Friday, October 23, 2009

ORNL, Da Vinci sign licensing agreement

(Oak Ridger) The licensed invention, known as ''Laser-Induced Fluorescence Fiber Optic Probe Measurement of Oil Dilution by Fuel,'' was developed by James E. Parks and William P. Partridge of the Fuels, Engines, and Emissions Research Group in ORNL's Energy and Transportation Science Division....10/22

NSF gives $10 million grant for Nautilus supercomputer

(UT Daily Beacon) The new supercomputer, to be called Nautilus, will be housed in UT’s Joint Institute for Computational Sciences, which is located on the Oak Ridge National Laboratory campus....10/23

U.S. Energy Challenge Needs Both Science and Nation to Respond

(Boston College Chronicle) America's appetite for energy and fuel require a bold new approach to "green power" and Boston College physicist Rev. Cyril Opeil, SJ, expects to hear President Obama issue a national call to action when he speaks on the topic Friday at MIT. Opeil, an assistant professor of physics, and his colleague Zhifeng Ren, one of the nation’s leading nanotechnology researchers, partner with MIT colleagues and Oak Ridge National Laboratory on a project to develop solid-state materials that transfer solar heat to electricity....10/22

Previous ORNL Stories

DOE

WAI wins contract at Transuranic Waste Center

(Atomic City Underground) The Dept. of Energy announced today that Wastren Advantage Inc., a small disadvantaged business based in Piketon, Ohio. has won the contract to manage the Transuranic Waste Processing Center in Oak Ridge....10/22

East Tennessee

ORHS announces Nat’l Merit semifinalists

(Oak Ridger) Nine students at Oak Ridge High School have been named semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship competition....10.22

Roane officials upset by TVA building overlook at spill site

(Knoxville News Sentinel) As the first anniversary of TVA's coal ash spill disaster looms, the agency is building a large hillside overlook for spectators to watch the cleanup....10/23

National

Lawmakers warm to the public option

(Washington Post) House Democrats are coalescing around an $871 billion health-care package that would create a government-run insurance plan to help millions of Americans afford coverage, raise taxes on the nation's richest families and impose an array of new regulations on private insurers, in part by stripping the industry of its long-standing exemption from federal antitrust laws....10/23 [Registration Required]

What might derail the Iran nuclear deal?

(Christian Science Monitor) Negotiators for President Barack Obama and other powers may have a breakthrough deal on Iran's nuclear program. But while they wait for Tehran's Friday answer, some worry that Iran won't deliver....10/23

energy & science policy

Study: Impact of bioenergy crops on climate change underestimated

(Washington Post) Researchers point to discrepancy in how scientists count contribution to human-generated emissions....10/22 [Registration Required]

Scientists: Biofuel Laws May Harm Environment

(NPR) Researchers writing in the current issue of Science believe they have found an error in existing biofuel laws that could actually make climate change worse. They say these rules inadvertently encourage deforestation, which in turn contributes to global warming....10/23

Polar Bear Habitat Proposed for Alaska

(New York Times) The Interior Department proposed to designate more than 200,000 square miles of land, sea and ice along the northern coast of Alaska as critical habitat for polar bears....10/22 [Registration Required]

Put money into NASA or forget human spaceflight, panel says

(Washington Post) Put more money into NASA's human space flight program or forget about going anywhere new and interesting with astronauts, a blue-ribbon panel told the White House on Thursday....10/23 [Registration Required]

science & technology

Fungus pushing frogs toward extinction

(USA Today) Australian biologists says it's as if millions of humans were keeling over with heart attacks from athlete's foot....10/23

Farthest Galaxy Cluster Ever Detected

(Wired) “This object is close to the distance limit expected for a galaxy cluster,” said Stefano Andreon of the National Institute for Astrophysics in Milan, Italy, in a press release. “We don’t think gravity can work fast enough to make galaxy clusters much earlier.”...10/23