http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. European countries agreed on Thursday to begin drawing up the first legally-binding accord to protect the continent's forests, the Norwegian government said. http://phys.org/news227366156.html Space & Earth Wed, 15 Jun 2011 14:16:07 EST news227366156 (PhysOrg.com) -- Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, seeps naturally from the seafloor in many places around the planet, including in the Gulf of Mexico. http://phys.org/news225459593.html Space & Earth Tue, 24 May 2011 12:40:11 EST news225459593 To David Cleveland, a professor of environmental studies at UC Santa Barbara, it seemed as though Santa Barbara County would be a great example of what many are advocating as a solution to the problems of a conventional agrifood network –– a local food system. http://phys.org/news225033077.html Space & Earth Thu, 19 May 2011 14:12:12 EST news225033077 Britain on Tuesday unveiled plans to cut its carbon emissions by 50 percent from 1990 levels by 2025, saying the proposal marked a significant step forward in its efforts to fight climate change. http://phys.org/news224861473.html Space & Earth Tue, 17 May 2011 14:31:26 EST news224861473 Billions of dollars lost each year as waste heat from industrial processes can be converted into electricity with a technology being developed at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. http://phys.org/news224782190.html Technology Mon, 16 May 2011 16:30:06 EST news224782190 There’s a race afoot to give biofuel wings in the aviation industry, part of an effort to combat soaring fuel prices and cut greenhouse gas emissions. In 2008, Virgin Atlantic became the first commercial airline to fly a plane on a blend of biofuel and petroleum. Since then, Air New Zealand, Qatar Airways and Continental Airlines, among others, have flown biofuel test flights, and Lufthansa is racing to be the first carrier to run daily flights on a biofuel blend. http://phys.org/news224339571.html Technology Wed, 11 May 2011 13:33:12 EST news224339571 The benefits to animals of omega 3 fatty acids in fish oils have been well documented - helping the heart and circulatory system, improving meat quality and reducing methane emissions. http://phys.org/news157615993.html Biology Mon, 30 Mar 2009 07:13:54 EST news157615993 UN talks tasked with forging a global climate treaty by year's end were set to resume here on Sunday, with all eyes on the debut appearance of US negotiators from the administration of US President Barack Obama. http://phys.org/news157560066.html Space & Earth Sun, 29 Mar 2009 15:41:41 EST news157560066 (PhysOrg.com) -- Stanford University researchers have developed a synthetic wood substitute that may one day save trees, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and shrink landfills. http://phys.org/news156526288.html Chemistry Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:32:31 EST news156526288 Tiny creatures at the bottom of the food chain called diatoms suck up nearly a quarter of the atmosphere's carbon dioxide, yet research by Michigan State University scientists suggests they could become less able to "sequester" that greenhouse gas as the climate warms. The microscopic algae are a major component of plankton living in puddles, lakes and oceans. http://phys.org/news156513486.html Biology Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:58:45 EST news156513486 (PhysOrg.com) -- Last summer, it was very expensive to fill up a gas tank when the gasoline price hit close to four dollars a gallon. Transportation by road or air consumes fuel, which not only increases our vulnerability to foreign imports but also is a source of greenhouse gas emissions that will impact adverse change in climate and global warming. http://phys.org/news156446277.html Technology Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:19:24 EST news156446277 Natural releases of carbon dioxide from the Southern Ocean due to shifting wind patterns could have amplified global warming at the end of the last ice age--and could be repeated as manmade warming proceeds, a new paper in the journal Science suggests. http://phys.org/news156088725.html Space & Earth Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:59:29 EST news156088725 (AP) -- From agricultural losses to devastation wrought by wildfires, California's economy is expected to see significant costs resulting from global warming in the decades ahead, according to a new report. http://phys.org/news156062803.html Space & Earth Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:47:30 EST news156062803 Sweden's government on Wednesday presented what it described as Europe's "most ambitious" strategy to improve energy efficiency and cut greenhouse gas emissions. http://phys.org/news156002589.html Space & Earth Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:04:01 EST news156002589 Sulfuryl fluoride (SO2F2), a gas commonly used to rid buildings of termites and other pests, is a greenhouse gas that remains in the atmosphere about 36 years, six to 10 times longer than previously thought, according to a research team led by Jens Mühle, an atmospheric chemist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego. http://phys.org/news155930141.html Space & Earth Tue, 10 Mar 2009 18:56:31 EST news155930141 The Walt Disney Co. wants to cut companywide greenhouse-gas emissions in half during the next four years, and reduce electricity consumption by 10 percent over the next five, as part of a series of environmental initiatives outlined Monday. http://phys.org/news155891358.html Space & Earth Tue, 10 Mar 2009 08:11:48 EST news155891358 Though a fraction of Chicago's size, this industrial city in southeast Sweden has plenty of similarities with it, including a long, snowy winter and a football team the town's crazy about. http://phys.org/news155751073.html Space & Earth Sun, 08 Mar 2009 17:11:56 EST news155751073 Dual catalysts may be the key to efficiently turning carbon dioxide and water vapor into methane and other hydrocarbons using titania nanotubes and solar power, according to Penn State researchers. http://phys.org/news155471367.html Nanotechnology Thu, 05 Mar 2009 10:30:08 EST news155471367 Cellulosic biofuels offer similar, if not lower, costs and very large reductions in greenhouse gas emissions compared to petroleum-derived fuels. That's one of the key take-home messages from a series of expert papers on "The Role of Biomass in America's Energy Future (RBAEF)" in a special issue of Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining. http://phys.org/news155383636.html Biology Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:08:04 EST news155383636 Humans and farm animals were known to emit harmful greenhouse gases through digestion, but German researchers said Tuesday that aquatic worms and bugs are also culprits, releasing laughing gas. http://phys.org/news155287675.html Space & Earth Tue, 03 Mar 2009 07:30:02 EST news155287675 To avoid creating greenhouse gases, it makes more sense using today's technology to leave land unfarmed in conservation reserves than to plow it up for corn to make biofuel, according to a comprehensive Duke University-led study. http://phys.org/news155229840.html Space & Earth Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:26:07 EST news155229840 One of agriculture's most versatile crops could one day play a role in combating climate change, Purdue University research shows. http://phys.org/news154882567.html Space & Earth Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:56:49 EST news154882567 At a national scientific meeting last week where biofuels - principally ethanol - were uniformly trashed as an environmental train wreck, one bright, carbon-free light gleamed in our energy future: the sun. http://phys.org/news154771020.html Technology Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:58:13 EST news154771020 A new study by scientists updating some of the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2001 Third Assessment Report finds that even a lower level of increase in average global temperatures due to greenhouse gas emissions could cause significant problems in five key areas of global concern. http://phys.org/news154632699.html Space & Earth Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:32:07 EST news154632699 Speakers at last week’s AAAS meeting presented abundant evidence that tropical rainforest destruction has accelerated in recent years, at least in part because of the worldwide push to produce more biofuels. http://phys.org/news154625430.html Technology Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:31:08 EST news154625430 Severe fires in Indonesia - responsible for some of the worst air quality conditions worldwide - are linked not only to drought, but also to changes in land use and population density, according to a new study in Nature Geoscience led by Robert Field of the University of Toronto. http://phys.org/news154540375.html Space & Earth Sun, 22 Feb 2009 15:53:38 EST news154540375 (PhysOrg.com) -- The Orbital Sciences Taurus XL rocket set to launch NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory is now fully assembled at Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. http://phys.org/news154281238.html Space & Earth Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:54:51 EST news154281238 Where others see simply manure, Danny Kluthe smells money. Long before President Barack Obama promised the country that "we will harness the sun and the winds and the soil," Kluthe already had yoked the power of pig poop. http://phys.org/news154015656.html Technology Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:08:44 EST news154015656 Field work and computer simulations in Michigan and Wisconsin are helping biofuels researchers understand the basics of getting home-grown energy from the field to consumers. Preliminary results presented today suggest that incorporating native, perennial plants during biofuels production reduces emissions of greenhouse gases, improves water quality and enhances biodiversity. The results are part of an experimental effort to make biofuels economically and environmentally sustainable. http://phys.org/news153758280.html Other Sciences Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:38:30 EST news153758280 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's first spacecraft dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide is in final preparations for a Feb. 23 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Carbon dioxide is the leading human-produced greenhouse gas driving changes in Earth's climate. http://phys.org/news152462742.html Space & Earth Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:47:43 EST news152462742