Busy beavers capture carbon

 American Geophysical Union, July 2013

A few environmental problem-solvers have proposed drawing carbon out of the air and burying it to reduce greenhouse gasses and curb climate change. Maybe they could take some tips from nature’s own geoengineers – beavers – which have been sequestering carbon for thousands of years in the ponds and meadows created by their dams. A new study finds that, due to decreasing populations, much less carbon is getting tucked away by beavers than in the past.

Distorted GPS signals reveal hurricane wind speeds

 American Geophysical Union, July 2013

By pinpointing locations on Earth from space, GPS systems have long shown drivers the shortest route home and guided airline pilots across oceans. Now, by figuring out how messed up GPS satellite signals get when bouncing around in a storm, researchers have found a way to do something completely different with GPS: measure and map the wind speeds of hurricanes.

Picked up by National Geographic, LiveScience, The Houston Chronical, and others.

Stanford scientists eavesdrop on erupting volcano’s astonishing seismic sound

 Stanford University, July 2013

When volcanoes grumble, scientists listen.In 2009, Redoubt Volcano outside Anchorage, Alaska, began spewing towering ash plumes more than 12 miles tall. While similar volcanic outbursts are common in Alaska, seismic sensors listening to the volcano’s innards recorded something unusual: an accelerating series of earthquakes leading up to each of the volcano’s eruptions.

Picked up by National Geographic, New Scientist, Discovery News, ScienceNOW, Los Angeles Times, EarthSky, NPR, Wired.com, The Guardian, CBS News and others.

Making scientists into scientific spokespeople

 American Geophysical Union, June 2013

How would you bring up scientific funding if you bumped into your senator while he’s buying cheese and cured meats at the local market? How about getting a stranger interested in safer alternatives to lead-based welding solder? Communicating science to lawmakers and laypersons is important, but scientists too often get tongue-tied talking with everyday folks.

SLAC X-rays resurrect 200-year-old lost aria

 Stanford University, June 2013

At first glance the beautifully bound 1797 Luigi Cherubini opera Médée looks like an impeccably preserved relic of opera’s golden age. However, flip to the final pages of the aria “Du trouble affreux qui me dévore” (“The terrible disorder that consumes me”) and you see the problem: Thick smudges of carbon completely black out the closing lines.

Picked up by KQED, the San Jose Mercury News, Discover Magazine, Wired.co.uk, LiveScience, Phys.org, NBC News, Yahoo News, The Daily Mail, the Mumbai Mirror, and others.

Stanford physicists develop revolutionary low-power polariton laser

 Stanford University, May 2013

Lasers are an unseen backbone of modern society. They’re integral to technologies ranging from high-speed Internet services to Blu-ray players. The physics powering lasers, however, has remained relatively unchanged through 50 years of use. Now, an international research team led by Stanford’s Yoshihisa Yamamoto, a professor of electrical engineering and of applied physics, has demonstrated a revolutionary electrically driven polariton laser that could significantly improve the efficiency of lasers.

Featured in Game Changers: Energy on the Move.

Stanford engineers monitor heart health using paper-thin flexible ‘skin’

 Stanford University, May 2013

Most of us don’t ponder our pulses outside of the gym. But doctors use the human pulse as a diagnostic tool to monitor heart health. Zhenan Bao, a professor of chemical engineering at Stanford, has developed a heart monitor thinner than a dollar bill and no wider than a postage stamp. The flexible skin-like monitor, worn under an adhesive bandage on the wrist, is sensitive enough to help doctors detect stiff arteries and cardiovascular problems.

Picked up by the San Francisco Chronicle, The Daily Mail, The Future of Things, and others.

Fuel Cells…in Space!

 Out of the Fog, April 2013

A basic fuel sell system starts with plain water (which, for those of you a bit rusty on your high school chemistry, is two hydrogen atoms bonded with an oxygen atom). Using an electrical current, such as from a solar panel, the water molecules can be broken up into oxygen gas and hydrogen gas. These two gasses are stored separately until power is needed—the larger the reserve tanks holding the gasses, the more power available later. Upping the pressure in the tanks compresses the gas down into a smaller volume, meaning more power potential in less space.