Tag: Environment

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Solid-oxide Fuel Cells: Using familiar fuel in a new way

by Michael R. Gerhardt Our climate is rapidly changing, and many countries are beginning to take action. In the United States, President Barack Obama has announced the Clean Power Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electric power generation, while Chinese president Xi Jinping has announced economic incentives to reduce emissions [1,2]. Even oil companies have publicly acknowledged the challenges we face and have voiced … Continue reading Solid-oxide Fuel Cells: Using familiar fuel in a new way

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Art Gallery, Images

The Light of Elendil in Shelob’s Lair

By Andrew Wong, a second year graduate student in the Applied Physics program at Harvard University.       The increase in global energy demand and subsequent carbon dioxide emissions has driven advancements in renewable energy generation technologies such as wind turbines and solar cells. However, these technologies are inherently intermittent, and require robust energy storage devices. Inexpensive, large-scale energy storage systems such as aqueous … Continue reading The Light of Elendil in Shelob’s Lair

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Innovating in a New Market: Challenges for Cleantech

by Greg Silverberg figures by Kaitlyn Choi Cleantech is a troubled sector Scientists know from geological data that carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have been below 300 parts per million for nearly 1 million years.  However, for about a century, carbon dioxide concentrations have been rising at a rate unprecedented in these data and are now approaching 400 parts per million.  Carbon dioxide acts … Continue reading Innovating in a New Market: Challenges for Cleantech

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Natural Gas Leaks Increase Climate Risk of Energy Source

by Jordan Wilkerson figures by Brad Wierbowski The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently issued a new wave of regulations, and they focus on one thing: methane. Due to the EPA’s recent proposal, we have been inundated with stories about methane, its connection to the fossil fuel industry, and its comparison to carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas [1,2]. However, the authors often leave out a … Continue reading Natural Gas Leaks Increase Climate Risk of Energy Source

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Harmful Algal Blooms Threaten Public Health and Economic Stability Along the West Coast

by Matthew Schwartz A new danger is threatening the economic stability of the west coast of the United States and has the potential to cause a public health crisis. A massive harmful algal bloom has accumulated across most of the west coast and may be the largest toxic algal bloom ever recorded [1]. The bloom is a threat because it is releasing a toxin which … Continue reading Harmful Algal Blooms Threaten Public Health and Economic Stability Along the West Coast

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Blog, Special Edition on GMOs

Insecticidal Plants: The Tech and Safety of GM Bt Crops

by Matthew Niederhuber figures by Kaitlyn Choi Summary: Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a common bacteria that has played a very uncommon role in agriculture and the development of genetically modified foods. The natural insecticidal abilities of these bacteria have made them an important pest control tool for nearly a century. While their use as a natural biopesticide is widely accepted and approved for organic applications, … Continue reading Insecticidal Plants: The Tech and Safety of GM Bt Crops

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Blog, Special Edition on GMOs

Why Roundup Ready Crops Have Lost their Allure

by Jordan Wilkerson figures by Brian Chow Summary: In the history of agriculture, no technology has been adopted so quickly and completely as genetically engineered crops. Particularly useful crops are ones that have an engineered resistance to herbicides. These crops have alluring benefits: reduced crop damage when herbicides are sprayed, easier weed management, and even the potential for environmental benefits. So what’s the problem? Herbicide-resistant … Continue reading Why Roundup Ready Crops Have Lost their Allure

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Be Prepared: Little exaggeration in the Pacific Northwest “Big One” Earthquake Article

California has been the focus of most of Hollywood’s disaster films: there are the succinctly named Earthquake (1974) and Volcano (1977), and most recently San Andreas (2015), about America’s most famous fault line. Now a second fault line in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) – the Cascadia subduction zone – is making its way into the public imagination following a much talked about New Yorker article. In … Continue reading Be Prepared: Little exaggeration in the Pacific Northwest “Big One” Earthquake Article

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Seminars

Memoirs of a Toxin: The lasting human impact on mercury in the environment

Presented by Hannah Horowitz Mercury is a potent neurotoxin. For thousands of years, humans have altered mercury cycling in the environment by introducing massive amounts of mercury to surface water, soils, and air, through mining and burning coal. Once in the surface environment, mercury can threaten human and wildlife health, is transported globally through the air, and continues to have an impact for hundreds of … Continue reading Memoirs of a Toxin: The lasting human impact on mercury in the environment

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Lokiarchaeum: a link to the origin of complex cells

All eukaryotes, such as animals and plants, share the same complexity in their cells. Recently, scientists discovered a species of archaea called Lokiarchaeum that may provide a link to the origin of eukaryotic cells. The DNA of this particular microbe was discovered in sediment samples taken near a hydrothermal vent in the Arctic Ocean. After analyzing the DNA, researchers found that the microbe contains instructions for building cellular compartments and skeletons, all of which are associated with eukaryotic cells. Though the results are very exciting, they are also preliminary. The residual DNA of the Lokiarchaeum suggests that they have a cellular skeleton and special compartments, but there is no way to know for certain until the microbe is cultivated and observed in the lab. Continue reading Lokiarchaeum: a link to the origin of complex cells

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