New research shows that gall fly larvae produce a special form of fat that remains liquid at very low temperatures, up to -80 °C. Gall flies have some of the best cold tolerance in the animal kingdom. They spend the winter inside lumps of plant tissue called galls. While the new discovery could help explain […]
Tag: energy
Methane leaks from Pennsylvania shale gas well during drilling
Using data from an aircraft survey of southwestern Pennsylvania in June 2012, researchers have shown that shale gas wells in the drilling phase emit between 100 and 1000 times more methane than previously thought. The authors call for an examination of all aspects of natural gas production activity to improve methane inventory estimates and identify […]
Engineering easier trees
Wood contains both cellulose and lignin. Cellulose is the key component of paper, cardboard and other paper products. Lignin a material that is generally discarded as waste or burned for heat energy. The process of separating the two requires the use of both valuable energy and harmful chemicals. Researchers have genetically engineered poplar trees to […]
Migrating Golden Eagles Avoid Turbines at a Rocky Mountain Wind Installation
Researchers in British Columbia have found that eagles detect and avoid wind turbines during migration by increasing their flight altitudes. The researchers visually tracked golden eagle migration over a commercial wind farm before and after construction. They monitored the commercial wind installation in the Hart Range near Chetwynd British Columbia – the Dokie 1 Wind Energy […]
Western oil buried under eastern sand
Researchers showed that most of the actual sand at the Athabasca oil sands in Alberta is originally from the east. By analysing trace amounts of uranium and lead in individual sand grains called zircons, researchers showed that most of the sediment was originally eroded from faraway places, such as the Appalachian mountains. This improved understanding […]
