Category Environment/Geology

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a combination of software and hardware that will allow them to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and insect cyborgs, or biobots, to map large, unfamiliar areas — such as collapsed buildings after a disaster. Credit: Edgar Lobaton

North Carolina State Uni researchers have developed a combination of software and hardware that will allow them to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and insect cyborgs, or biobots, to map large, unfamiliar areas – such as collapsed buildings after a disaster...

The OFS soap molecules made from renewable sources could dramatically reduce the number of chemicals in cleaning products and their impact on the environment. Credit: Paul J. Dauenhauer, University of Minnesota

A team has invented a new soap molecule made from renewable sources that could dramatically reduce the number of chemicals in cleaning products and their impact on the environment. The soap molecules also worked better than some conventional soaps in challenging conditions such as cold and hard water. The technology has been patented by the University of Minnesota and is licensed to the new Minnesota-based startup company Sironix Renewables.

“Our team created a soap molecule made from natural products, like soybeans, coconut and corn, that works better than regular soaps and is bett...

A recent snow storm in New York

The research, carried out by an international team of scientists including the University of Sheffield, found that warming in the Arctic may be intensifying the effects of the jet stream’s position, which in the winter can cause extreme cold weather, such as the winter of 2014/15 which saw record snowfall levels in New York. Scientists previously had 2 schools of thought. One group believe that natural variability in jet stream’s position has caused recent severe cold winter weather seen in places such as the Eastern US and the UK...