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19788
No mention is made in this article of the huge amount of petrochemical inputs required both for large-scale farming of corn and for the distilling process required to produce ethanol. When these and other environmental costs are factored in, the promotion of corn-based ethanol as fuel will ultimately be exposed as an environmentally disastrous policy. […]
- Earth
Gas tanks could guzzle half of U.S. corn yields
Strong expansion of the U.S. corn-to-ethanol industry, now under way, stands poised to divert much of the grain from food uses to transportation fuel.
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Plastics ingredient disrupts fetal-egg development
A common estrogen-mimicking chemical can damage eggs while an animal is still in the womb.
- Physics
The mystery of the missing mass
Researchers found that, for one kind of particle at least, being located inside a nucleus slightly reduces its mass.
- Materials Science
Microstructures make a beetle brilliant
Engineers looking to make a variety of surfaces whiter and brighter could learn a few things from a lowly beetle.
- Health & Medicine
Old cure may offer new malaria option
An herbal-tea remedy for malaria contains a component that may form the basis of a novel drug against the disease.
- Health & Medicine
Trade-offs in fibroids treatments
A minimally invasive procedure to cure uterine fibroids is less expensive, but also appears to be less effective, than surgery.
- Chemistry
Magnet makeover
A new family of magnets may be a first step toward organic versions of the familiar metal objects.
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Child abuse heralds adult inflammation
A long-term study in New Zealand indicates that child abuse leads to a disruption of part of the stress response in adulthood that has been linked to heart disease, diabetes, and chronic lung disease.
- Materials Science
Savvy Skins
Researchers are developing new coatings that incorporate multiple functions, offer chemical reactivity, or act in response to stimuli in the environment.
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19787
The theory of “nuclear winter” was originally put forward by an Eastern European mathematician in the 1980s. Some months later, it was shown that an error in his original calculations so vastly exaggerated “nuclear winter” as to make it meaningless. Still, the dramatic concept of a “nuclear winter” obviously lives on in the public’s mind […]
- Earth
Sudden Chill
Today's combination of nuclear proliferation, political instability, and urban demographics increases the likelihood that humankind could suffer a devastating nuclear winter.
