Science Archives

August 11, 2019August 11, 2019

Water Urbanism

The Urban Design Program at Columbia is investigating climate resilience at multiple scales and collaborating with partners in institutions around the world and within the University from science & engineering, journalism, conflict resolution, economics and social justice. Water is constantly in motion, changing states, crossing borders, nourishing (and destroying) life. How can water and urbanism be considered together as a generative frame for urban design practice, social life, and ecological … [more…]

July 12, 2019

Researchers create first portable tech for detecting cyanotoxins in water

IMAGE: North Carolina State University researchers have developed the first portable technology that can test for cyanotoxins in water. To test for cyanotoxins, users place a drop of water on a customized chip, then insert it into a reader device which connects to a smartphone. These images are screenshots of the smartphone app of the cyanotoxin sensor. Left: Welcome page. Right: Data analysis page. Credit: Qingshan Wei, NC State University… [more…]

July 6, 2019July 6, 2019

IAEA Develops New Method to Track Sources of Water Pollution

Photo: Excessive nitrate in lakes, seas and rivers can increase algae growth that can lead to toxic blue-green blooms. The IAEA, in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts, has developed an innovative method to trace the origin of nitrate pollution in water. (Photo: L. Wassenaar, IAEA)

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts, has developed an innovative method for tracing the origin of nitrogen … [more…]

May 15, 2019

A Bizarre Form of Water May Exist All Over the Universe

Illustration: The discovery of superionic ice potentially solves the puzzle of what giant icy planets like Uranus and Neptune are made of. They’re now thought to have gaseous, mixed-chemical outer shells, a liquid layer of ionized water below that, a solid layer of superionic ice comprising the bulk of their interiors, and rocky centers. @iammoteh/Quanta Magazine

Recently at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics in Brighton, New York, one of the … [more…]

May 15, 2019

Salt-Water Fish Extinction Seen By 2048

The apocalypse has a new date: 2048.

That’s when the world’s oceans will be empty of fish, predicts an international team of ecologists and economists. The cause: the disappearance of species due to overfishing, pollution, habitat loss, and climate change.

The study by Boris Worm, PhD, of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, — with colleagues in the U.K., U.S., Sweden, and Panama — was an effort to understand what … [more…]