The 4% Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality by Richard Panek
( Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 288 pages, $26.00, January, 2011)
Reviewed by Dr. Fred Bortz
Energy
Soil science: Healing our planet’s ills from the ground up
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Under our feet and ubiquitous, lowly soil can be easily overlooked when it comes to addressing climate change and population growth. But in the January-February issue of the Soil Science Society of America Journal, a team …
Challenges for biofuels: New life cycle assessment report from Energy Biosciences Institute
A combination of rising costs, shrinking supplies, and concerns about global climate change are spurring the development of alternatives to the burning of fossil fuels to meet our transportation energy needs. Scientific studies have shown the mo…
Story tips from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory February 2011
HYDROPOWER — Fishy behavior . . .
Proposals to install hydrokinetic turbines — like underwater windmills — in rivers across the U.S. are prompting questions about the environmental impacts of this new hydropower energy source. In response, r…
Oil giant plans new platform near feeding ground of critically endangered whale
Sakhalin Energy Investment Company — part owned by Shell — has announced plans to build a major oil platform near crucial feeding habitat of the Western North Pacific gray whale population.
Only around 130 whales of the critically endangered…
Scaling up: The future of nanoscience
In the late 1950s, Richard Feynman famously imagined a science where researchers and engineers could achieve remarkable feats by manipulating matter and creating structures all the way down to the level of individual atoms.
Now, over fifty years a…
UCSD engineers give solar power a boost
The growing popularity of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems across the United States has made it more important to maximize their power input. That’s why UC San Diego environmental engineering professor Jan Kleissl is working on technologies and…
Review of The 4% Universe by Richard Panek
Jefferson Lab laser twinkles in rare color
December is a time for twinkling lights, and scientists at the Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility are delivering. They’ve just produced a long-sought, rare color of laser light 100 times brighter than that generate…
Mayo Clinic Proceedings: November highlights
The November issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings includes three articles with leading research, highlighted below.
Khat Chewing Increases Risk of Stroke and Death in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Researchers found th…
Energy Express focus issue: Thin-film photovoltaic materials and devices
WASHINGTON, September 13 — Developing renewable energy sources has never been more important, and solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies show great potential in this field. They convert direct sunlight into electricity with little impact on the envi…
Fuel treatments reduce wildfire severity, tree mortality in Washington forests
A study conducted by U.S. Forest Service and University of Washington (UW) scientists has found that fuel treatments — even of only a few acres — can reduce fire severity and protect older trees desirable for their timber, wildlife, and carbon-sto…