University of Oklahoma

  The disposal of used plastics – which are largely non-biodegradable – is a major environmental issue.   ‘Bioplastics‘ that are naturally synthesized by microbes could be made commercially viable by using waste cooking oil as a starting material. This would reduce environmental contamination and also give high-quality plastics suitable for medical implants, according to

Discovery May Yield Cheaper, More Efficient Alternative to Platinum in Automotive Engines Engineers at a company co-founded by a University of Texas at Dallas professor have identified a material that can reduce the pollution produced by vehicles that run on diesel fuel. The material, from a family of minerals called oxides, could replace platinum, a

Good news for the computer industry: a team of researchers has managed to make germanium suitable for lasers. This could enable microprocessor components to communicate using light in future, which will make the computers of the future faster and more efficient. Researchers from ETH Zurich, the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and the Politecnico di Milano

Citrus Huanglongbing (HLB), also known as greening, is one of the most serious citrus plant diseases in the world. Infected trees produce bitter fruits that are green, misshapen, and unsuitable for sale. Once a tree is infected, there is no cure and it typically dies within a few years. Greening has already devastated the Florida

RMIT researchers are using state-of-the-art modelling techniques to study the effects of wind on cities, paving the way for design innovations in building, energy harvesting and drone technology. The turbulence modelling studies will allow engineers to optimise the shape of buildings, as well as identify areas of rapid airflow within cities that could be used

Researchers have uncovered a whole new class of drug compounds with the potential to completely stop the proliferation of specific cancers like leukaemia and liver cancer, and maybe help keep other cancers in remission. How our cells proliferate from a single egg cell into a precisely formed human composed of trillions of cells is a stupendous feat

A group of BYU researchers may have found a way to reverse falling crop yields caused by increasingly salty farmlands throughout the world. Led by Brent Nielsen, professor of microbiology and molecular biology, the BYU scientists have used bacteria found in the roots of salt-tolerant plants to successfully inoculate alfalfa plants against overly salty soil. “We

He has a grand theory to transform American education Usually when you visit a school you walk down a quiet hallway and peer in the little windows in the classroom doors. You see one teacher talking to a bunch of students. Every 50 minutes or so a chime goes off and the students fill the

Prototype display enables viewers to watch a 3-D movie from any seat in a theater. 3-D movies immerse us in new worlds and allow us to see places and things in ways that we otherwise couldn’t. But behind every 3-D experience is something that is uniformly despised: those goofy glasses. Fortunately, there may be hope.