A Global Plan For Sustainable Agriculture: Scientific American

A Global Plan For Sustainable Agriculture: Scientific American Use less land, eat less meat, waste less food. Sounds obvious, but these plans were developed after an intense examination of farm data and satellite images.

How do we feed 9 billion people by 2050 with roughly the same amount of land? An international team of researchers from Canada, the U.S., Sweden, and Germany has come up with a plan--using global models of agricultural systems and environmental impacts by combining crop data and satellite images from around the world--to double the world's food production while reducing agriculture's environmental impact.

Bill Gates Urges Young Scientists to Consider the "Needs of the Poorest"

Observations: Bill Gates Urges Young Scientists to Consider the "Needs of the Poorest": "LINDAU, Germany—Microsoft founder Bill Gates thrilled a crowd of 566 young researchers from 77 countries gathered here June 26 for the opening ceremony of the 61st Meeting of Nobel Laureates, and he wasted no time in telling them what to do." "I admonish you to consider the needs of the poorest in the work that you do," he told the scientists. "The advances there will be particularly important in coming years and without your attention they will not take place." Gates made his comments following his induction into the honorary senate of the Foundation of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings.

High-temperature superconductor spills secret: A new phase of matter?

High-temperature superconductor spills secret: A new phase of matter?: "An unprecedented three-pronged study has found that one type of high-temperature superconductor may exhibit a new phase of matter. As in all superconductors, electrons pair off (bottom) to conduct electricity with no resistance when the material is cooled below a certain temperature. But in this particular copper-based superconductor, many of the electrons in the material don't pair off; instead they form a distinct, elusive order (orange plumes) that had not been seen before. (Credit: Illustration by Greg Stewart, SLAC)"

The real avatar: Swiss researchers use virtual reality and brain imaging to hunt for the science of the self

The real avatar: Swiss researchers use virtual reality and brain imaging to hunt for the science of the self ScienceDaily (Feb. 18, 2011) — That feeling of being in, and owning, your own body is a fundamental human experience. But where does it originate and how does it come to be? Now, Professor Olaf Blanke, a neurologist with the Brain Mind Institute at EPFL and the Department of Neurology at the University of Geneva in Switzerland, announces an important step in decoding the phenomenon. By combining techniques from cognitive science with those of Virtual Reality (VR) and brain imaging, he and his team are narrowing in on the first experimental, data-driven approach to understanding self-consciousness.

Breakthrough in converting heat waste to electricity: Automotive, chemical, brick and glass industries could benefit from discovery

Breakthrough in converting heat waste to electricity: Automotive, chemical, brick and glass industries could benefit from discovery: "ScienceDaily (Jan. 18, 2011) — Researchers at Northwestern University have placed nanocrystals of rock salt into lead telluride, creating a material that can harness electricity from heat-generating items such as vehicle exhaust systems, industrial processes and equipment and sun light more efficiently than scientists have seen in the past."