ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Natural gas saves water, even when factoring in water lost to hydraulic fracturing
• Optical rogue waves: The storm in a test tube
• Producing electricity on the Moon at night
• Birth control at the zoo: vets meet the elusive goal of hippo castration
• An earthquake or a snow avalanche has its own shape
• Dual catalysts help synthesize alpha-olefins into new organic compounds

Natural gas saves water, even when factoring in water lost to hydraulic fracturing Posted: 20 Dec 2013 09:08 AM PST A new study finds that in Texas, the US state that annually generates the most electricity, the transition from coal to natural gas for electricity generation is saving water and making the state less vulnerable to drought.

Optical rogue waves: The storm in a test tube Posted: 20 Dec 2013 08:36 AM PST Random processes in nature often underlie a so-called normal distribution that enables reliable estimation for the appearance of extreme statistical events. Meteorological systems are an exception to this rule, with extreme events appearing at a much higher rate than could be predicted from long-term observation at much lower magnitude. One such example is the appearance of unexpectedly strong storms, yet another are rare reports of waves of extreme height in the ocean, which are also known as rogue waves or monster waves.

Producing electricity on the Moon at night Posted: 20 Dec 2013 08:34 AM PST Scientists have proposed a system of mirrors, processed lunar soil and a heat engine to provide energy to vehicles and crew during the lunar night. This would preclude the need for batteries and nuclear power sources such as those used by the Chinese rover that recently landed on the moon. The lunar night lasts approximately 14 days, during which temperatures as low as -150 ºC have been recorded. This complicates vehicle movement and equipment functioning on the lunar surface, requiring the transport of heavy batteries from Earth or the use of nuclear energy, as exemplified by the Chinese rover Yutu.

Birth control at the zoo: vets meet the elusive goal of hippo castration Posted: 20 Dec 2013 08:33 AM PST One method for controlling zoo animal populations is male castration. For hippopotami, however, this is notoriously difficult, as the pertinent male reproductive anatomy proves singularly elusive. Veterinarians have now demonstrated a successful method for castrating male hippos.

An earthquake or a snow avalanche has its own shape Posted: 20 Dec 2013 08:33 AM PST Predicting earthquakes or snow avalanches is difficult, but to for instance reduce the related risks it is of high importance to know if an avalanche event is big or small. Researchers found that such events or say the acoustic sound bursts coming from the tearing of paper have a typical form independent of whether they are big or small.

Dual catalysts help synthesize alpha-olefins into new organic compounds Posted: 19 Dec 2013 05:01 PM PST Chemists have developed a method to convert chemicals known as alpha-olefins into new organic compounds. Combining a pair of catalytic reactions in sequence converted inexpensive chemicals into new organic compounds that are highly sought after by researchers in medicine and the life sciences.

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