Sunday 9 June 2019

Floating power plants

Paper, tin cans, glass—the world recycles as much as possible. So why not declare the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) a recycling product as well? Liquid fuels based on carbon will continue to play an important role in the future—despite international efforts to reduce them. So it seems sensible to recover the CO2 exhaust from the environment and use it again.

* This article was originally published here

NASA to open International Space Station to tourists from 2020

NASA said Friday it will open up the International Space Station to business ventures including space tourism as it seeks to financially disengage from the orbiting research lab.

* This article was originally published here

How brassinosteroid signaling makes roots grow longer under nitrogen deficiency

As sessile organisms, plants rely on their ability to adapt the development and growth of their roots in response to changing nutrient conditions. One such response, known to be displayed by plants grown in low nitrogen conditions, is the elongation of primary and lateral roots to explore the surrounding soil. This adaption to the lack of the essential element nitrogen is of particular interest, as it reflects a "foraging strategy," by which the root system can exploit nutrients from a larger soil volume. Until recently, this was the least understood nitrogen-dependent root response. Scientists from the IPK in Gatersleben have now identified the hormone pathway regulating root foraging under low nitrogen conditions and a signalling component that modulates the intensity of this response. These findings open up the possibility of breeding crops with root systems enabling more efficient nitrogen uptake.

* This article was originally published here

France ready to cut Renault stake to shore up Nissan partnership: minister

France is ready to consider cutting its stake in Renault in the interests of consolidating the automaker's alliance with Nissan, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Saturday.

* This article was originally published here

300-year-old piston design reinvented with soft flexible materials

Since their invention in the late 1700s when French-born British physicist Denis Papin, the inventor of the pressure cooker, proposed the piston principle, pistons have been used to harness the power of fluids to perform work in numerous machines and devices.

* This article was originally published here

New blood test on horizon for the 1 in 10 children who suffer common liver disease

A new blood test could become clinical practice within five years, reducing the need for a liver biopsy in the management of paediatric Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), as a major new international paediatric liver registry collaboration yields early results.

* This article was originally published here