(Press-News.org) Engineering Biology for Climate & Sustainability is the fifth technical roadmap developed by the Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC) and represents the first dedicated to innovations and opportunities towards overcoming a significant global challenge. The roadmap targets and challenges are aligned and were drawn from existing climate and sustainability literature, particularly those focused on long-term impacts and opportunities, including reports from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The roadmap consists of six themes in technologies and applications of engineering biology for climate change and environmental sustainability. Three themes—Biosequestration of Greenhouse Gases, Mitigation of Environmental Pollution, and Conservation of Ecosystems and Biodiversity—focus on technical capacity and novel capabilities in engineering biology to limit further harmful anthropogenic impacts and enable adaptation to climate change, while the other three themes—Food & Agriculture, Transportation & Energy, and Materials Production & Industrial Processes—focus on the development of products and production methods that capitalize on engineering biology to reduce carbon intensity and create sustainable alternatives.
END
Engineering Biology Research Consortium releases roadmap to mitigate, present and adapt to climate change
The roadmap consists of six themes in technologies and applications of engineering biology for climate change and environmental sustainability
2024-03-13
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Strengthening the partnership between humans and AI: the case of translators
2024-03-13
ChatGPT and its ability to hold conversations and produce written content have been the focus of a lot of attention in the last year in the field of technology and artificial intelligence. However, AI has been around for some time, helping us in all sorts of everyday tasks, from navigation systems to social network algorithms, not to mention machine translation. Ever since neural machine translation (NMT) systems began to be used on a widespread basis a few years ago, AI has seen exponential growth in its uptake in the translation industry. This has led to new challenges in the relationship between human and machine translators.
Today, the post-editing ...
Milk to the rescue for diabetics? Cow produces human insulin in milk
2024-03-13
An unassuming brown bovine from the south of Brazil has made history as the first transgenic cow capable of producing human insulin in her milk. The advancement, led by researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Universidade de São Paulo, could herald a new era in insulin production, one day eliminating drug scarcity and high costs for people living with diabetes.
“Mother Nature designed the mammary gland as a factory to make protein really, really efficiently. We can take advantage ...
Molecular simulations of ammonia mixtures support search for renewable fuels
2024-03-13
Ammonia (NH3) is an important molecule with many applications. The end product of the famed Haber–Bosch process, it is commonly synthesized to capture nitrogen for fertilizers, and is used for refrigeration, in cleaning products, and in the production of pharmaceuticals. Recently, this modest molecule has also attracted interest as a potential resource for addressing one of today’s most pressing challenges — the need for reliable and abundant renewable fuels.
Ammonia is stable and safe ...
First recognition of self in the mirror is spurred by touch
2024-03-13
Most babies begin recognizing themselves in mirrors when they are about a year and half old. This kind of self-recognition is an important developmental milestone, and now scientists at The University of Texas at Austin have discovered a key driver for it: experiences of touch.
Their new study found babies who were prompted to touch their own faces developed self-recognition earlier than those who did not. The research was published this month in the journal Current Biology.
“This suggests that babies pulling ...
Dartmouth engineering team discovers new high-performance solar cell material
2024-03-13
A Dartmouth Engineering-led study published in Joule reported the discovery of an entirely new high-performance material for solar absorbers—the central part of a solar cell that turns light into electricity—that is stable and earth-abundant. The researchers used a unique high-throughput computational screening method to accelerate the discovery process and were able to quickly evaluate approximately 40,000 known candidate materials.
"This is the first example in the field of photovoltaics where a new material has been found through this type ...
Advancing toward wearable stretchable electronics
2024-03-13
Small wearable or implantable electronics could help monitor our health, diagnose diseases, and provide opportunities for improved, autonomous treatments. But to do this without aggravating or damaging the cells around them, these electronics will need to not only bend and stretch with our tissues as they move, but also be soft enough that they will not scratch and damage tissues.
Researchers at Stanford have been working on skin-like, stretchable electronic devices for over a decade. In a paper published ...
Menopause explains why some female whales live so long
2024-03-13
Females of some whale species have evolved to live drastically longer lives so they can care for their families, new research shows.
The study focussed on five whale species that – along with humans – are the only mammals known to go through menopause.
The findings show that females of these whale species that experience menopause live around 40 years longer than other female whales of a similar size.
By living longer without extending their “reproductive lifespan” (the years in which they breed), these ...
Supply chain disruptions will further exacerbate economic losses from climate change
2024-03-13
UCL Press Release
Under embargo until Wednesday 13 March 2024, 16:00 UK time / 12:00 US Eastern time
Global GDP loss from climate change will increase exponentially the warmer the planet gets when its cascading impact on global supply chains is factored in, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.
The study, published in Nature, is the first to chart “indirect economic losses” from climate change on global supply chains that will affect regions that would have been less affected by projected warming temperatures.
These previously unquantified disruptions in supply chains will further exacerbate projected economic losses due ...
The SNF Institute for Global Infectious Disease Research announces new advisory board
2024-03-13
From identifying the influenza virus that caused the pandemic of 1918 to developing vaccines against pneumococcal pneumonia and bacterial meningitis in the 1970s, combating infectious disease has a rich history at Rockefeller. That tradition continues as the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Institute for Global Infectious Disease Research at Rockefeller University (SNFiRU) caps a successful first year with the establishment of a new advisory board.
This international advisory board was created in part to give guidance on how to best use ...
How the brain wakes us from daydreams
2024-03-13
When we daydream, we must be able to snap back to attention at a moment’s notice. Researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital uncovered how our brains can do things like react to a question when we’re daydreaming: firing activity in part of the brain called the dentate gyrus keeps us focused on what’s happening in our environment. And the team found that the same neural activity also helps with forming memories. The findings were published in Nature on March 13, 2024.
“We have found a brain mechanism for breaking up periods of mind wandering and realigning the ‘cognitive ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
This tiny galaxy is answering some big questions
Large and small galaxies may grow in ways more similar than expected
The ins and outs of quinone carbon capture
Laboratory for Laser Energetics at the University of Rochester launches IFE-STAR ecosystem and workforce development initiatives
Most advanced artificial touch for brain-controlled bionic hand
Compounding drought and climate effects disrupt soil water dynamics in grasslands
Multiyear “megadroughts” becoming longer and more severe under climate change
Australopithecines at South African cave site were not eating substantial amounts of meat
An AI model developed to design proteins simulates 500 million years of protein evolution in developing new fluorescent protein
Fine-tuned brain-computer interface makes prosthetic limbs feel more real
New chainmail-like material could be the future of armor
The megadroughts are upon us
Eavesdropping on organs: Immune system controls blood sugar levels
Quantum engineers ‘squeeze’ laser frequency combs to make more sensitive gas sensors
New study reveals how climate change may alter hydrology of grassland ecosystems
Polymer research shows potential replacement for common superglues with a reusable and biodegradable alternative
Research team receives $1.5 million to study neurological disorders linked to long COVID
Research using non-toxic bacteria to fight high-mortality cancers prepares for clinical trials
Do parents really have a favorite child? Here’s what new research says
Mussel bed surveyed before World War II still thriving
ACS Annual Report: Cancer mortality continues to drop despite rising incidence in women; rates of new diagnoses under 65 higher in women than men
Fewer skin ulcers in Werner syndrome patients treated with pioglitazone
Study finds surprising way that genetic mutation causes Huntington’s disease, transforming understanding of the disorder
DNA motors found to switch gears
Human ancestor thrived longer in harsher conditions than previous estimates
Evolution: Early humans adapted to extreme desert conditions over one million years ago
Race and ethnicity and diffusion of telemedicine in Medicaid for schizophrenia care after onset of the COVID-19 pandemic
Changes in support for advance provision and over-the-counter access to medication abortion
Protein level predicts immunotherapy response in bowel cancer
The staying power of bifocal contact lens benefits in young kids
[Press-News.org] Engineering Biology Research Consortium releases roadmap to mitigate, present and adapt to climate changeThe roadmap consists of six themes in technologies and applications of engineering biology for climate change and environmental sustainability