Tuesday, February 7, 2012

High-Tech Exhaust Could Produce Water

(Chicago Tribune) You might recognize the Borla name from more performance-oriented exhaust systems, but the company has been working with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to develop new technology that could lead to some cool upgrades in the turbo-diesel and gas trucks we drive in decades to come...2/6

Gerald A. Tuskan named Forest Biotechnologist of the Year

(Lab Manager Magazine) Jerry Tuskan, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distinguished Scientist in the BioSciences Division, has been named Forest Biotechnologist of the Year by the Institute of Forest Biotechnology (IFB)...2/5

Previous ORNL Stories

DOE

Modernizing at Y-12 plant to decrease its World War II footprint

(Oak Ridger) ..."Our ultimate plan is to tear down the buildings, remediate the mercury sources in the soil, and address the groundwater," Cange said. "It's important that we accelerate this work, so in the near term we will identify projects that address surface water and others that will help prepare the buildings for eventual demolition."...2/6

Turbines Off NYC East River Will Create Enough Energy to Power 9,500 Homes

(Energy.gov) As part of the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy project, 30 turbines are being installed along the strait that connects the Long Island Sound with the Atlantic Ocean in the New York Harbor. The project, led by Verdant Power, Inc., is the first ever commercially licensed tidal energy project in the United States...2/6

National

Iran’s Middle Class on Edge as World Presses In

(NY Times) One measure of the profound anxiety now coursing through Iranian society can be seen on Manouchehri Street, a winding lane at the heart of this city where furtive crowds of men gather every day like drug dealers to buy and sell American dollars...2/7

East Tennessee

Chancellor: UT campus doing more with less

(Knoxville News Sentinel) ...UT wrapped up its ambitious $1 billion Campaign for Tennessee in 2010, but as UT seeks to move from a top 50 to top 25 university its fundraising efforts continue...2/6

State & Regional

Energy-efficient appliances key to TVA power savings

(Knoxville News Sentinel) A report by Global Energy Partners commissioned by TVA shows potential savings of between 19,000 and nearly 36,000 gigawatt hours of electricity if customers in the eight-state Tennessee Valley region adopt a range of energy saving measures...2/6

energy & science policy

Physical Sciences Funding: 1989 to 2009

(AIP) Accompanying the recent National Science Board’s “Science and Engineering Indicators 2012,”is a large appendix of statistics...2/6

science & technology

Researchers feel pressure to cite superfluous papers

(Nature News) One in five academics in a variety of social science and business fields say they have been asked to pad their papers with superfluous references in order to get published...2/2

Earth Station: The Afterlife of Technology at the End of the World

(The Atlantic) The Jamesburg Earth Station is a massive satellite receiver in a remote valley in California. It played a central role in satellite communications for three decades, but had been forgotten until the current owner put it up for sale, promoting it as a great place to spend the apocalypse...2/6