tree kangaroos. Here’s a link to Dan Harris’ report, which includes a roo named Dan.

Wind Powered Menorah

Michael Bradbury — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:55:59 +0000

Two Yeshiva University students are introducing science to religion in the wind tunnel of New York where powerful blasts of air rip down skyscraper lined streets. Wind power offers a new way to power Hanukkah.

Gaga for Zhu Zhu

Michael Bradbury — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:07:14 +0000

The world has gone nuts for five robotic hamsters, called Zhu Zhu Pets. While the cute and cuddly creatures race around on a surfboard, skateboard or in a car, the “it” toy of 2009 has some heavy metals that are within safety limits but beg the question: Do toys need to have these toxic ingredients at all?

Consumer products safety organizations measure the presence of dangerous elements two ways. One uses an XRF scanner to determine if a metal is present at all. The other dissolves the product in a solution to measure the presence and quantity of heavy metals.

New rules go into effect in 2010 that will require Zhu Zhu Pet maker Cepia and other toy manufacturers to follow stricter standards to ensure lead and other heavy metals don’t creep into toys and other goods.

Essco Safety Check, a Redmond, WA company is offering consumers free testing of any household item they bring to the Seattle-area retail location until mid January.

Deconstructing Carbon Emissions

Michael Bradbury — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:35:57 +0000

Over the course of the next few weeks we are going to be hearing a lot about carbon emissions–the gas released into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels and a whole host of other human activities. While the catch-all is called “carbon emissions” they aren’t confined to carbon dioxide gas.

During the Copenhagen Climate Conference we are going to be hearing a lot about what will follow the Kyoto Protocol, the global treaty aimed at reducing carbon emissions to help reduce the effects of man-made global warming.

Copenhagen Diagnosis Reveals Dire Climate Future

Michael Bradbury — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:50:51 +0000

just as world leaders are getting ready to head to Denmark for a big climate negotiations conference that will determine the treaty to follow the Kyoto Protocol, a new scientific assessment is painting a dark picture of the future, based on recent climate science.

Though not an official report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 14 of the 26 authors are scientists who helped construct the scientific assessment in 2007. Since then, they felt that so much new data shows that the previous estimates were too conservative and the rate of global warming was significantly underestimated.

Here are some key points of the 64-page Copenhagen Diagnosis: Updating the World on the Latest Climate Science (PDF).

Greenhouse gas

The human induced global warming trend is still active, despite less solar activity and seasonally cool temperatures.

Glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets have been melting at an accelerated pace since 1990, especially on Greenland and Antarctica.

Arctic sea ice has been melting at a rapid rate, making parts of the Arctic ice-free in summer for the last three years.

Sea levels are rising much faster than previously thought–two inches in the last 15 years.

The report finds suggests that vulnerable elements of the climate system could push us past tipping points if emissions reductions are delayed. And in order to meet the globally-determined safe threshold of less than two degrees Celsius, carbon emissions must peak by 2015 and then rapidly decline to almost zero by 2050.

To underscore the importance of the Copenhagen Climate Conference, President Obama will appear during the proceedings on Dec. 9 to urge world leaders to reduce emissions right away.

Open Data Opens Doors for Citizen Scientists

Michael Bradbury — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:27:04 +0000

Members of the Surui tribe in Brazil test Open Data Kit, photo courtesy of Carl Hartung, UW

Cell phones are coming to the aid of international health workers, environmental monitors and even citizen scientists. Now loaded with a data collection tool, Open Data Kit is the brainchild of some doctoral students at University of Washington.

But early deployment into the Amazon Rainforest and Tanzania will give the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December better information when it comes to global deforestation.

Measuring of the size of rainforests is helping to deter illegal logging practices that so often escape the watchful eye of satellites. Now on the ground monitoring is turning members of the Surui tribe into citizen scientists and helping them break into the emerging carbon market in Brazil.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

Michael Bradbury — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:21:35 +0000

They call William Kamkwamba “the boy who harnessed the wind.” At 14, after dropping out of school, the African boy in a rural Malawi village taught himself how electricity works, and built a windmill from scraps and pieces of a bicycle.

Now 22, Kamkwmaba has a book, detailing how he built his windmill and he outlines his plan for his next invention–a steam engine run by a solar oven.

Here’s an interview with the author at Amazon.com.

Arctic Tipping Point on the Horizon

Michael Bradbury — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:24:06 +0000

Evidence of global warming is hitting the Arctic harder than anywhere else. The rate of climate change is twice that of the rest of the world.

And, now scientists are discovering the Arctic region plays an important role in capturing atmospheric carbon, both in the ocean and on land.

But that delicate system might be in jeopardy as the polar ice caps melt, triggering a feedback loop of increased warming and melting.

As permafrost melts for the first time ever, there might be a big threat looming–methane–which could help convert the Arctic carbon sink into a big greenhouse gas emitter.

Science Sticks its Head in the Cloud

Michael Bradbury — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:54:24 +0000

Visualization of a river bed created using VisTrails, a system developed by University of Utah computer scientists Photo by: Juliana Freire and Claudio Silva, University of Utah

A two-year experiment to build a framework to analyze the massive amount of data scientists are collecting will push research to better understand our planet, our bodies and the limits of the Internet.

The National Science Foundation initiative called Cluster Exploratory or the CLuE program is a partnership between I.B.M. and Google to put scientists to work solving the problem of how to deal with so much information.

The answer? Cloud computing. Using virtual locations online to cope with the large data stream will allow science to answer some big and complex questions.

Top 8 in the Science Cloud:

Sloan Digital Sky Survey–obtained deep, multi-color images covering more than a quarter of the sky and created 3-dimensional maps containing more than 930,000 galaxies and more than 120,000 quasars.

Visible Human–is an anatomical data set licensed from the National Library of Medicine, Visible Human Project.

IRIS Seismology Database–allows you to monitor global earthquakes in near real-time, visit seismic stations around the world, and search the web for earthquake or region-related information.

Protein Data Bank–contains information about experimentally-determined structures of proteins, nucleic acids, and complex assemblies.

Linguistic Data Consortium–supports language-related education, research and technology development by creating and sharing linguistic resources.

TerraFly–View images and data anywhere in the United States and in much of the World.

Large Synoptic Survey Telescope–A large aperture, wide field survey telescope and 3200 Megapixel camera to image faint astronomical objects across the sky.

Open Topography–provides integrated access to high-resolution topographic data and web-based processing tools as well as enables its user community to share knowledge, resources and build science collaborations.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Calls for Global Warming Trial

Michael Bradbury — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:51:09 +0000

The biggest business lobby in the U.S. is pushing for the EPA to hold a public hearing to debate the science of global warming.

The move, calling for the Scopes monkey trial of the 21st Century, is proving too much for some chamber members, from big utilities to Nike and Johnson & Johnson.

Yesterday, the EPA announced it was moving forward with its plan to regulate stationary sources of greenhouse gas, including some 14,000 coal-fired power plants and refineries.

Now the ball is back in the chamber’s court and it’s time for it to decide whether it wants to sue the EPA and try to put the science on trial.

REALscience dissects the petition submitted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which reads like an anti-global warming play book.

President Obama Vows to Fight Climate Change

Michael Bradbury — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:19:52 +0000

President Obama Addresses UN Climate Summit

In what could be considered his most strongly-worded warning about the threat of climate change, U.S. President Barack Obama told the United Nations that there is little time to act before permanent environmental damage is irreversible.

In a stirring speech, he called upon Congress, scientists, engineers and citizens to take climate change seriously and work toward solutions to prevent the worst and adapt to the inevitable.

He also announced that the U.S. would begin tracking greenhouse gas emissions across the country and work toward eliminating long-standing fossil fuel subsidies.

Video of President Obama’s UN climate speech:

Drilling for Heat Triggers Quakes

Michael Bradbury — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:11:20 +0000

AltaRock Energy Site in California

The search for a renewable form of Earth-generated power keeps hitting a snag. The process to create geothermal heat seems to cause earthquakes–a lot of them.

After hitting a fault in Basel, Switerland and triggering a 3.4 earthquake that shook the city, Markus Haring shut down his project. In August German geothermal company Geox caused a few quakes and is investigating. And, in California, AltaRock Energy just suspended it’s exploration of an area north of San Francisco.

Is Geothermal energy too dangerous? Or do the small micro-seismic events resulting from drilling deep and fracturing hard rock relieve built-up pressure and prevent bigger quakes?

Science is still trying to decide. But the search for renewable power sources has led many to the core of the planet, where a seemingly unending source of heat can be found and captured.

Storing Carbon at the North Pole

Michael Bradbury — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:19:40 +0000

Scientists on Svalbard near the North Pole are drilling one kilometer into the ground where they hope to store carbon dioxide, given off by a coal-fired power station.

The project is part of a new wave of technology designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions and combat global warming. This decade’s long study will determine if sandstone will act as a good container to keep the liquefied carbon dioxide underground for up to 10,000 years.

New Ocean Observatory Initiative Gets Funding

Michael Bradbury — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:49:58 +0000

The University of Washington is spearheading a giant construction project to create a power and Internet grid along the ocean floor as part of the Ocean Observatories Initiative that will dramatically change the way we do ocean research.

The National Science Foundation grant of $126 million is the largest in the history of the university. And, $35 million came from stimulus money to accelerate the program which will start relaying real-time video across the Internet in a few years.

KING 5’s Lori Matsukawa reports.

Scientists Find Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Michael Bradbury — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:01:28 +0000

Researchers say a Texas-sized garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean is possibly killing marine life and birds that are ingesting the trash.

Scripps oceanographers are studying the effects the patch has on marine life.

And there may be a new, bigger patch floating in the Southern Ocean, where ocean currents line up to create a swirling vortex of garbage.

Matt Durham (blue shirt) and Miriam Goldstein fish out tangled net, plastic and marine organisms

Stories in Stone

Michael Bradbury — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 02:05:26 +0000

Urban geologist David Williams is a big stone kinda guy. He is not one to shy away from a nice chunk of gneiss. Nor will he wilt at the sight of weathered brownstone–one of his favorites.

Now, the author of Stories in Stone: Travels in Urban Geology, Williams shares his passion for rocks–from travertine to pop–in his new book that gets at the heart of Earth.

It’s a tour-de-force through plate tectonics, dinosaurs and even the possibility of life on other planets but the stories that stones tell are firmly rooted in our cultural and economic lives.

REALscience sat down with Williams and discovered why he is so passionate about these rocks.

Hurricane Wrangling with Bill Gates

Michael Bradbury — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:21:01 +0000

If runaway global warming gets the better of humanity, then some fairly drastic measures will be needed to stave off the worst effects. That’s where a group of futurists start talking about geoengineering some extreme solutions to the problem.

The latest plan to limit the effects of global warming comes in the form of reducing the strength of hurricanes, which get their power from super-heated sea surface water.

A group, which includes Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, has patented a device that will try to chill the ocean to slow or divert big and damaging hurricanes.

Is the science sound? or is this just another work of fiction?

With the money and influence of one of the richest men behind it, global warming may face a threat from a new force of nature.

Turning the iPhone into the SciPhone

Michael Bradbury — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:13:51 +0000

Just over a year old, the Apple iTunes App Store is churning out–or rather independent developers are–applications to calculate tips, find restaurants and even play countless games. But there is little for the science-interested smart phone users.

Oh sure, among the tens of thousands of applications currently available there are a handful of sci apps but relatively few. The subject doesn’t even merit its own category.

But several lists have been generated, touting the few useful science applications currently available.

And, we’ve tried to separate the intelligent from the app crap.

Listen here.

A few Select SciApps:
Atoms in a Box
Molecules
EleMints
Starmap
Formul8
Genetic Decoder
Get All the Science
The Extraordinaires

The Extraordinaires–on-demand volunteering for citizen scientists

Story written and produced by Michelle Ma

Climate Change Opens Northwest Passage

Michael Bradbury — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:50:21 +0000

The fabled Northwest passage that claimed the lives of many explorers including Sir John Franklin is now open to small boats for a few weeks each summer thanks to a rapidly changing climate in the high Arctic.

The 64-foot Ocean Watch sailboat is parked behind a 45-mile chunk of sea ice, waiting for open water to be among the first American boats to sail the fabled shipping route.

For the last two summers, ice-free conditions in the Canadian archipelago allowed smooth sailing across the top of North America for the first time. This year’s late and heavy winter is making navigating the passage more difficult this year. But sailors are certain the thick ice will melt enough to allow boats to travel successfully from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic.

For daily updates, follow the crew log aboard Ocean Watch.

Map of Northwest Passage