Futurity.org » Stanford University

From tree to sea, humans have chain effect

Rob Jordan-Stanford — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:52:31 +0000

STANFORD (US) — Researchers have discovered one of the longest ecological interaction chains ever documented, and they say it shows the long-ranging effects of human activity.

Douglas McCauley, Paul DeSalles, and a team of researchers—all currently or formerly at Stanford University—report their findings in Scientific Reports.

Hypersonic flight aboard superfast computer

Dan Stober-Stanford — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:15:13 +0000

STANFORD (US) — Some of the world’s fastest computers are being used to model the complexities of hypersonic flight—and could one day lead to planes that fly at seven to 15 times the speed of sound.

Hypersonic flight is a particularly intense engineering challenge both in the mechanical forces placed on the structure of the plane and in the physics of the sophisticated engines that need to operate in the extremes of the upper atmosphere where the planes would fly.

For motivation, live to learn, not to win

Brooke Donald-Stanford — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:49:13 +0000

STANFORD (US) — An environment that emphasizes learning for its own sake may help foster motivation, even once a person returns to a more competitive setting.

Think about the ideal student. He or she focuses on learning, not grades; improvement, not appearances; competency, not competition. This person wants to understand and grow, not just prove how smart he or she is.

Poll: Less support for U.S. climate policy

Rob Jordan-Stanford — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:00:19 +0000

STANFORD (US) — Political rhetoric and cooler-than-average weather may be the reason support for government action on global warming has dropped in the last two years, a new survey shows.

The survey shows that public support for a range of U.S. government policies intended to reduce future climate change remains high but dropped by an average of 5 percentage points per year between 2010 and 2012. Economics do not appear to have played a role.

In a 2010 Stanford survey, more than three-quarters of respondents expressed support for mandating more efficient and less polluting cars, appliances, homes, offices, and power plants. Nearly 90 percent of respondents favored federal tax breaks to spur companies to produce more electricity from water, wind, and solar energy. On average, 72 percent of respondents supported government action on climate change in 2010.

‘Tough love’ for energy reform so far

Mark Golden-Stanford — Thu, 03 May 2012 16:09:30 +0000

STANFORD (US) — To meaningfully affect energy security or the environment, America’s approach to clean energy needs reform, according to two writers.

The debate over how to fundamentally change the world’s massive energy system comes amid taxpayers’ $500 million tab for the bankruptcy of the California-based solar company Solyndra, the global recession, government budget cuts, and plunging US prices for natural gas.

Making the change cost-effectively will be crucial, write Jeffrey Ball and Kassia Yanosek, both based at Stanford University’s Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance.

Metal bits boost nanowire surface area

Andrew Myers-Stanford — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:15:00 +0000

STANFORD (US) — A new method increases the surface area of nanowires by “decorating” them with sinuous chains of metal oxide or noble metal nanoparticles.

Though science has known for some time that such ornamentation can greatly increase the surface area and alter the surface chemistry of nanowires, engineers at Stanford University have found a more effective method of decorating them that is simpler and faster than previous techniques.

In Hawaii, 40-square-miles and many tough choices

Katy Ashe-Stanford — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:51:02 +0000

STANFORD (US) — After a two-year effort, researchers and Hawaii’s largest landholder have mapped the ecological future of a large chunk of Oahu.

In the end, the environmental value of the land—not just the commercial value—was considered.

Corn cost rising, unless crop heads north

Rob Jordan-Stanford — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:51:09 +0000

STANFORD/PURDUE (US) — Within 30 years, the U.S. corn belt could be forced to move to the Canadian border to escape devastating heat waves brought on by rising global temperatures.

If farmers don’t move their corn north, the more frequent heat waves could lead to bigger swings in corn prices, or price volatility, which cause spikes in food prices, farmers’ incomes, and the price livestock farmers and ethanol producers pay for corn.

For evangelicals, chats with God change minds

Brooke Donald-Stanford — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:38:33 +0000

STANFORD (US) — Based on a decade of research, an anthropologist’s new book examines how evangelical Christians experience—and speak with—God.

Stanford University Professor Tanya Luhrmann says the suggestion was disarming at the time: “I was sitting with an evangelical woman and she told me that I should go have coffee with God. Then she explained she had coffee with God every day.”

Decisions get tougher as white matter ages

David Salisbury-VU — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:16:30 +0000

VANDERBILT (US) — As we age, changes in the brain’s white-matter pathways make decision-making in unfamiliar situations tougher.

The brain-mapping study from Vanderbilt University finds that people’s ability to make decisions in novel situations decreases with age and is associated with a reduction in the integrity of two specific white-matter pathways that connect an area in the cerebral cortex called the medial prefrontal cortex with two other areas deeper in the brain.

Grey matter is the part of the brain that contains the bodies of the neurons while white matter contains the cable-like axons that carry signals from one part of the brain to another. In the past, most brain-imaging research has concentrated on the grey matter.