Green Blog: On Our Radar: A Nuclear Snapshot
China has led the way in expanding nuclear generating capacity over the last decade.
Taste and Temperature
Some people like food or beverages hot and some like them cold. What's the difference? Can the temperature of the food we eat affect the intensity of its taste? It depends on the taste, according to a new study by Dr. Gary Pickering and colleagues from Brock University in Canada. Their work shows that changes in the temperature of foods and drinks have an effect on the intensity of sour, bitter and astringent tastes but not sweetness. Their work is published online in Springer's Chemosensory Perception journal. Humans receive tastes through sensory organs called taste buds concentrated on the top of the tongue. Taste is sensed through taste cells, which are known as taste buds. There are about 100,000 taste buds that are located on the back and front of the tongue. Others are located on the roof, sides and back of the mouth, and in the throat.
Green Blog: Q. and A.: How to Save Bangladesh?
Bangladesh, buffeted by climate change and flooding, is a prime example of a country whose fate could be determined by what happens at a conference in Rio next month.
Cars That Run on Natural Gas – Alternative Fuels
Find out how an alternative fuel used all over the world may find its way into American vehicles. Natural gas is abundant, clean and already a part of our everyday lives—and it may be the next big alternative fuel.
In the world of alternative fuels, electric, hydrogen and even hybrid vehicles get most of the attention. Not many people are aware of another alternative automotive fuel that burns cleaner than gasoline, is found abundantly in the United States and is already in heavy use around the world: natural gas. Natural gas is by no means a new fuel; it’s been used to heat homes and cook food in gas stoves for more than a century. But only recently have automotive technicians begun exploring the possibility of using natural gas as an alternative to gasoline in automobiles here in the United States.
When used in automobiles, natural gas comes in two forms:
Compressed natural gas (CNG)
Liquefied natural gas (LNG)
Both forms require storage in cylinders that are often located in the trunk of the vehicle. When being burned by an engine, natural gas works very similarly to gasoline; vehicles that run on natural gas will have spark plug timing and compression optimized for that type of fuel.
Cars That Run on Natural Gas – Alternative Fuels
Find out how an alternative fuel used all over the world may find its way into American vehicles. Natural gas is abundant, clean and already a part of our everyday lives—and it may be the next big alternative fuel.
In the world of alternative fuels, electric, hydrogen and even hybrid vehicles get most of the attention. Not many people are aware of another alternative automotive fuel that burns cleaner than gasoline, is found abundantly in the United States and is already in heavy use around the world: natural gas. Natural gas is by no means a new fuel; it’s been used to heat homes and cook food in gas stoves for more than a century. But only recently have automotive technicians begun exploring the possibility of using natural gas as an alternative to gasoline in automobiles here in the United States.
When used in automobiles, natural gas comes in two forms:
Compressed natural gas (CNG)
Liquefied natural gas (LNG)
Both forms require storage in cylinders that are often located in the trunk of the vehicle. When being burned by an engine, natural gas works very similarly to gasoline; vehicles that run on natural gas will have spark plug timing and compression optimized for that type of fuel.
Growing cardamom impacts forests for decades
Over 25 years after people stopped growing cardamom in Sri Lanka's Knuckles Forest Reserve (KFR), the spice crop is still having an impact on the forest, according to a recent study in Forest Ecology and Management. The clearing of understory plants and the use of fertilizers continue to shape the forest in the protected area.
Dot Earth Blog: The Gas Age, Circa 1986
A look at the decades-old natural gas predictions of an energy analyst with extraordinary foresight.
Green Blog: Sterilizing That Blasted Ballast
Science tries to keep pace with new rules setting limits on microorganisms in the ballast of ships plying American waters.
Tribe partners to protect Argentina’s most endangered forest
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Natural sinks still sopping up carbon
Earth's ecosystems keep soaking up more carbon as greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere, new measurements find. The research contradicts several recent studies suggesting that "carbon sinks" have reached or passed their capacity. By looking at global measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide, the new work calculates instead that total sinks have increased roughly in line with rising emissions.
