Pipeline pain relief on horizon with spill-resistant bitumen

Ian Gates describes each pebble of bitumen as resembling a liquid-filled headache capsule and, for an Alberta struggling to build pipelines, this tiny package could spell pain relief indeed.

Freshly patented and weeks away from pilot-scale production, the professor’s revolutionary heavy oil and bitumen pellets may finally provide a pipeline-free solution to getting Alberta’s largest oil reserves to market in a cheap, sustainable manner, while vastly reducing the environmental risk of transportation.

"Keep it local" approach to protecting the rainforest can be more effective than government schemes

Conservation initiatives led by local and indigenous groups can be just as effective as schemes led by government, according to new research.

Historic Legacies Affect Climate Change Survival In Caribbean

The legacies of empire have increased the vulnerability of Caribbean states to climate change, according to University of Warwick expert Dr Leon Sealey-Huggins.

Cancer Survivors Who Quit Smoking Sooner Can Live Longer

Lung cancer survivors who quit smoking within a year of diagnosis will live for longer than those who continue to smoke, according to new research led by the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham.

Medicine of the Future: New Microchip Technology Could Be Used to Track Smart Pills

Researchers at Caltech have developed a prototype miniature medical device that could ultimately be used in "smart pills" to diagnose and treat diseases. A key to the new technology—and what makes it unique among other microscale medical devices—is that its location can be precisely identified within the body, something that proved challenging before.

Alzheimer's Disease Biomarker Identified Across Test Sites

A new study has demonstrated the potential to use a frequency distribution-based index of brain functional connectivity as a biomarker for detecting Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). These new findings, which show the index of functional connectivity to have good accuracy across databases and test sites, are published in Brain Connectivity, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Brain Connectivity website until October 13, 2017.

Forest Regeneration Project of 30 Years Yields Results

A spruce forest regeneration experiment in Interior Alaska that spanned nearly 30 years demonstrates which forest management practices produce the best results.

NASA Finds Some Strength in New Eastern Pacific Tropical Depression

NASA's Aqua satellite measured cloud top temperatures in newly formed Tropical Depression 15E in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and found some strong storms. 

Irma's Heavy Rainfall Measured by NASA's IMERG

NASA calculated the rainfall left in the wake of now post-tropical cyclone Irma as it moved through the Caribbean Sea to landfall in Florida and then captured a night-time look at the storm as it moved over Georgia.

Stanford researchers study the relationship between nectar microbiomes and pollination

Dipping its beak into the sweet nectar of a flower, a hummingbird is doing more than getting a meal – it’s contributing to a microbial community that could potentially determine the fate of that flower. Recognizing that this fleeting interaction could have major implications on crop success and the health of pollinator species, the research group led by Tadashi Fukami, an associate professor of biology at Stanford, has studied the relationships between pollinators, microbes and plants for nearly a decade.