It elicits giggles and grimaces when it emanates from cows’ rear ends, but methane represents a serious threat — it’s a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Taking the “dross into gold” dictum to a whole new level, Velocys of Plain City, Ohio, is capturing the environmental pollutant and turning it into liquid fuel for heating or transportation.

Though some blame methane’s prevalence on barnyard inhabitants, most of it is a byproduct of human activities such as mining and trash burial. It’s prevalent in underground caves where coal is found, and anaerobic conditions inside landfills foster decomposition that generates the gas. Much of it is contaminated with nitrogen.

“Nitrogen and methane molecules are both physically inert, so neither one wants to react with other compounds,” says Steven Perry, a chemical engineer at Velocys. “They’re also similar in size, so it’s hard to filter one from the other.”

Read the full article @ Wired News >>>

As startling numbers of Americans go without health insurance, more of them see their only hope in fleeing to far-flung nations like India for life-saving medial treatments.

The dearth of affordable health insurance has engendered a new breed of what the New England Journal of Medicine classifies as “medical refugees” — patients traveling abroad for heart surgery and other crucial procedures — that has grown sharply in the past two years.

In 2005, 46 million Americans — or about 15 percent of the total population — lacked health insurance, according to a Census Bureau study. For families who don’t qualify for Medicare but can’t afford private coverage, a sudden accident or illness could lead to financial disaster.

The situation in the United States and other countries where health care is expensive will contribute to tourists spending $2 billion on medical procedures in India by 2012, according to a study by McKinsey and the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Read the full article @ Wired News >>>

A recent climate study using computer models indicates that if greenhouse gases continue to be released at their current rate, most of the Arctic basin will be ice free in September by 2040.

And winter ice, now about 12 feet thick, will be less than 3 feet thick.

The most recent study by scientists from The National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colo., disputes a previous study that predicted the region will be free of summer ice by 2060, and another that forecasts ice until 2105.

The rapid meltdown, caused by global warming, will speed up the heating of the oceans, according to the latest study.

“As the ice retreats, the ocean transports more heat to the Arctic and the open water absorbs more sunlight, further accelerating the rate of warming and leading to the loss of more ice,” said study lead author, Marika Holland, a scientists from NCAR. “This is a positive feedback loop with dramatic implications for the entire Arctic region.”

Plus, ocean circulations — affected by global warming — are driving warm ocean currents into the Arctic.

Read the full article @ China View >>>