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Energy News- First Solar is Developing a 550-MW Solar Power Project in California March 17, 2010First Solar, Inc. is developing a 550-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic power plant in Southern California, slated for completion in 2013. The project is one of a number of large solar photovoltaic projects unfolding in California. […]
- Chevron to Build a 1-Megawatt Concentrating PV Facility in New Mexico March 17, 2010Chevron Technology Ventures will build the largest concentrating photovoltaic (PV) installation in the United States on a tailings site at a molybdenum mine in Questa, New Mexico. The 1-megawatt solar installation is considered a demonstration project. […]
- DOE's EERE Web Site Gets a Streamlined Look March 17, 2010DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has redesigned its Web site to make it more user-friendly. The revamped Web site includes a new "Energy Empowers" section with stories from energy innovators across the United States. […]
- First Solar is Developing a 550-MW Solar Power Project in California March 17, 2010
- Renewable Energy
- Tool That Tracks Solar Installations is Open to AllNREL's new Open PV Web site lets users download information about installations, explore trends in photovoltaic markets. […]
- High-Speed Pipeline Revs Up Biomass AnalysisHigh throughput system can analyze enzymes, poplars, switch grass, thousands at a time to help determine which plants are best suited for biofuels. […]
- Light Inspires Energy Efficient Building DesignThe use of daylighting drives the size of the NREL's new super energy efficient Research Support Facility as well as the features of its windows. […]
- Tool That Tracks Solar Installations is Open to All
- Energy And The Environment
- Texas Pipeline Company Agrees to Pay Civil Penalty to Resolve Clean Water Act Violations March 18, 2010[…]
- EPA Recognizes Leaders in Energy Efficiency: Winners save energy and money through Energy Star program March 18, 2010WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is honoring a select group of manufacturers, retailers, public schools, hospitals, real estate companies, home builders and other organizations as 2010 Energy Star award winners […]
- Coming Soon: EPA’s 48-Hour Burn Wise Video Contest
Help protect your community from wood smoke pollution March 11, 2010WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is sponsoring a video contest for professional and amateur filmmakers on Burn Wise, the agency’s campaign to help citizens reduce pollution from their fireplaces and other wood-burning appliances […]
- Texas Pipeline Company Agrees to Pay Civil Penalty to Resolve Clean Water Act Violations March 18, 2010
- Energy Research
- ARRA money funds young neutrino physicist???s research March 19, 2010Alysia Marino, a particle physicist supported by DOE???s Office of High Energy Physics, always knew she???d be a scientist of some kind. […]
- Roasting biomass may be key process in bioenergy economy March 19, 2010Biorefineries may soon rely on a process akin to roasting coffee beans to get more energy-dense biomass. […]
- Researchers rediscover the structure of water March 19, 2010A team of researchers at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, located at the DOE???s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, has found the molecular structure of water to be more complex than recently thought, suggesting that molecular models that went out of fashion decades ago may be in fact more accurate than recent ones. […]
- ARRA money funds young neutrino physicist???s research March 19, 2010
- Agriculture
- Prior Herbicide UseNot Irrigationis Critical to Herbicide EfficacyARS plant physiologist Dale Shaner has found that, while the herbicide atrazine breaks down more quickly in fields that have been previously treated with the herbicide, the amount of irrigation does not affect the degradation rate at all. Click the image for more information about it. Grass strips help curb erosion, herbicide transport Delta soils found t […]
- New Lentil Being Readied for MarketARS has recently released a new high-yielding variety of lentil called Essex. Photo courtesy of George Vandemark, ARS. New peas resist fungal foe Likeable legume snacks from ARS research New, healthful compound discovered in exotic lentils New Lentil Being Readied for Market By Jan Suszkiw March 16, 2010 "Essex," a new lentil variety develope […]
- Baby's Obesity Risk: What's Mom's Influence?Read the magazine story to find out more. Whether a woman is lean or overweight during her pregnancy may influence the likelihood of her child becoming an overweight or obese adult, ARS-funded research with laboratory rats suggests. Photo courtesy of Microsoft Clipart. Kids lose pounds, gain fitness, in Houston study Research on childhood obesity may help […]
- Prior Herbicide UseNot Irrigationis Critical to Herbicide Efficacy
- Food, Drugs And Health
- FDA Approves Drug to Treat Condition That Causes Elevated Ammonia LevelsFDA today March 18th 2010 approved Carbaglu (carglumic acid)Tablets to treat too much ammonia in blood […]
- Statement for National Poison Prevention WeekFDA Committed to Addressing Growing National Overdose Problem The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recognizes the five-fold increase in unintentional drug overdose deaths noted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 1990 and 2006 as a serious public health concern. Much of this increase follows from increases in the deaths from the […]
- FDA Approves First Totally Implanted Hearing SystemThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced the approval of the Esteem – an implanted hearing system used to treat moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss, a type of permanent hearing loss. […]
- FDA March 17 Update on the Investigation into the Salmonella Montevideo OutbreakAs part of the Salmonella Montevideo investigation, the Food and Drug Administration has been actively investigating the supply chain of black and red pepper supplied to Daniele International Inc., Pascoag, R.I. […]
- FDA Seeks Permanent Injunction Against Louisiana Sprout GrowerThe Department of Justice, in an action initiated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, today sought a permanent injunction against A Chau Sprouting Co., a sprout grower in Gretna, La., company owner and manager Quang “Mike” Trinh, and Hue Nguyen, the company production manager. […]
- FDA Approves Drug to Treat Condition That Causes Elevated Ammonia Levels
The Spider Web: Paradox Of Super-strength
Research finds weakest chemical bonds produce materials stronger than steel
Since its development in China thousands of years ago, silk from silkworms, spiders and other insects has been used for high-end, luxury fabrics as well as for parachutes and medical sutures. Now, National Science Foundation-supported researchers are untangling some of its most closely guarded secrets, and explaining why silk is so super strong.
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Materials Science and Engineering say the key to silk’s pound-for-pound toughness, which exceeds that of steel, is its beta-sheet crystals, the nano-sized cross-linking domains that hold the material together.
Markus Buehler, the Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Associate Professor in MIT’s department of civil and environmental engineering, and his team recently used computer models to simulate exactly how the components of beta sheet crystals move and interact with each other. They found that an unusual arrangement of hydrogen bonds–the “glue” that stabilizes the beta-sheet crystals–play an important role in defining the strength of silk.
They found that hydrogen bonds, which are among the weakest types of chemical bonds, gain strength when confined to spaces on the order of a few nanometers in size. Once in close proximity, the hydrogen bonds work together and become extremely strong. Moreover, if a hydrogen bond breaks, there are still many hydrogen bonds left that can contribute to the material’s overall strength, due to their ability to “self-heal” the beta-sheet crystals.
The researchers conclude that silk’s strength and ductility–its ability to bend or stretch without breaking–results from this peculiar arrangement of atomic bonds. They say controlling the size of the area in which hydrogen or other chemical bonds act can lead to significantly enhanced properties for future materials, even when the initial chemical bonds are very weak.
The journal Nature Materials reported the findings online March 14.
-NSF-