Pennsylvania Tells Drilling Company to Clean Up Its Act

by Sabrina Shankman, ProPublica

After a year of chemical spills, water well contamination and an explosion caused by leaking underground methane, Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. has been fined $120,000 and ordered to abide by a set of stricter-than-usual probationary regulations if it wants to continue its vast natural gas drilling operation in Pennsylvania.

The judgment is the latest chapter in a saga of drilling controversy and environmental contamination as a result of drilling for natural gas in northeastern Pennsylvania that we’ve been following since January, and is part of our ongoing investigation into the environmental consequences of gas drilling across the country.

The charges and conditions against Cabot were outlined by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in a 23-page document that lists each of Cabot’s offenses – from failure to properly cement wells to failure to maintain and submit proper records – and asks the company to acknowledge and address the findings. The fine is the largest issued by the Pennsylvania agency to a gas company.

Cabot signed the order Wednesday agreeing to the state’s conditions, but seemed to stop short of taking full responsibility. “The department made several findings, and we agreed with the basic facts as they were laid out,” said a Cabot spokesman, Ken Komoroski. “But Cabot did not agree to the legal conclusions of violations of laws and regulations.”

The DEP began investigating Cabot early this year, after residents in Dimock, Pa., started reporting methane bubbling out of their faucets – a sign that natural gas had contaminated their water supplies. Investigators found that some of Cabot’s well casings, which seal well pipes from water supplies, were faulty and had allowed natural gas to migrate into the groundwater.

The groundwater incidents were the first of several spills and accidents that followed. In at least two cases the company spilled diesel or drilling fluids that reached water supplies. And in September, the DEP ordered Cabot to stop its hydraulic fracturing operations in Susquehanna County after it allowed three hydraulic fracturing fluid spills in nine days. The ban was lifted on Oct. 16, after the company revised its pollution prevention and control plan.

Now the company has until March 31 to comply with parts of the DEP’s order and submit a plan outlining how it will permanently replace the water supplies for more than a dozen affected homes near the town of Dimock.

The most important requirements have to do with well construction. Cabot will have to submit well casing and cementing plans to the DEP, which will have to approve the well before Cabot can proceed with drilling or any hydraulic fracturing. The company will also have to submit a plan that specifically lays out how it will prove the integrity of the casing and cementing on existing wells and fix any that are defective. If the defective casing isn’t fixed by the March deadline, Cabot will be ordered to plug its defective wells.

“They’ve got to go back and fix all of those wells,” said DEP spokeswoman Teresa Candori.
Finally, the company will be required to tell the DEP who has contacted the company with concerns about the quantity or quality of their water supplies.

“It does add some additional requirements beyond the regulations but these are measures and procedures that Cabot agrees are appropriate for the area,” Cabot spokesman Komoroski said.
Cabot has been drilling in the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania since 2006. It drilled one well in 2006, and one in 2007, before ramping up in 2008 and drilling 20. The company will drill between 40 and 60 wells in 2009, and has plans to drill between 50 and 70 more in 2010.

ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:



Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Public Gets More Time to Comment on New York’s Gas Drilling Plans

by Sabrina Shankman, ProPublica

Responding to calls from politicians, environmentalists and concerned residents, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced Wednesday that it has extended the public comment period for an environmental review of natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

The comment period, which began Sept. 30 with the release of the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement, now extends through Dec. 31. It was previously slated to end Nov. 30. Since the release of the technical, 800-plus page document, there have been complaints that the original 60-day comment period was insufficient for people to read and understand its findings.

"This is the biggest environmental issue of the decade in New York," Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said in a statement. "It’s good to see that the public’s demand for more time has been heard."

The DEC has also moved up the start time for the second public hearing on the environmental review, which will be held Nov. 10 at Stuyvesant High School in New York City. Doors for the hearing will now open at 5:30 p.m. for individual questions and speaker sign-up. The DEC staff will also be on hand to answer questions about the draft. The public comment period will begin at 6:30 p.m. (More info on the public hearings here.)

ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:



Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

New York Drilling Study a Step Forward

by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica

New York's recently released review of the environmental risks (PDF) posed by natural gas production in the Marcellus Shale offers the clearest picture yet of the chemicals used in the drilling process called hydraulic fracturing.

The document makes public the names of 260 chemicals, more than eight times as many as Pennsylvania state regulators have compiled. The list is the most complete released by any state or federal agency and could help answer concerns about hydraulic fracturing in Congress and in states where gas drilling has increased in recent years.

The review also takes another dramatic step by proposing that in certain situations companies that drill in New York be required to report the concentrations of the chemicals they use to state regulators, thereby creating a suite of information that environmental scientists say is essential to investigating water pollution from drilling. New York would be the first state to make such a demand.

The industry has been reluctant to release information about the chemicals it uses, because it considers them a proprietary trade secret. While New York has made the names of the chemicals public, it seems likely that the data about their concentration will be shared only with state officials.

The 800-page environmental impact assessment also proposes a slew of safeguards for well construction, waste disposal and water protection. If those rules are finalized after the ongoing public review period, New York's environmental protections for gas drilling would be among the strongest in the nation.

"In a number of areas these regulations are more stringent than in other states," said Kate Sinding, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "As commendable as that is, and wanting to give the department credit where credit is due, the bar set in most other states is so abysmally low, it still begs the question of whether stronger is strong enough."
Environmental scientists have long sought complete information about the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, saying they need it to thoroughly investigate water pollution.

Contamination can occur when the chemicals are pumped underground, held in waste pits or trucked to water treatment plants before being discharged back into rivers and drinking water supplies.

Colorado passed regulations last year requiring companies to disclose the names of chemicals, but they apply only to chemicals held in 50-gallons drums or larger. Now the industry is suing Colorado to repeal the group of regulations that includes that clause. In Pennsylvania, environment officials told ProPublica that their list of chemical products used for drilling there was complete, but it names just 39 products and 31 unique chemicals. Congress has been debating a bill to require disclosure, but the industry is fighting the legislation with millions of dollars in lobbying efforts.

New York obtained the names of the chemicals by surveying drilling companies, their contractors and the manufacturers of the chemicals. The Department of Environmental Conservation identified 152 trademarked products and obtained the complete list of their ingredients; it gathered a partial list of ingredients for an additional 45 products.

The review, which was released last month, leaves some environmental concerns unanswered. It offers few specific measures to protect New York City's watershed -- the unfiltered source of drinking water for nearly half the state's population. It says that wastewater will be treated by facilities in New York and Pennsylvania, but does not confirm whether those plants have the capacity to receive Marcellus Shale wastewater or the technology to make that water safe.

Critics also complain it does little to describe how several thousand new wells would cumulatively affect air and water quality, leaving the analysis to a per-well basis.

"The DEC's shocking refusal to assess cumulative impacts undermines the validity of the entire study and if implemented will lead to devastating, unanticipated outcomes," said Roger Downs, a conservation associate at the Sierra Club's Atlantic Chapter, which has called for a ban on drilling in New York despite the Sierra Club's general support for gas development in the United States.

The review does, however, deal directly with some of most critical problems that have led to contamination in other drilling states.

It suggests strict limits on the kind of open waste pits that have led to hundreds of cases of water contamination in other states; guarantees additional scientific review before drilling can happen near water supplies; and requires government inspectors to be more regularly involved at several stages of the drilling and fracturing processes. An environmental review, sometimes including public hearings, would be required each time a gas well is proposed within 150 feet of a private water well, stream or pond or within 300 feet of a reservoir. An additional environmental review would also be required before gas wells could be hydraulically fractured within 1,000 feet of water supply infrastructure, or within 2,000 feet of the surface. Private water wells within 1,000 feet of a gas well would be tested before drilling begins, to create a baseline for measuring any future pollution.

The review recommends requiring that chemical-laden wastewater from hydraulic fracturing be enclosed in steel tanks rather than pits at well sites, a practice that has been proven to reduce the risk of spills and prevent evaporation of chemicals into the air. Some waste could still be kept in open pits, but new rules would require that those pits be emptied after seven days, and that state inspectors check the pits and their liners before they can be used again.

The review also suggests strengthening structural requirements to prevent leaks from inside gas well pipes, and establishing an explicit chain of custody record to make sure drilling wastewater is delivered to treatment facilities that are capable of accepting it.

Yancey Roy, a spokesman for the DEC, declined to answer questions about the document.

Instead he cited passages in the environmental review. New York's industry group, the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York State, did not return calls for comment. Two prominent new natural gas industry associations -- America's Natural Gas Alliance and Energy In Depth -- also declined to comment on New York's rulemaking process.

The draft review, called the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement, updates the state's 1992 drilling study. It was ordered by Gov. David Paterson last summer after an investigation by ProPublica found that the state was not familiar with the chemical makeup of fracturing fluids and was unprepared to manage a boom of modern drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

The state has allowed for a 60-day comment period before the recommendations will be finalized and is holding four hearings across New York beginning later this month. Several state, city and federal lawmakers, including U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., have said the comment period is too short and called for an extension from the Nov. 30 deadline. Comments can be submitted online or sent by e-mail.

ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:



Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Gas Drilling Vs. Drinking Water: New York City Consultant’s Report Sets Stage for Fight With Albany

by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica

A preliminary report from a consultant hired by New York City warns that "nearly every activity" associated with natural gas drilling could potentially harm the city’s drinking water supply and that while the risk can be reduced with strict regulations, "the likelihood of water quality impairment … cannot be eliminated."

That assessment contrasts sharply with the picture presented by an environmental review released by state officials last week. Aside from clauses that ban some waste pits and promise additional consideration for drilling within 1,000 feet of the city’s reservoirs and water infrastructure in upstate New York, the environmental review does little to respond to New York City’s long-standing concerns that the watershed deserves special environmental consideration and instead paves the way for drilling to proceed throughout the watershed.

The issue appears to be emerging as a point of controversy in New York City’s mayoral election.
City comptroller and mayoral candidate William Thompson criticized the state’s environmental review in a news release and said Mayor Michael Bloomberg should be more outspoken. "I am also concerned that the City and the Water Board have been extremely lax in responding to this threat," he said.

Marc LaVorgna, a spokesman for Bloomberg’s office, said the mayor will withhold judgment until he sees the final version of the report the city commissioned from Hazen and Sawyer, a New York City-based environmental engineering firm. The full report isn’t expected to be delivered until December, after the public comment period for the state environmental review has ended.

LaVorgna emphasized that the Bloomberg administration has invested heavily in the city’s water system and would not rule out a protracted fight to protect it.

"This is not a fringe issue for this administration," LaVorgna said. "This is a mayor that adamantly orders tap water every night he dines out."

In one of his few statements on the subject, Bloomberg, who has generally supported the idea of energy development, told WNYC radio Thursday that "if this has the danger of polluting, we will fight it."

The clashing reports seem poised to reignite long-standing tensions between upstate New York and New York City, which depends almost entirely on water delivered from rural, upstate areas.

"The stakes are very high based on the conclusions of this report," Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said in an interview with ProPublica. The report, he said, "suggests that city elected officials have a role to play here and a responsibility to step up and say, ‘What does frack drilling mean to New York City residents?’"

Last week Stringer announced he was launching a Kill the Drill campaign.

New York is one of four major cities in the United States with a special permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allowing its drinking water to go unfiltered. That pristine water comes from a network of upstate reservoirs and rivers spread across 1,600 square miles in five upstate counties. Those reservoirs – which all lie west of the Hudson River – supply 90 percent of the drinking water for 9 million downstate residents, nearly half the state’s population. If the EPA were to rescind the city’s special permit, New York City would have to build a treatment facility that could cost between $10 billion and $30 billion, according to various estimates.

Hazen and Sawyer’s early findings were summarized at a city meeting last week and posted on the city Department of Environmental Protection’s Web site Tuesday evening, after repeated requests for the document by ProPublica over the past several days.

The report, and an accompanying summary PowerPoint presentation, lay out several areas of concern. The consultants found that drilling "introduces hazardous chemicals into the watershed" and that "the well bore, which acts as a conduit between geologic formations, can allow previously isolated contaminants to flow into shallow groundwater or surface water."

The research also warned of "enormous volumes" of wastewater and said there are no treatment plants in the region designed to treat these wastes. It said the disturbance from hydraulic fracturing could cause seismic shifts or otherwise damage the tunnels or aqueducts that bring the water to the city. Hydraulic fracturing shoots millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals underground with such force that it breaks rock and releases pockets of gas.

So far, New York City’s top officials have preferred a behind-the-scenes approach as the public debate over the state’s natural gas drilling policy unfurls in Albany. City DEP officials have protested to the state Department of Environmental Conservation in private letters, but have said little publicly.

In a letter obtained by ProPublica in July 2008, then New York City DEP commissioner Emily Lloyd asked the DEC commissioner to disclose the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing and to consider a partial ban on drilling near the reservoirs that supply New York City’s water.

Shortly afterward, and following an investigation by ProPublica, Gov. David Paterson ordered the environmental review that was released Sept. 30. Called the Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement, it supplements gas and oil drilling rules established in 1992.

New York City officials have since sent several additional letters to the state DEC voicing their ongoing concerns.

A spokesman for the state DEC did not return repeated calls for comment.

The state supplemental draft report discloses many of the drilling chemicals, as Lloyd had requested, and it also strengthens several other environmental protections. But it did not recommend a full or partial ban on drilling in the watershed.

The supplementary impact statement is now subject to a 60-day public comment period, after which final guidelines will be issued. But Stringer and others are pressing the state for a 30-day extension, which would allow the findings from the Hazen and Sawyer report to be included.

Read the "Rapid Impact Assessment Report" by consulting firm Hazen and Sawyer.

Read our full coverage of natural gas drilling.

ProPublica reporters Joaquin Sapien and Saprina Shankman contributed to this story.

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:



Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Pennsylvania Orders Cabot Oil and Gas to Stop Fracturing in Troubled County

by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica

After three chemical spills in the past nine days, and following a history of environmental problems over the last year, Pennsylvania officials have ordered Cabot Oil and Gas, one of the most active natural gas companies in the state, to stop its hydraulic fracturing operations in Susquehanna County pending an intensive review.

"The department took this action because of our concern about Cabot's current fracking process and to ensure that the environment in Susquehanna County is properly protected," DEP north central regional Director Robert Yowell said in a news release distributed this morning.

The stop-work order, which was accompanied by new citations issued for the third spill, will interrupt development of seven new wells that Cabot is currently drilling, and intending to fracture, in Susquehanna County. The citations were similar to those levied earlier in the week, including a failure to contain fracturing fluids.

The state's order gives Cabot two weeks to re-submit an "accurate" Pollution Prevention and Contingency Plan and Control and Disposal Plan for its well pad sites in the county. It gives the company three weeks to complete an engineering study of the equipment and practices used for hydraulic fracturing.

“There were unique elements of the location that experienced the three incidents and it was not necessary to force a shutdown of all fracturing activities,” said Cabot spokesman Ken Komoroski, explaining that fluids were piped farther than usual at the well site in question. “However, Cabot understands the department has an important job to do.”

In interviews earlier this week, Komoroski underscored that the spills had happened under the watch of two of its contractors: Halliburton, one of the world’s largest drilling service companies, and Baker Tanks, a tank transport company.

In recognition of those circumstances, Pennsylvania will require Cabot to post its new pollution prevention plan at each well site and make it available to all its contractors, something that is not normally required in the state.

You can read the full press release here (PDF).

ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:





Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Video of the Day: Scientists find 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch'

Researchers say a Texas-sized garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean is possibly killing marine life and birds that are ingesting the trash.
Watch now:

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:





Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Video Essay: Florida Bay Facing Ecological Ruin

As Everglades restoration slows to a crawl, Florida Bay, at the state's southern tip, is feeling the pinch. Miles of canals aimed at draining the swamp for development and farms are depriving the bay of much-needed freshwater.

Watch now:

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:



Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

World's First Paperless University

Anaheim University's commitment to becoming paperless in 2010 will make the nationally accredited online education pioneer the world's first paperless university.

Anaheim University is an accredited online institution of higher learning headquartered in Anaheim, Calif.

According to Anaheim University spokesman David Bracey, "We hope to set an example for our Online Green MBA and Sustainable Management Diploma and Certificate students to follow so that they can have a similar impact on the environment at their places of work. It is not our goal to be the first paperless university. It is our goal to be one of many paperless universities and we hope by setting an example, many universities around the world will join us in becoming sustainable and socially responsible institutions that put people and planet before profit. Many of our processes are already digital, and we are now working with the publishers to convert all of our textbooks into e-books so that our entire curriculum can be downloaded and stored on the Sony Electronic Book Reader or the Amazon Kindle."

There is a clear need for paperless offices and paperless campuses, as the paper industry is one of the world's major polluting industries and one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gases with over 900 million trees cut annually. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, paper is the number one material thrown away, making up 40% of our waste system. Studies indicate over 45% of office paper that is discarded was thrown out on the day it was printed, and that of the paper filed, over 80% is never referenced again.

Although we have heard that the "paperless" office is just around the corner, paper consumption has tripled during the past decade. The United States uses nearly 3.7 million tons of copy paper (more than 700 billion sheets) per year. According to a Xerox survey, the average U.S. office worker prints 10,000 to 12,000 sheets annually.

Other environmental commitments by Anaheim University include President William Hartley's signing of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) in February. Universities who have joined this commitment include Cornell University, Duke University, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and University of Pennsylvania. By signing the document, Anaheim University promised to within two years, set a target date and interim milestones for becoming climate neutral, Anaheim University says.

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:



Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Video of the Day: Prince Charles Says to Think Green

Britain's Prince Charles says protecting the planet while creating new jobs is essential during the global economic downturn.

Watch now:

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:





Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Video of the Day: The Truth About Recycling | ZapRoot 080

A video from ViroPop.

Watch now:

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:



Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Nanoparticles in Cosmetics/Personal Care Products May Have Adverse Environmental Effects

Using aquatic microbes as their "canary-in-a-cage," scientists from Ohio reported that nanoparticles now being added to cosmetics, sunscreens, and hundreds of other personal care products may be harmful to the environment.

Their report was part of symposia that included almost two dozen papers at the 237th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society where scientists grappled to understand the environmental and human health effects of nanotechnology. Hundreds of products utilizing these microscopic particles — 1/5,000th the diameter of a human hair — already are on the market. With many more poised for debut, scientists are seeking to avoid unwanted health and environmental effects in advance.

The study by Cyndee Gruden, and Olga Mileyeva-Biebesheimer focused on nano-titanium dioxide (nano-TiO2) particles found in cosmetics, sunscreens, and other personal care products. The particles are added to those products for their highly beneficial effects in blocking ultraviolet light in sunlight. Excess exposure can cause premature aging of the skin and skin cancer.

Gruden, who is with the University of Toledo, explained that the particles are washed down the drain in homes as people bathe and end up in municipal sewage treatment plants. From there, they can enter lakes, rivers, and other water sources where microorganisms serve essential roles in maintaining a healthy environment.

"When they enter a lake, what happens?" Gruden asks. "Would they enter an organism or bind to it? Maybe they kill it — or have nothing to do with it at all. These are important questions for determining the effects that nanoparticles may have on the environment. Right now, we're not really sure of the answers."

Gruden studied survival of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria when exposed in laboratory cultures to various amounts of nano-TiO2. She finds surprisingly large reductions in survival in samples exposed to small concentrations of the nanoparticles for less than an hour. "How fast the impact was surprised me," she says. The findings open the door to future research, including studies to determine whether the same effects occur in the natural environment.

Gruden's method for pinpointing damage from nanoparticles uses fluorescence to identify when the cell membrane in microbes undergo damage. When membranes — a crucial part of the microbe — are damaged, the cells emit a faint red glow. "Methods based upon fluorescence allow us to obtain results faster, maybe with greater sensitivity," she says, adding that this approach could speed scientific efforts to understand the threshold at which nanoparticles become toxic to microbes.

In a second study on nanotoxicity at the ACS National Meeting, scientists from Utah described development of a new biosensor that flashes like a beacon upon detecting nanoparticles in the environment.

Anne Anderson and colleagues at Utah State University and the University of Utah have inserted genes into a strain of Pseudomonas putida (P. putida) — a beneficial soil microbe — so that it emits light upon contact with nanoparticles of heavy metals. They are with Utah State University. The bacteria glow brightly when it is in its normal healthy state. The glow dims upon exposure to toxic substances.

"The novelty of the biosensor is we're able to get responses very, very quickly," she says, "and we can get those answers in the absence of other factors that could bind the challenging compounds." Anderson notes that traditional approaches in measuring bacterial cell growth may take two days. "At the snap of your finger you can see some of these things take place."

Anderson's group discovered that P. putida cannot tolerate silver, copper oxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles. Toxicity occurred at levels as low as micrograms per liter. That's equivalent to two or three drops of water in an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Anderson warns it could spell danger for aquatic life. "If you look up the Environmental Protection Agency's risk level of Copper to fish and other aquatic organisms, you are at that point of toxicity."

There's much debate in the science community about nanoparticle toxicity, Anderson says. Some scientists believe that nanoparticles in nature will aggregate together or bind onto silt and/or other organic matter, greatly reducing their toxicity. "We don't know if that's true or not," she says. So other members of this Utah research group currently are investigating that aspect of the issue.

Although the public is ultimately responsible for understanding the risks of consumer products, Gruden said, science plays a large role in highlighting possible hazards. "It is the scientist's job to perform good research and let the findings speak for themselves," she says. And so far the promises of nanotechnology need more evaluation. "To date, it's unclear whether the benefits of nanotech outweigh the risks associated with environmental release and exposure to nanoparticles."

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:



Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Video of the Day: Internet Recycling Network

A global recycling network allows members to pass on unused items and help keep them out of landfills. The website Freecycle enables its 6 million members worldwide to recycle through barter and give stuff away. Fred Katayama reports from New York.

Watch now:

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:





Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Video of the Day: Ecotourism Helps Save Hawaiian Species

Hawaii's Big Island is home to a delicately balanced ecosystem. To help preserve the diverse species, programs have been created to educate and involve tourists in developing a sustainable industry without harming the environment.

Watch now:

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:



Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Video of the Day: Carbon-free City Under Construction

The first city in the world to be completely carbon free is being built in the Gulf state of Abu Dhabi. When it's finished, there will be no cars and all of the city's energy will come from the sun and wind.

Watch now:

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:


Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Video: Aussies Work To Save Dying Wetlands

Water is scarce in Australia and there are concerns about the impact of the drought.So conservationists have begun assessing 600 wetlands in parts of New South Wales to decide which are most deserving of water.

Watch now:

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:





Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Gold Nanostar Shape of the Future For Combating Disease, Contaminants

Rods, cones, cubes and spheres – move aside. Tiny gold stars, smaller than a billionth of a meter, may hold the promise for new approaches to medical diagnoses or testing for environmental contaminants.

While nanoparticles have been the rage across a wide spectrum of sciences, a new study by Duke University bioengineers indicates that of all the shapes studied to date, stars may shine above all the rest for certain applications.

The key is light, and how that light reflects off the particles. Compared to the other shapes, nanostars can dramatically enhance the reflected light, the Duke scientists found. This increases their potential usefulness as a tracer, label, or contrast agent.

Since the researchers also found that the size and shape of the nanostars affect the spectrum of reflected light, they believe that these tiny nanostars can also be "tuned" to identify particular molecules or chemicals.

"To our knowledge, this is the first report of the development and use of gold nanostars as labels for molecular detection and description of their controlled synthesis with different sizes and shapes" says Chris Khoury, lead author of a paper published online in the Journal of Physical Chemistry. Khoury is a graduate student in biomedical engineering working in the laboratory of senior researcher Tuan Vo-Dinh, director of The Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics at Duke.

In the Duke experiments, the nanostars were used in conjunction with a phenomena first described in the 1970s known as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). When light, usually from a laser, is shined on a sample, the target molecule vibrates and scatters back in its own unique light, often referred to as the Raman scatter. However, this Raman response is extremely weak. When the target molecule is coupled with a metal nanoparticle or nanostructure, the Raman response is greatly enhanced by the SERS effect –often by more than a million times, Vo-Dinh says.

In the early 1980s, while at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, Vo-Dinh and colleagues were among the first to demonstrate that SERS could be put into practical use to detect chemicals including carcinogens, environmental pollutants, and early markers of disease. Now at Duke, Vo-Dinh is pushing the boundaries of the SERS technology by designing a variety of unique types and shapes of metal nanoparticles that can be used as SERS labels for chemical and biomedical detection.

"We are trying to understand which type of nanostructures will give us the optimal signal so we can use them to monitor trace amounts of pollutants or detect diseases in their earliest stage" Vo-Dinh says. "This study is the first demonstration that these nanostars can enhance the effect of SERS to produce strong and unique signatures, like 'optical fingerprints.'"

Khoury "grew" the nanostars by mixing miniscule gold particle seeds in a growth solution. As more gold was added to the solution, protrusions began to sprout from the central core. Additional gold increased the size of the entire particle.

"These experiments demonstrate that it is possible to vary the size and shape of the nanostars in a controlled fashion by adjusting the volume of gold seeds added to the growth solution," Khoury says. "We found that variations in star size changed the reflected light, which hints toward the tuning capabilities that can be exploited by SERS technology."

For such studies, or those involving environmental contaminants, a dye would be attached to the nanostars and mixed with the sample to be tested. The sample would then be placed under a microscope and hit with a burst of laser energy. Sensors would pick up the Raman scattering and interpret the unique optical fingerprint.

Khoury says that nanostars are small enough to pass through cell walls into the interior of the cell, which would make them an effective method for molecular diagnostics. Nanostars could be attached to an antibody to search for antigens, or coupled with a dye to improve the effectiveness of different imaging tests.

While silver enhances the Raman scattering more effectively, gold was chosen as the metallic base of the current nanoparticle because it is a stable metal that doesn't cause immune system reactions within the body. Unlike silver, it also does not oxidize in samples.

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:



Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

RAND: Army Can Boost Mission Success by Better Managing Environmental Considerations

By better managing environmental issues during deployments, U.S. Army units can gain tactical and strategic advantages that will help in combat and post-conflict operations, and boost overall mission success, according to a recent RAND Corporation study.

The study finds that commanders have not usually given environmental concerns high priority during planning, despite the effect environmental conditions can have on troop health, safety and security, and the importance they have for the local population.

Researchers recommend that Army leaders give more weight to strategic, operational and tactical aspects of environmental considerations during planning and operations, and develop comprehensive standards and best practices to address environmental issues during contingencies, an announcement of the study says.

This is consistent with the Army's new counterinsurgency doctrine, which highlights the importance of environmental improvements (especially sewage, water and trash) to gain support of the local population.

U.S. experience in Iraq suggests that providing clean water, electricity, sewage and trash management can tip the balance between the local residents supporting the U.S. mission or the insurgency, according to the study. Public opinion surveys suggest that Iraqis care about these issues almost as much as security.

Environmental considerations encompass anything related to the environment that affects the planning and execution of military operations or is affected by those operations. They include (but are not limited to) clean water, sewage-related infrastructure, soldier health, compliance with environmental laws, sustainability, protection of historical and cultural sites, and management of agricultural and natural resources.

“Perhaps the most underappreciated aspect of environmental considerations is the role that they can play in achieving U.S. national objectives in counterinsurgency and stability operations,” says report co-author David Mosher, a researcher at RAND, a non-profit research organization.

In countries where environmental conditions and infrastructure are severely degraded, clean drinking water, effective sewage and trash systems, and viable farmland are crucial to local inhabitants. Providing these things can influence whether inhabitants support the local government and U.S. goals and objectives.

“Commanders and planners can take steps in the combat phase to preserve existing environmental infrastructure and resources that will be vital once combat has ended,” Mosher says. “Determining what to preserve will demand that leaders and planners take a strategic view of the operation, including what the end result ought to be.”

The Army also can have a positive influence on the environment. In operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Balkans, U.S. soldiers have helped to build wells, sewage treatment plants and other water infrastructure systems, which were beneficial to both U.S. soldiers and local communities, said report co-author Beth Lachman.

In Iraq, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is helping to restore the Mesopotamian Marshlands that are significant to both regional and migratory bird species, and the local economy.

Environmental issues can also affect soldier health and safety, the costs of an operation, the logistical burden of supporting forces, and diplomatic relations. The study finds that long deployments and extended post-conflict operations like those in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Balkans expose U.S. forces to a variety of environmental problems. At one base camp in Afghanistan, legacy pollution problems caused short-term respiratory illnesses for U.S. soldiers until the problem was identified and addressed.

The relationship between the Army and the environment is a two-way street, according to the study. On the one hand, soldiers and operations affect the environment; on the other, the environment affects soldiers and operations, especially because many contingency operations are often conducted in locations that have significant legacy pollution and other environmental problems, according to study authors.

The study finds that base camps raise a host of environmental issues. In most contingencies over the last 20 years, U.S. forces have remained in theater much longer than expected. As a result, base camps that were hastily constructed for temporary use are occupied for many years and often have inadequate environmental systems and procedures, such as insufficient waste management.

Pollution from base camps can affect relations with locals, cause health problems for soldiers, and require costly cleanup efforts. The authors state that Army leaders should anticipate longer stays and design and build base camps accordingly, RAND says.

Operations that require less fuel, water and other resources, and produce less waste, will reduce the logistics burden. A well-designed, efficient base camp can reduce the resources required to sustain it and free logistics assets to support U.S. troops or reduce the number of convoys that must travel along dangerous roads, the report finds.

Environmental conditions can also extend beyond national borders because air and water pollution may travel great distances, affecting diplomatic relations with countries that could be crucial to the mission's success.

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:



Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

More For Your Hybrid Car

With gasoline still hovering around $4 per gallon, hybrid cars make more sense than ever.

Whether you are looking into buying your first hybrid electric vehicle -- or are a long-time owner and ethusiast, the hybrid car blog is for you. The hybrid car blog has the latest news, analysis, reviews -- and more. Vote now on a poll to say how much you would pay for the next-generation Chevy Volt plug-in electric vehicle.

Plus, the hybrid car blog has a variety of useful and informative links -- links to the various hybrid electric models, as well as links to such sites as a Buyer's Guide and the campaign for hybrid vehicle tax credits.

With high fuel prices and the opportunity to reduce carbon emissions, a hybrid car may make sense for you. Find out more at the hybrid car blog.

This was a sponsored post.

Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Scientific Balloons Achieve Antarctic Flight Record

NASA and the National Science Foundation say they have achieved a new milestone in conducting scientific observations from balloons, by launching and operating three
long-duration flights within a single Antarctic summer.

"Having three long-duration balloon science missions flying simultaneously is a record-setting event. But of greater significance is the increase in science that can be accomplished with only a modest increase in cost to the program," says David Gregory, assistant chief of NASA's Balloon Program at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Unique atmospheric circulation over Antarctica during its summer months allows scientists to launch balloons from a site near McMurdo Station, NSF's logistics hub in Antarctica, and recover them from nearly the same spot weeks later. During that time, each balloon circles the continent one to three times. Scientists from the United States, Japan, South Korea, France and other countries are using the balloons to investigate the nature of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays and to search for antimatter.

The three payloads will ride the stratospheric winds in the polar vortex, a persistent low-pressure system above the Antarctic continent that will help keep balloons aloft for up to six weeks. This orbital pattern allows for long and continuous observations of a variety of phenomena from a single instrument at a fraction of the cost of launching a satellite into space.

The payloads launched Dec. 19 - 26 from McMurdo are the University of Maryland's Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM) experiment, the Balloon borne Experiment with a Superconducting Spectrometer (BESS) developed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. and Japan's High Energy Accelerator Center, Tsukuba, Japan, and Louisiana State University's Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter (ATIC).

The CREAM investigation will search for characteristic changes in elemental composition and energy spectra of very high-energy cosmic rays that might be associated with a particle acceleration limit in supernovae. ATIC is focusing on cosmic rays electrons, which are of particular interest because they are subject to synchrotron energy loses, so structure in their spectrum may be linked to individual, nearby sources. BESS will provide definitive measurements of low-energy antiprotons in solar minimum conditions, with precise data that will constrain models for dark matter, in addition to placing limits on decay of primordial black holes and cosmological antimatter.

Once the balloon flights are completed, the payloads will be retrieved, brought back to McMurdo, and then returned to the U.S., where they can be refurbished and launched again.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA conduct an annual scientific-balloon campaign during the Antarctic summer.

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:



Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Video: 'Return To Sender' Recycling

As part of the "Clean and Green" series, Danny Lipford visits Doris Renfro, of Columbiana, Ohio, to talk about her simple and effective way of dealing with junk mail.

Watch the video now:

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:

Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.