methane
Measuring methane
MADISON, WI, MARCH 1, 2011 — Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas. Wetlands, gas hydrates, permafrost, termites, oceans, freshwater bodies, non-wetland soils, are all natural sources of atmospheric methane; however, the majority of methan…
This microbe’s for you: Brewery waste becomes scientific fodder for producing liquid biofuels
ITHACA, N.Y. — Gaining new insight into how efficiently the microbes in large bioreactors produce methane from brewery waste, Cornell scientists hope to use their new knowledge to shape these microbial communities to produce liquid biofuels and ot…
Study finds massive flux of gas, in addition to liquid oil, at BP well blowout in Gulf
Athens, Ga. — A new University of Georgia study that is the first to examine comprehensively the magnitude of hydrocarbon gases released during the Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico oil discharge has found that up to 500,000 tons of gaseous hydroca…
Freshwater methane release changes greenhouse gas equation
AMES, Iowa — An international team of scientists has released data indicating that greenhouse gas uptake by continents is less than previously thought because of methane emissions from freshwater areas.
John Downing, an Iowa State University pro…
Methane-powered laptops may be closer than you think
Making fuel cells practical and affordable will not happen overnight. It may, however, not take much longer.
With advances in nanostructured devices, lower operating temperatures, and the use of an abundant fuel source and cheaper materials, a gro…
New discoveries in North America’s Great Plains bring ammonites to life
Although ammonites have been extinct for 65 million years, newly published data based on 35 years of field work and analysis is providing invaluable insights into their paleobiology. Ammonites, shelled mollusks closely related to modern day na…
Unusual feed supplement could ease greenhouse gassy cows
Cow belches, a major source of greenhouse gases, could be decreased by an unusual feed supplement developed by a Penn State dairy scientist.
In a series of laboratory experiments and a live animal test, an oregano-based supplement not only decrea…
Deep plumes of oil could cause dead zones in the Gulf
WASHINGTON — A new simulation of oil and methane leaked into the Gulf of Mexico suggests that deep hypoxic zones or “dead zones” could form near the source of the pollution. The research investigates five scenarios of oil and methane plumes at dif…
Diamond layer makes steel rock hard
Dutch chemist Ivan Buijnsters from the University of Nijmegen has successfully produced a diamond layer on a steel substrate. This opens up the possibility of wear-resistant tools. The secret to this technique is an adhesive layer between the steel and the diamond layer. Buijnsters made diamond layers by allowing methane gas diluted in hydrogen gas to dissociate on a hot wire just above the substrate. The carbon atoms present in the methane dropped onto the substrate and formed a thin layer of diamond there. However, this technique did not work on a steel substrate. Graphite mostly formed on this.
Methane in Seafloor Released During Periods of Rapid Climate Warming
Scientists have found new evidence indicating that during periods of rapid climate warming methane gas has been released periodically from the seafloor in intense eruptions. In a study published in the current issue of the journal Science, Kai-Uwe Hinrichs and colleagues Laura Hmelo and Sean Sylva of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) provide a direct link between methane reservoirs in coastal marine sediments and the global carbon cycle, an indicator of global warming and cooling.