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Energy News- Department of Energy to Invest Nearly $18 Million for Advanced Biofuels User Facility March 31, 2010DOE today announced that the Department's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will build an advanced biofuels process development facility aimed at speeding the commercialization of advanced biofuels. […]
- DOE to Provide $37.5 Million for U.S.-Chinese Clean Energy Research March 31, 2010DOE is committing $37.5 million in funding over the next five years to support the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center. The joint initiative will focus initially on building energy efficiency and clean vehicles, as well as carbon capture and storage. […]
- DOE, Interior, and Army Corps of Engineers to Cooperate on Hydropower March 31, 2010DOE, the U.S. Department of Interior, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that creates a new cooperative approach toward developing hydropower at federally owned facilities. […]
- Department of Energy to Invest Nearly $18 Million for Advanced Biofuels User Facility March 31, 2010
- Renewable Energy
- NREL Finds a Way to Give LEDs the Green LightLab reverses solar cell process to create a long-sought-after deep green that could lead to cheaper, more efficient lighting. […]
- NREL's New Robots Scrutinize Solar CellsProcess Development and Integration Laboratory is faster, more precise, gives industry quicker answers. […]
- 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. […]
- NREL Finds a Way to Give LEDs the Green Light
- Energy And The Environment
- $69,971 Awarded to AlburtyLab, Inc., of Drexel, Mo., to Improve Drinking Water Monitoring Technology April 5, 2010Environmental News FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Kansas City, Kan., April 5, 2010) - EPA has awarded $69,971 to AlburtyLab, Inc., of Drexel, Mo., to develop new technologies for improved drinking water monitoring. AlburtyLab intends to market this technology through its partner, InnovPrep LLC […]
- EPA awards $140,000 for technology development to small businesses in Bozeman, Missoula April 5, 2010Grants will advance cutting-edge greenhouse gas reduction technologies (Denver, Colo. – April 5, 2010) The U.S […]
- EPA awards $210,000 for technology development to Wheat Ridge, Boulder small businesses April 5, 2010Grants will advance cutting-edge biodiesel and air quality technologies (Denver, Colo. – April 5, 2010) The U.S […]
- $69,971 Awarded to AlburtyLab, Inc., of Drexel, Mo., to Improve Drinking Water Monitoring Technology April 5, 2010
- Energy Research
- Stojanoff deciphers crystal structures, promotes role of women in science April 6, 2010Vivian Stojanoff spends her workdays studying a special kind of crystals ??? protein crystals. […]
- SRNL assesses bamboo for closure caps April 6, 2010The very traits that can make some bamboos troublesome for landowners???quick to grow and hard to kill???make it potentially useful for cleanup, according to the Savannah River National Laboratory. […]
- MTI satellite celebrates 10 years in orbit, continues to serve April 6, 2010For researchers at DOE's Sandia National Laboratories, the evening of March 12 marked a proud moment. […]
- Stojanoff deciphers crystal structures, promotes role of women in science April 6, 2010
- Agriculture
- Longer-Lasting Flowers: Fresh Ideas from ARS ResearchersRead the magazine story to find out more. Scientists have found that spraying low concentrations of the compound thidiazuron can significantly extend the life of some potted plants' leaves and flowers such as the treated cyclamen on the left. Click the image for more information about it. Ornamental peppers heading to market Two new lilacs from the U […]
- Diverse Wheat Tapped for Antifungal GenesRead the magazine story to find out more. Asian wheat lines like this one may provide new resistance to Fusarium head blight disease for U.S. wheat. Click the image for more information about it. Scientists identify specific barley tissues infected by scab ARS researchers develop method to speed up breeding of scab-resistant barley cultivars Scientists […]
- Model Predicts Shifts in Carbon Absorption by Forest CanopiesAn ARS scientist recently helped refine computer models that can indicate when forest "carbon sinks" become net carbon generators instead, such as when gypsy moths defoliate the canopy. Photo courtesy of NRCS. Bacterium curbs several insect pests Literature review predicts carbon storage on rangeland Farming practices influence the effects of […]
- Longer-Lasting Flowers: Fresh Ideas from ARS Researchers
- Food, Drugs And Health
- FDA Approves New Formulation for OxyContinThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a new formulation of the controlled-release drug OxyContin that has been designed to help discourage misuse and abuse of the medication. […]
- FDA Approves First Biodegradable Sealant Patch for Cardiovascular SurgeryThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved TachoSil, the first absorbable fibrin sealant patch for use in cardiovascular surgery to prevent mild and moderate bleeding from small blood vessels, when standard surgical techniques are ineffective or impractical. […]
- Federal Government Seizes Dozens of Misbranded Drug ProductsAt the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Marshals on March 31 seized a range of consumer products, including creams, capsules, tablets, gum, throat spray, and shampoos from a Haywood, Wis., manufacturer. […]
- Federal Government Seeks Permanent Injunction Against Texas Egg Roll ManufacturerThe U. S. Department of Justice, in an action initiated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is seeking a permanent injunction against Chung’s Products LP (“Chung’s”), an egg roll manufacturer in Houston, Charlie A. Kujawa, the company's president, and Gregory S. Birdsell, the firm's director of quality assurance. […]
- FDA Requires Device Manufacturers to Include Information on Pediatric PopulationsThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that will begin implementing a requirement that device manufacturers provide readily available information in certain premarket applications on pediatric patients who suffer from the disease or condition that the device is intended to treat, diagnose, or cure, even if the device is intended for adult use. […]
- FDA Approves New Formulation for OxyContin
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-