A straight line may be the shortest path from A to B, but it’s not always the most reliable or efficient way to go. In fact, depending on what’s traveling where, the best route may run in circles, according to a new model that bucks decades of theorizing on the subject. A team of biophysicists have developed a mathematical model showing that complex sets of interconnecting loops — like the netted veins that transport water in a leaf — provide the best distribution network for supplying fluctuating loads to varying parts of the system. It also shows that such a network can best handle damage.
Posts Tagged ‘water news’
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March 1st, 2010
Barnacles prefer upwelling currents, enriching food chains in the Galapagos
The barnacle, a key thread in the marine food web, was thought to be missing along rocky coasts dominated by upwelling. Now a research team has found the opposite to be true: Barnacle populations thrive in vertical upwelling zones in moderately deep waters in the Galapagos Islands.
March 1st, 2010
Faster method to detect bacterial contamination in coastal waters developed
Currently, beachgoers are informed about water quality conditions based on results from the previous day’s sample. Scientists must collect samples in the field, then return to a lab to culture them for analysis — a process that takes a minimum of 24 hours. Now, engineers have sped up the process of analyzing bacterial concentrations to under one hour, through the development of a new in-field, rapid detection method.
March 1st, 2010
Mercurial tuna: Study explores sources of mercury to ocean fish
With concern over mercury contamination of tuna on the rise and growing information about the health effects of eating contaminated fish, scientists would like to know exactly where the pollutant is coming from and how it’s getting into open-ocean fish species.
March 1st, 2010
Pesticide atrazine can turn male frogs into females
The herbicide atrazine, one of the world’s most widely used pesticides, wreaks havoc with the sex lives of adult male frogs, emasculating three-quarters of them and turning one in 10 into females, according to a new study. These changes occur at atrazine levels below what the EPA considers safe for drinking water. The changes skew sex ratios in the frog population and could be a major cause of amphibian decline worldwide.
March 1st, 2010
Po: Oil pollution contained, but alarm sounded for jackals
[Italy] The huge fuel slick in Italy’s Po River caused by the sabotage of the inactive Lombarda Petrolia refinery in Monza e della Brianza Province has been completely contained and all of the solids removed, reported Coast Guard aircraft and the Civil Defense Agency. Oil and diesel residues leaked into the Lambro River, a tributary of the Po, on 23 February. Some riverbank communities in Piacenza Province still have a problem, however: a stretch of the Po near Porto Tolle and Adria is contaminated by the carcinogenic compound dichloroethane, also known as ethylene chloride. It appears to have been dumped into the river by manufacturers hoping to go unnoticed during the oil-pollution crisis, said President Giancarlo Galan of the Veneto Region, who called the polluters jackals. He noted, however, that because of the constant monitoring of the river lately, aerial photographs and infrared data will enable authorities to track down the source of the discharge.
February 28th, 2010
Genetically engineered tobacco plant cleans up environmental toxin
Tobacco might become as well known for keeping us healthy as it is for causing illness thanks to researchers from the UK. In a new study, scientists explain how they developed a genetically modified strain of tobacco that helps temper the damaging effects of toxic pond scum, scientifically known as microcystin-LR which makes water unsafe for drinking, swimming or fishing.
February 25th, 2010
The black tide from the Po to the sea: Investigation into environmental disaster
[Italy] Thousands of cubic meters of hydrocarbons deliberately leaked from the former fuel refinery Lombarda Petroli in Monza e della Brianza Province, Italy, have covered the Lambro River, reached the Po River, and are heading towards the Adriatic Sea, announced Minister of the Environment Stefania Prestigiacomo. The Po Delta is one of Italy and Europe’s most important wetlands because of the migration and breeding of aquatic birds, warned the World-wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The Ministry of the Environment has placed the Coast Guard and the Navy on alert, some 400 volunteers from riparian protection associations are ready to help, and a state of emergency will be declared at a meeting of the Council of Ministers on 1 March. It’s forbidden to fish or swim in the Lambro or use its water for any reason. Meanwhile, Monza’s public prosecutor has opened a criminal investigation.
February 25th, 2010
Researcher Tracks Water Use
[Pennsylvania] Every time you feed the dog or stir a spoonful of sugar or milk into your coffee cup, you’re indirectly using hundreds of gallons of water, says a research team at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It takes almost 270 gallons of water to produce $1 worth of sugar, 140 gallons to make $1 worth of milk, and 200 gallons of water to make $1 worth of cat or dog food. Engineering Professor Chris T. Hendrickson and Ph.D. candidates Michael Blackhurst and Jordi Vidal are documenting US industry’s consumption of water to manufacture consumer goods, and have found that most water use occurs indirectly as a result of processing, such as packaging and shipping of food to the supermarket, rather than direct use, such as irrigation. Hendrickson’s team is trying to help industries track and make better management decisions about how they use water.
February 25th, 2010
Water Quality Model Passes Another Test
[Maryland] A test of the SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model on a small watershed with poor water quality showed that the model accurately estimated pollutant levels over the long term. The model was developed in the early 1990s by Jeff Arnold and a team of agricultural engineers in Temple, Texas. For the last eight years, Aisha Sexton and Ali Sadeghi of the Agricultural Research Service’s Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory in Beltsville, Prince George’s County, Maryland, and Adel Shirmohammadi of the University of Maryland in nearby College Park have been applying it to the Warner Creek watershed in Frederick County. This watershed drains into a tributary of the Monocacy River, which contains high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus from cattle manure and crop fertilizers and discharges them into Chesapeake Bay. The researchers found the SWAT model to be accurate for use in the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program, which limits pollutants in watercourses.
