Environmental Science in Washington State

Disposal/Storage of Spent/Used Nuclear Waste: What Next?

2012-01-28T09:50:00.000-08:00

The Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future has released it's final report, running 180 pdf pages. If you really are a "blue ribbon commission" do you need to call yourself a blue ribbon conmmission? Anyway, the commission came up with a strategy comprised of eight elements:

1. A new, consent-based approach to siting future nuclear waste management facilities.2. A new organization dedicated solely to implementing the waste management program and empowered with theauthority and resources to succeed.3. Access to the funds nuclear utility ratepayers are providing for the purpose of nuclear waste management.4. Prompt efforts to develop one or more geologic disposal facilities.5. Prompt efforts to develop one or more consolidated storage facilities.6. Prompt efforts to prepare for the eventual large-scale transport of spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste toconsolidated storage and disposal facilities when such facilities become available.7. Support for continued U.S. innovation in nuclear energy technology and for workforce development.8. Active U.S. leadership in international efforts to address safety, waste management, non-proliferation, andsecurity concerns.

On page 22 of the report is a bit of history that should be of interest to Washingtonians:

In May 1986, Energy Secretary John Herrington recommended the Hanford site in Washington State, DeafSmith County in Texas, and Nevada’s Yucca Mountain for detailed site characterization as leading candidates for thenation’s first permanent high-level geologic waste repository. By that time, however, DOE’s efforts to identify promising sites—not only for the two permanent repositories but also for a monitored retrievable storage (MRS) facility—were drawing strong opposition from the elected officials of all potentially affected states. (As an aside, we note that while the federal government’s performance on nuclear waste management has left a lot to be desired, state opposition has played a significant role in the federal government’s failures. As we discuss at length in later chapters, it is clear that the cooperation of affected state governments will be vital to the success of the nuclear waste program going forward.)
Citing rising costs and lower projections for nuclear waste production in the future, Secretary Herrington announcedthat DOE was suspending efforts to identify and develop a second permanent geologic repository. This announcementalso came in May 1986—not surprisingly, it served to intensify the opposition of the three states that had beenselected as potential hosts for the first repository.
Faced with a deteriorating political situation and growing recognition that the NWPA’s original timelines andcost assumptions were unrealistic, Congress revisited the issue of nuclear waste management in 1987. The resultingNWPA Amendments Act of 1987 halted then ongoing research in crystalline rock of the type found in the Midwestand along the Atlantic coast, cancelled the second repository program, nullified the selection of Oak Ridge, Tennessee as a potential MRS site, and designated Yucca Mountain as the sole site to be considered for a permanent geologic repository. The decision was widely viewed as political and it provoked strong opposition in Nevada, where the 1987 legislation came to be known as the “Screw Nevada” bill.

Also the report shows that approximately 45% of high-level DOE waste is located at Hanford, more than Savannah River, Idaho, or West Valley. See Fig 11, p. 18. If Yucca Mountain is off the table, Hanford is on the table.

The Sustainable Watershed Planning Act

2009-08-24T22:02:00.000-07:00

Prof. Campana, the Aquadoc at WaterWired, reports on a bill being worked up in the US House of Representatives that aims "To provide for the sustainable use of the Nation's water resources through the coordinated planning of water resources and water infrastructure, and for other purposes." It's early days yet, but this bears watching.

Fish Being Checked for Contaminants Near Hanford

2009-08-11T07:11:00.000-07:00

Annette Cary reports in the News Tribune.

Progress Reported on Removing Hexavalent Chromium from Groundwater at Hanford

2009-08-09T09:05:00.000-07:00

DOE Press Release

Once all systems along the River are operational, CH2M HILL expects the 100 Area Groundwater Treatment Systems to pump and treat at a rate of more than 90 million gallons per month– over three times the capacity available along the River before the treatment system expansions began.

Stimulu$ Gets After Hanford Groundwater

2009-07-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

On July 23, the Department of Energy announced the beginning of construction of a $80 million groundwater treatment system at Hanford.

Dr. Inés Triay, U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management, today announced that construction of the largest treatment system for contaminated groundwater to date at the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site in southeast Washington State is underway. The $80 million facility is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Fish, Dams, and The Economics of Cap-and-Trade

2009-07-27T08:02:00.000-07:00

An interesting article by Kim Murphy, writing in the LA Times, with a particular Washington angle.

Tillage Methods, Soil Erosion, and Air Quality on the Columbia Plateau

2009-07-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, one of the premier earth- science journals, has just published an article comparing tillage methods for winter wheat-summer fallow rotations on the Columbia Plateau. Quoting:

Undercutter tillage resulted in a 15% to 65% reduction in soil loss and 30% to 70% reduction in PM10 loss as compared with conventional tillage at our field sites. Therefore, based on our results at two sites over two years, undercutter tillage appears to be an effective management practice to reduce dust emissions from agricultural land subject to a winter wheat-summer fallow rotation within the Columbia Plateau.

An economic comparison of these methods can be found in a recent Working Paper from the School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University.

Sockeye Runs Up the Snake Improving

2009-07-23T09:12:00.000-07:00

The AP reports in The Olympian. A few interesting comments as well.

Sea Otters in Washington

2009-07-23T08:58:00.000-07:00

Tom Bance of OPB News reports on the successful reintroduction of sea otters along the Washington coast.

A Little Good News Regarding Summer-Run Chum In Hood Canal

2009-07-17T10:01:00.000-07:00

From Christopher Dunagan in the Kitsap Sun. The report mentions the selective taking of Union River salmon for transplant to Tahuya River. This project will soon be getting underway again. Those wishing to help should contact the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group.

Rising Ocean Acidity Off Tatoosh Island

2008-11-30T07:18:00.000-08:00

The Peninsula Daily News reports.

Major New Effort at Groundwater Remediation at Hanford Site

2008-10-04T09:53:00.000-07:00

Water Technology Online reports on the new 50-well remediation of groundwater at Hanford.

Senators Cantwell and Murkowski Introduce Salmon Stronghold Bill

2008-10-01T14:54:00.000-07:00

Reflecting an important trend in salmon protection, Christopher Dunagan of the Kitsap Sun reports on the proposed Pacific Salmon Stronghold Conservation Act that aims to focus resources on the conservation of the strongest runs.

Bioremediation tried against chromium 6 at Hanford

2008-08-25T07:57:00.000-07:00

Annette Cary reports on DOE efforts to use bacteria fed by molasses and vegetable oil to keep hexavalent chromium from reaching the salmon redds in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia.

"Time for Oregon to cash in Columbia water?"

2008-08-11T08:28:00.000-07:00

That's the question Michael Milstein poses to some folks in his article in The Oregonian. Interesting responses.

Sediment Problems on the Skokomish River

2008-08-05T21:21:00.000-07:00

Christopher Dunagan was an interesting article in the Kitsap Sun about excessive gravel load degrading the Skokomish River, the largest river following into Hood Canal.

Research on Native Plants Funded by EPA-Imposed Fine

2008-08-04T07:19:00.000-07:00

Annette Cary reports on work at Washington State University being funded by a fine paid by DOE contractor Washington Closure Hanford for problems at the Hanford Site.

Fraser River Sockeye Run Lower Than Expected

2008-07-29T18:13:00.000-07:00

While large compared to the Columbia-Snake run, the run of returning sockeye in the Fraser River of British Columbia is lower than expected, and according to The Canadian Press, this is causing conflict between the Tribes and the recreational fishers.

Restoration Work in the Chelan River Gorge

2008-07-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

The SeattlePI has a report by Christine Pratt of The Wenatchee World on restoration work being undertaken by the Chelan County PUD as part by its new FERC license.

Fractional Crystallization Tested to Separate Hanford Wastes

2008-07-27T08:04:00.000-07:00

John Warner of Swamp Fox describes a large-scale pilot test at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River National Laboratory which applied fractional crystallization to separate high activity wastes from low activity wastes in the Hanford tank waste stream.

More Sockeye

2008-07-24T18:10:00.000-07:00

Scott Learn writes in the The Oregonian about the better than average Sockeye run in the Columbia and up the Snake.

Expensive Wells in the Odessa Sub-Basin

2008-07-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

The Packer, the Business Newspaper of the Produce Industry, in an article by Don Schrack about water problems in the Odessa Sub-Basin of eastern Washington, quotes Chris Voigt, executive director of the Washington State Potato Commission, on the cost of irrigation wells in the area: A 2000' deep well costs more than 2 million dollars.

A Thumbnail History of Sequim and the Sequim-Dungeness Valley

2008-07-23T09:29:00.000-07:00

Blogger Epona'Bri Astra-Peace has posted an interesting history of European settlement of the area around Dungeness Spit at her blog Sequim Magick. Drop by and visit.

Westslope Cutthroat Restoration in Montana

2008-07-22T18:28:00.000-07:00

As reported in the Flathead Beacon, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission denied a motion that would have suspended the use of the piscicide Rotenone in a westslope cutthroat restoration project in the South Fork Flathead Basin.

Science Panel Points to Non-Native Fish as Threat to Salmon in the Columbia

2008-07-22T16:36:00.000-07:00

The Seattle PI reports on the findings of a science panel established by NOAA: Encourage more fishing of smallmouth bass and walleye to help salmon in the Columbia.

People, Cougars, Initiative 655, and the Law of Unintended Consequences

2008-02-24T11:50:00.000-08:00

Liza Gross has an interesting article in PLOS Biology about cougars in Washington. While probably containing something for everyone to disagree with, it is recommended reading for residents concerned with this issue. One take away:

Ironically, once the initiative to ban hound hunting passed,“presumably to protect cougars,” Rob Wielgus [Director of the Large Carnivore Conservation Laboratory at Washington State University] says, “it resulted in a big harvest of cougars, a decline in the female component, and the influx of teenage males. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. All my data suggest that we should go back to hound hunting, which is regulatory, density-dependent, and sustainable.”

Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge: Keepin' it Wild

2007-11-22T16:46:00.000-08:00

Erik Robinson of the Vancouver Columbian has published a fascinating article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer about the problems of plumbing a wildlife refuge along the highly controlled Columbia River.

"To support a wide array of wildlife, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service makes use of a dizzying array of ditches, sloughs, lakes, levees and pumps to keep water levels just so. Drain gates and fill gates provide the off-on switch for moving water around the refuge, a low-tech version of the binary system of ones and zeroes that operates computers.

"This is kind of like a maze," said Jennifer Brown, the refuge manager."

Read the whole thing and you'll never look at a wetland refuge the same way again.

Park Service Breaches Dike in Columbia River Estuary

2007-10-07T10:07:00.000-07:00

Joseph Gamm of the Daily Astorian reports on a restoration project in the Lewis and Clark Historical Park:

"Twice a day, high tides now flood a 50-acre wetland that had been cut off from the Columbia River estuary system. Nature and workers breached one of the dikes that kept tidal water out of most of South Clatsop Slough. After a 100-year absence, tidal water has returned to South Clatsop Slough at Lewis and Clark National Historical Park."

Apatite Barrier Appears to be Stopping Strontium-90 Migration in Groundwater at Hanford

2007-09-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

Annette Cary of the Tri-City Herald has an interesting article on the latest efforts to keep radioactive strontium from reaching the Columbia River. Worth the time, for sure.

"Less radioactive strontium appears to be reaching the banks of the Columbia River at Hanford thanks to an underground chemical barrier still undergoing testing. This spring Fluor Hanford injected a 300-foot-long natural chemical barrier along the river near Hanford's N Reactor as part of a test of technology developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory."

Proposed Reservoir May Negatively Affect Groundwater at Hanford: Updated

2007-09-23T05:05:00.000-07:00

The Yakima Herald-Republic has weighed in with a powerful editorial calling again for the Hanford cleanup to get moving.

"The possibility of a Black Rock reservoir indirectly helping push more radioactive material into the Columbia River is, of course, a concern that cannot be overlooked. On the other hand, shouldn't the overriding issue in that scenario be: When in the name of common sense and the environment is the most polluted nuclear site in the country ever going to be cleaned up?"

No matter what your views on the reservoir, and the Herald-Republic is a strong supporter, I think we can all agree that the Hanford cleanup is going way too slowly.

Bureau of Reclamation

"A technical report released [September 18th] by the Bureau of Reclamation presents findings of a water seepage study for the prospective Black Rock reservoir in Central Washington. The report estimates a range of volume and direction of seepage that might be expected if the Black Rock reservoir were to be constructed. The report is available online
The analysis released today indicates that a majority of seepage from the proposed Black Rock reservoir site would move in the direction of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. The modeling is based on previous hydrogeologic studies of the Columbia Plateau and also incorporates results of recent geologic drilling and aquifer testing by Reclamation at the proposed dam site.

An earlier report prepared for Reclamation by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory described the effect that a rise in the water table at Hanford would have on certain contaminants buried in the sediment layer. This report is available at the same website.

Water seepage impacts and possible mitigation measures are currently being analyzed in the Yakima River Basin Water Storage Feasibility Study. A draft version of the feasibility study's planning report and EIS will be available for public comment in early 2008. "

Dike Removal on the Skokomish Estuary

2007-09-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

The Olympian reports on an interesting project on the Skokomish River, where it flows into the beautiful fjord known as the Hood Canal.

"A 5,000-foot-long, earthen seawall that created part of the Nalley Farm in the 1940s will be dismantled by heavy machinery this week, marking a milestone in Skokomish River estuary restoration efforts by the Skokomish Tribe, Tacoma Power and Mason Conservation District.

The $1.6 million project just west of the river mouth within the Skokomish Tribe’s reservation boundary is the largest estuary restoration project in Hood Canal and could pay dividends on several environmental fronts, noted Keith Dublanica, senior lands planner for the tribe."

The Pacific Northwest Salmon Center, together with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, is planning a similar project on the Union River estuary in Belfair, at the head of Hood Canal.

Eurasian watermilfoil: A Truly Noxious Plant

2007-08-28T11:50:00.000-07:00

The local news outlets are filled with reports of a young Everett man who drowned in the Columbia after becoming entangled in milfoil. While there are native milfoils in Washington, the invasive Eurasian species is a major problem in the state. The Department of Ecology has a useful fact sheet online. Quoting:

"Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum) is an attractive plant with feathery underwater foliage. It was once commonly sold as an aquarium plant. Eurasian watermilfoil, hereafter called milfoil, originates from Europe and Asia, but was introduced to North America many years ago and is now found over much of the United States. This plant was introduced to the eastern United States at least as long ago as the 1940s, but it may have arrived as early as the late 1800s. The first known herbarium specimen of milfoil in Washington was collected from Lake Meridian near Seattle in 1965. By the mid 1970s it was also found in Lake Washington. During this same time period milfoil became established in central British Columbia and traveled downstream to Lake Osoyoos and the Okanogan River in central Washington. Now milfoil is found in the Columbia, Okanogan, Snake, and Pend Oreille Rivers and in many nearby lakes. In western Washington, the distribution of milfoil closely follows the Interstate 5 corridor (follow this link to see where it is located in Washington). It is very apparent that milfoil has been spread from lake to lake on boat trailers."

And this warning:

"Because it is widely distributed and difficult to control, milfoil is considered to be the most problematic plant in Washington. The introduction of milfoil can drastically alter a waterbody's ecology. Milfoil forms very dense mats of vegetation on the surface of the water. These mats interfere with recreational activities such as swimming, fishing, water skiing, and boating. In eastern Washington milfoil interferes with power generation and irrigation by clogging water intakes."

And it is nearly impossible to get rid of.

Google at the Columbia

2007-08-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

John Foley of Google Blog - InformationWeek reports on his visit to Google's server farm in The Dalles:

"Google's computer infrastructure is sucking up so much power and casting off so much heat that power consumption and cooling have, of necessity, become an obsession at the company. Massive air-cooling systems rise above two data center buildings, which are so close to The Dalles' dam you can almost hear the water roar. An industrial-strength power grid connects the dam to Google's energy-sucking, heat-spewing Linux servers."

Be sure to see the gallery of photos he links. Here is my photo of the Columbia a few miles downstream.

The Importance of the Hanford Reach

2007-08-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

On my other blog, Environmental Law in Washington State, I have often linked to matters concerning the Hanford Site cleanup. I am particularly concerned that contaminants from that site not be allowed to migrate to the Columbia River. The free-flowing reach of the river bordering the site is a national treasure that must be preserved. One aspect of its importance is well explained in this AP article from the Seattle Times about the Tribes' sale of fall chinook:

"Charles Hudson of the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission said today the fall run on the Columbia is the only one now that can support a commercial Indian fishery. ... He said the fall chinook run is unusually hardy run with spawning grounds in the Hanford Reach, a rare free-flowing stretch of the river from below Washington's Priest Rapids dam to the Columbia's confluence with the Snake River. Hudson said the conditions of spawning grounds in the Hanford Reach has kept the run robust. It is the most reliable of the Columbia's salmon runs, Hudson said."

"They ain't going to do anything about those damn sea lions"

2007-08-22T15:55:00.000-07:00

The Longview Daily News reports on the case of an Oregon man who shot a sea lion that allegedly grabbed a salmon off his fishing buddy's line. The article goes on to describe efforts by Congressmen Brian Baird, D-Wash., and Doc Hastings, R-Wash., to make "it easier to kill the most aggressive of the sea lions." In spite of this bipartisan effort, the convicted gentleman from Oregon quoted in the headline doesn't hold out much hope for the proposed legislation.

Oregon's Largest Dam Removal

2007-07-25T18:48:00.000-07:00

Hopefully PGE and the Business Wire won't mind me posting this press release, as the links for these releases only last thirty days. This was published on July 24, 2007:

Oregon’s Largest Dam Removal Starts
Marmot Dam Demolition is Major Step in Sandy Basin Restoration

SANDY, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Portland General Electric Company (NYSE: POR) today reported that it has begun demolition of Marmot Dam, ushering in a new era for Oregon’s Sandy River Basin. The removal will improve salmon and wildlife habitat and public recreation.

The Marmot Dam demolition on the Sandy River will be the largest dam removal in the Pacific Northwest in 40 years and the largest ever in Oregon. It is the first phase in Portland General Electric Company’s (PGE) $17 million Bull Run Hydroelectric Project “decommissioning” plan, developed in consensus with 23 diverse organizations. The plan also provides for the removal of PGE’s Little Sandy Dam, on its namesake river next summer, followed by the removal of most other project components. The plan has been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

“Today, this partnership took a great step toward restoring a breathtaking river for fish, wildlife and people,” said PGE CEO and President Peggy Fowler. “We celebrate the future of a watershed that will provide unimpeded salmon and steelhead passage from the slopes of Mt. Hood to the Pacific Ocean.”

The Sandy is home to winter steelhead, spring Chinook and coho salmon, all listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. The State of Oregon lists coho as an endangered species.

Following the detonation, heavy equipment began taking apart the concrete structure. Demolition of the Marmot Dam should take about two months. The concrete chunks will be recycled for road surfacing.

During that work, the river bypasses Marmot Dam, diverted by earthen coffer dams. The coffer dams will be washed away in late autumn by natural stream flows.

Located about 40 miles east of Portland, the structure was built in 1913 to power a trolley that carried city dwellers out to the countryside and was rebuilt in 1989 after a flood. At 22 megawatts, Bull Run is one of PGE’s smallest generating facilities, and its power has already been replaced with environmentally friendly wind power and other sources.

For more information, photos, video and updates, visit www.marmotdam.com.

PGE, headquartered in Portland, also will donate 1,500 acres of its Sandy River Basin land to the Western Rivers Conservancy, which will convey most of the property to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for permanent protection. The land will form the foundation of a planned 9,000-acre conservation and recreation area. The Sandy will remain one of the top Chinook salmon and steelhead fishing destinations in Oregon, while Marmot Dam removal will enhance whitewater rafting and kayaking on the river.

PGE is surrendering its rights to the water “in stream,” meaning no one can remove that amount of water in the future.

PGE announced that it would remove the Bull Run Hydroelectric Project in 1999 after the company determined that demolition would be more economical for its customers than maintaining the facility and upgrading it to modern fish protection standards. PGE remains committed to hydropower and is in the process of upgrading fish protection at its remaining hydro projects.

Next summer’s demolition of the 16-foot-high Little Sandy Dam will allow fish passage at that location for the first time in almost a century. The structure currently diverts almost all of the water out of the lower Little Sandy River for power production. More than 10 miles of habitat will be restored when the natural flows are restored to the Little Sandy River.

PGE and the 22 other organizations that co-authored the decommissioning plan with the utility include environmental groups, state and federal natural resource agencies, local governments and businesses. They committed to a collaborative agreement, rejecting the expensive and exhaustive adversarial proceedings that characterize many major environmental decisions.

About Portland General Electric Company

Portland General Electric, headquartered in Portland, Ore., is a fully integrated electric utility that serves more than 796,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in Oregon. Visit our Web site at www.PortlandGeneral.com.

POR-F

Source: Portland General Electric Company

Also see Peter Wong's article in the Stateman Journal.

Herbicide Imazapyr Turning the Tide in Battle Against Invasive Spartina

2007-06-10T11:34:00.000-07:00

Although some, including the Swinomish Tribe, oppose its use, since its approval in 2004 the herbicide has reduced spartina 75% statewide. Franny White of the Skagit Valley Herald, writing in the TheNewsTribune.com has the story.

IWC Approves Makah Whale Quota

2007-05-30T16:20:00.000-07:00

KONP AM 1450 Serving the Olympic Peninsula

"Makah given whaling approval
May 30th, 2007 - 10:52am

(Port Angeles) - The Makah tribe has international approval to hunt gray whales for another five years. The International Whaling Commission gave approval for the Neah Bay tribe to kill 20 whales. But the tribe still must get a waiver of the federal marine Mammal Protection Act before any more hunts can begin. It could be years before another whale is harpooned off the Olympic Peninsula. The tribe last killed a gray whale in 1999. Makah Councilman Micah McCarty says yesterday's announcement is a symbolic victory, since whale hunting is tied up in other legal battles."

International Whaling Commission to Review Quotas for North Pacific Gray Whales

2007-05-28T09:50:00.000-07:00

MERCAPESCA.NET The Portal for Fish Markets and the Fishing Sector reports:

"U.S Prepares to Host the International Whaling Commission

The United States government supports aboriginal subsistence whaling, and believes the quotas should be favorably reviewed

The United States will host the 2007 annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Anchorage, AK, on May 28-31, 2007. As current Chair of the IWC, NOAA's Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, Dr. William T. Hogarth is preparing for intense discussions at this year's meeting. A critical focus of this year's meeting will be review of the U.S. subsistence hunting quotas of the Western Arctic bowhead whale and gray whale. Ten Alaska Native villages in the far north conduct subsistence bowhead whale hunts overseen by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission and NOAA Fisheries. Also under consideration this year are aboriginal whaling quotas for the eastern population of the North Pacific gray whale by the Makah Indian Tribe."

Plan to Fill Potholes

2007-05-15T14:40:00.000-07:00

From the Bureau of Reclamation, Pacific Northwest Region

Potholes Reservoir Supplemental Feed Route

Draft Environmental Assessment

Overview

The Bureau of Reclamation has completed the Potholes Reservoir Supplemental Feed Route Draft Environmental Assessment. The document describes the preferred alternative, which is to release feed water from Billy Clapp Reservoir into Brook Lake and then convey it down Crab Creek to Potholes Reservoir. The supplemental feed route study also examined using the West Canal and Frenchman Hills Wasteway to convey water to Potholes.
More about the study

For years water has been fed to Potholes Reservoir through the East Low Canal of the Columbia Basin Project, but due to operational changes over the years, it has become difficult to ensure the ability to supply the entire feed to Potholes Reservoir. The use of Crab Creek as a viable alternative will ensure that Potholes Reservoir has a reliable water source.

The deadline for comments on the draft environmental assessment is May 27, 2007. Written comments can be sent to Bureau of Reclamation, Attention: Jim Blanchard, Special Projects Manager, PO Box 815, Ephrata, WA 98823-0815.

Public Meeting The Bureau of Reclamation will hold a public meeting about the draft environmental assessment on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., at Reclamation's Ephrata Field Office, 32 C Street in Ephrata, Washington.

The meeting facility is accessible to people with disabilities. Please contact Jim Blanchard at (509) 754-0226 if you need sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids.

Washington State Patrol Catches Zebra Mussels at the Border

2007-05-11T15:00:00.000-07:00

Update: See this article in the Seattle Times for more.

KOIN News 6

RIDGEFIELD, Wash. - A trailered houseboat was decontaminated after shells from a highly invasive mussel were found on the stern.

The 75-foot-long houseboat was on its way from Missouri when it stopped at the Washington State Patrol weigh station near Ridgefield. Officials discovered dried shells and held the vessel overnight.

Fish and wildlife agents call zebra mussels the biggest living danger to our ecology and economy.

Good catch! Kudos to the State Patrol for spotting the problem and to KOIN for reporting it.

Department of Ecology Issues 401 Permit for Dam Removals on Elwha River

2007-04-16T22:57:00.000-07:00

In March, the Washington Department of Ecology issued a section 401 permit, marking an important milestone in the plan to removal two dams on the Elwha River in northwest Washington.

OLYMPIA - The Elwha River Restoration project in Clallam County, considered by many to be the most important salmon recovery project in the state, has received an important nod of approval with the Washington Department of Ecology issuing a major decision supporting the project.

Two major dams, the Elwha and Glines Canyon, will be removed, opening up over 70 miles of river habitat to endangered salmon and trout species.

Ecology's Shorelands and Environmental Assistance Program issued the critical Section 401 Water Quality certification, which is a federal Clean Water Act permit, certifying the dam removal and ecosystem restoration project will meet state water quality standards and other water protection regulations.

Sediment Build Up Behind the Snake River Dams

2007-04-16T12:33:00.000-07:00

Erik Robinson of The Columbian has a major article on the problems of sedimentation behind the Snake River dams, the next front in the battle about breaching these dams. Well worth reading.

The US Army Corps of Engineers is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement and a Programmatic Sediment Management Plan to address the issue.

Stellar's Sea Lions Developing Taste for Sturgeon

2007-03-03T15:52:00.000-08:00

PATRICK O'NEILL of The Oregonian

"Since about October, wildlife workers have seen sea lions eat 347 white sturgeon near the [Bonneville] dam. That compares with 264 killed the previous season.

All but one this season was eaten by Steller sea lions, which are much larger than their California sea lion cousins. California sea lions migrate up the river later in the spring. Sea lions' appetite for salmon is well-known. In recent years, more and more of them have gathered below Bonneville Dam to intercept salmon on their way upstream to spawning grounds.

Corrarino [of Oregon DFW] says the salmon run is just beginning. But Steller sea lions appear at the dam earlier and earlier each year, drawn by the new menu item -- sturgeon.
'Steller sea lions are being very opportunistic,' he says.
A five- to 10-mile stretch of the Columbia downstream from Bonneville Dam is one of the world's most prolific spawning grounds for white sturgeon, says Corrarino. "

Columbia Basin Mint Plantings Being Yanked in Favor of Ethanol Production?

2007-03-03T15:31:00.000-08:00

More when I know more.

Iron in Northwest rivers fuels phytoplankton, fish populations

2007-03-03T00:24:00.000-08:00

Press Release -- OSU

"CORVALLIS, Ore. -- A new study suggests that the iron-rich winter runoff from Pacific Northwest streams and rivers, combined with the wide continental shelf, form a potent mechanism for fertilizing the nearshore Pacific Ocean, leading to robust phytoplankton production and fisheries.

The study, by three Oregon State University oceanographers, was just published by the American Geophysical Union in its journal, Geophysical Research Letters.

West coast scientists have observed that ocean chlorophyll levels, phytoplankton production and fish populations generally increase in the Pacific Ocean the farther north you go (from southern California to northern Washington). No one has a definitive explanation for the increase, the OSU scientists say, though some researchers have suspected river runoff may play a role. That theory has generally been discounted, they added, because river flows are low in the summer when phytoplankton blooms occur.

In their study, however, the OSU scientists found that Northwest rivers churn out huge amounts of iron in the winter and deposit it on the continental shelf, where it sits until the spring and summer winds begin the ocean upwelling process. The authors studied the relationships between phytoplankton, river runoff and shelf width all along the West Coast."

Fast Flux Reactor at Hanford?

2007-01-30T23:30:00.000-08:00

Annette Cary, writing in the Tri-City Herald, reports that

"The Department of Energy has given the Tri-City Development Council $1.02 million to study whether Hanford could be used to recycle spent fuel from nuclear power plants."

The now-mothballed Fast Flux Reactor is part of the plan.

Recovery Plan for Puget Sound Chinook

2007-01-21T09:46:00.000-08:00

EPA: Federal Register: Endangered and Threatened Species; Recovery Plans:

"DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 111506A]

Endangered and Threatened Species; Recovery Plans

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of Availability.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces the adoption of its Endangered Species Act (ESA) Recovery Plan (Recovery Plan) for the Puget Sound Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU). The Recovery Plan consists of two documents: the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan prepared by the Shared Strategy for Puget Sound (the Shared Strategy Plan), and NMFS'
Final Supplement to the Shared Strategy Plan (Supplement). The Final Supplement contains revisions and additions in consideration of public comments on the Shared Strategy Plan and the draft NMFS Supplement.

ADDRESSES: Additional information about the Recovery Plan may be obtained by writing to Elizabeth Babcock, National Marine Fisheries Service, 7600 Sandpoint Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98115, or calling (206)526-4505.

Persons wishing to read the Recovery Plan can obtain an electronic copy (i.e., CD-ROM) from Carol Joyce by calling (503) 230-5408 or by e-mailing a request to carol.joyce@noaa.gov, with the subject line ``CD-ROM Request for Final ESA Recovery Plan for Puget Sound Chinook Salmon.'' NMFS' summary of and response to public comments on the Shared Strategy Plan and draft Supplement will be included on the CD-
ROM. Electronic copies of these documents are also available on-line on the NMFS website, http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Salmon-Recovery-Planning/Recovery-Domains/Puget-Sound/Index.cfm, or the Shared Strategy for Puget Sound website, http://www.sharedsalmonstrategy.org

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Babcock, Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Coordinator at (206) 526-4505, or Elizabeth Gaar, NMFS Salmon Recovery Division at (503) 230-5434."

Satellite Tracking of Wildfires

2007-01-05T14:32:00.000-08:00

SpaceRef

"Jan. 4, 2007 — The 2006 wildfire season in the United States set an all-time record with more than 9.8 million acres burned in more than 96,000 wildfires. NOAA satellites were key in detecting and monitoring the movement of the blazes, providing invaluable information to firefighters on the ground.
Throughout the season, NOAA's two geostationary satellites and two polar-orbiting spacecraft provided more than 200 images each day. The most hectic stretch of last year's season came between July and September, when NOAA satellites detected 98,848 hot spots."

"NOAA Increases Tsunami Warning Capability for the Most Threatened Parts of the United States"

2007-01-05T14:22:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

NOAA 2006-R279
Contact: Theresa Eisenman
12/22/06
NOAA News Releases 2006

NOAA announced today the deployment of six new Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART) stations in the southwest Pacific. The new stations provide increased lead time for tsunami detection to the U.S. coastal areas at most risk of tsunamis traveling long distances, including the coastlines of Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California.
“We have drastically improved our tsunami detection and warning capability since the Indian Ocean tsunami two years ago,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “These buoys are the latest achievement in an ongoing effort to increase the tsunami program at home and abroad.”"

A Change in Name, a Change in Focus

2007-01-02T23:59:00.000-08:00

This blog has long been a storage site for scientific news stories that catch my fancy. Now I am going to try something more useful, an examination of scientific issues particularly relevant to citizens in the State of Washington. The focus will be on land and water, those topics I know best. And a little space stuff.

Not the "Big Bang" but a Really Large Bang

2006-12-27T16:53:00.000-08:00

The Dark Side of Nature: the Crime was Almost Perfect - VLT Uncovers New Way to Form Black Hole | SpaceRef

"Nature has again thrown astronomers for a loop. Just when they thought they understood how gamma-ray bursts formed, they have uncovered what appears to be evidence for a new kind of cosmic explosion. These seem to arise when a newly born black hole swallows most of the matter from its doomed parent star.
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the most powerful explosions in the Universe, signal the formation of a new black hole and come in two flavours, long and short ones. In recent years, international efforts have shown that long gamma-ray bursts are linked with the explosive deaths of massive stars ..."

NASA and Google

2006-12-18T15:43:00.000-08:00

NASA and Google to Bring Space Exploration Down to Earth | SpaceRef

"MOFFETT FIELD, Calif., Dec. 18 NASA Ames Research Center and Google have signed a Space Act Agreement that formally establishes a relationship to work together on a variety of challenging technical problems ranging from large-scale data management and massively distributed computing, to human-computer interfaces.
As the first in a series of joint collaborations, Google and Ames will focus on making the most useful of NASA's information available on the Internet. Real-time weather visualization and forecasting, high-resolution 3- D maps of the moon and Mars, real-time tracking of the International Space Station and the space shuttle will be explored in the future. "

"Seeing a Neurotoxin's Deadly Grip"

2006-12-17T15:36:00.000-08:00

HHMI News

"Botulinum neurotoxins are among the most deadly natural toxins in the world. They act by first attaching themselves to receptors on the surface of neurons. The toxins then insinuate an enzyme into the neuron that degrades key proteins required for neurons to communicate with one another. The toxins principally affect muscle-controlling motor neurons activated by the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. They kill by paralyzing the respiratory muscles. There are seven structurally and functionally related botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), called serotypes A through G, with each acting in a slightly different manner. Botulinum neurotoxins are among the most deadly natural toxins in the world. They act by first attaching themselves to receptors on the surface of neurons. The toxins then insinuate an enzyme into the neuron that degrades key proteins required for neurons to communicate with one another. The toxins principally affect muscle-controlling motor neurons activated by the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. They kill by paralyzing the respiratory muscles. There are seven structurally and functionally related botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), called serotypes A through G, with each acting in a slightly different manner."

Bad Geography Leads to Trouble

2006-12-16T00:01:00.000-08:00

peninsuladailynews.com - by DONNA BARR

"NEAH BAY -- Makah tribal members Wednesday blessed ground where they had fought Spanish explorers more than 300 years ago.
The ceremony took place on the site of the fort of Nu^pbez Gaona, which is soon to become the tribe's Veterans Park.
Honorary Spanish Consul Luiz Fernando Esteban, Washington Lt. Gov. Brad Owen and Tribal Chairman Ben Johnson represented their governments."

The Spanish were trying to hold the entrance to what they thought was the Northwest Passage. But, alas, as one proceeds east, the Strait of Juan de Fuca soon runs out and the mighty Cascades loom.

Solar "Tsunami"

2006-12-10T10:30:00.000-08:00

Telescope spots solar tsunami | SpaceRef - Source: National Solar Observatory

"The prototype of a new solar patrol telescope in New Mexico recorded a tsunami-like shock wave rolling across the visible face of the Sun following a major flare even on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2006, at 18:28 Universal Time (11:28 MST). The shock wave, known as a Moreton wave, also destroyed or compressed two filaments of cool gas at opposite sides of the solar hemisphere."

"Amygdala shrinks in some forms of autism"

2006-12-06T11:04:00.000-08:00

ScienceDaily

"MADISON, Wis., Dec. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have found the brain's 'fear center' likely shrinks in autism's most severely socially impaired males with autism spectrum disorders.
The federally funded University of Wisconsin study showed teenagers and young men who were slowest at distinguishing emotional from neutral expressions and gazed at eyes least -- indicators of social impairment -- had a smaller-than-normal amygdala, an almond-shaped danger-detector deep in the brain.
The researchers also linked such amygdala shrinkage to impaired nonverbal social behavior in early childhood."

Curiouser and Curiouser

2006-11-30T17:44:00.000-08:00

Dark matter hides, physicists seek | SpaceRef

"'It's harder and harder to get away from the fact that there is a substance out there that's making up most of the universe that we can't see,' says Cabrera. 'The stars and galaxies themselves are like Christmas tree lights on this huge ship that's dark and neither absorbs nor emits light.'

Buried deep underground in a mineshaft in Minnesota lies Cabrera's project, called the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search II (CDMS II). University of California-Berkeley physicist Bernard Sadoulet serves as spokesperson for the effort. Fermilab's Dan Bauer is its project manager, and Dan Akerib from Case Western Reserve University is the deputy project manager. A team of 46 scientists at 13 institutions collaborates on the project"

Laser Interferometry

2006-11-23T17:20:00.000-08:00

Technology Review -- By Jennifer Chu

"In contrast, Feld and his colleagues have been able to image live, untreated cells by using an optical technique based on interferometry: a laser beam passed through a sample is compared with a reference beam of similar wavelength that is not passed through the cell. For example, it takes longer for light to travel through a cell than through, say, water. Researchers can measure that time delay, or phase shift, and then can map the cell and its motions on the scale of nanometers."

Finally Home from Pork Chop Hill

2006-11-23T17:10:00.000-08:00

"NEWS RELEASES from the United States Department of Defense

No. 1189-06 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 22, 2006
Media Contact: (703) 697-5131/697-5132
Public/Industry(703) 428-0711

Soldier Missing in Action from the Korean War is Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

He is Pfc. Charles H. Long, U.S. Army, of Durand, Ill. He will be buried Nov. 25 in Durand.

Representatives from the Army met with the next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.

On March 24, 1953, Long was one of four men from L Company,3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, who was declared missing in action after engaging enemy forces north of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on what came to be known as Pork Chop Hill. The bodies of two of the MIAs were recovered and a third MIA was returned alive during Operation Big Switch after having been captured by Chinese Communist Forces. Long remained unaccounted-for, and was eventually declared dead on March 24, 1954.

In 1993, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) gave United Nations officials 33 boxes with human remains of alleged U.S. servicemen who were unaccounted-for. The DPRK recovered the remains near Komsa-ri in Kangwon Province, which was near Long's last known location. Also included in one of the boxes were Long's social security and identification cards along with identification
tags.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC)and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in the identification of the remains.

For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169."

"Supercomputer study shows Milky Way's [posited] halo of dark matter"

2006-11-21T18:02:00.000-08:00

Supercomputer study shows Milky Way's halo of dark matter in unprecedented | SpaceRef

"Initially, gravity acted on slight density fluctuations present shortly after the Big Bang to pull together the first clumps of dark matter. These grew into larger and larger clumps through the hierarchical merging of smaller progenitors. This is the process the UCSC researchers simulated on the Columbia supercomputer at the NASA Ames Research Center, one of the fastest computers in the world. The simulation took a couple of months to complete, running on 300 to 400 processors at a time for 320,000 'cpu-hours,' Diemand said.
Coauthor Michael Kuhlen, who began working on the project as a graduate student at UCSC and is now at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, said the researchers set the initial conditions based on the most recent results from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) experiment. Released in March, the new WMAP results provide the most detailed picture ever of the infant universe.
The simulation starts at about 50 million years after the Big Bang and calculates the interactions of 234 million particles of dark matter over 13.7 billion years of cosmological time to produce a halo on the same scale as the Milky Way's. The clumps within the halo are the remnants of mergers in which the cores of smaller halos survived as gravitationally bound subhalos orbiting within the larger host system. "

"Blind mice treated with stem cells regain sight"

2006-11-10T00:07:00.000-08:00

Times Online

"The cells used by the team have been programmed to be, but have yet to become, mature photoreceptors. This means that once transplanted, they are primed and ready to integrate with the retina.
A second encouraging feature of the research, reported in Nature, is that the retina accepted the new cells.
Jane Sowden, co-leader of the research, said: “Remarkably, we found that the mature retina, previously believed to have no capacity for repair, is in fact able to support the development of new functional photoreceptors.”
It seems possible that the eye already possesses a source of such cells. On the margin of the retina there are cells with stem cell-like properties — that is, cells capable of self-renewal."

Brainstem abnormality linked with SIDS

2006-11-01T15:56:00.000-08:00

ScienceDaily

"The latest research, led by David Paterson and colleagues at Children's Hospital Boston and the Harvard Medical School, compared brain tissue from 31 infants who died of SIDS with samples from 10 babies who died of other causes.

The scientists focused on an area of the brainstem called the medulla, which regulates breathing, sleep-and-wake cycles and other vital functions, The New York Times reported.
The results of the study suggest a physical abnormality, most likely genetic, interferes with how neurons process serotonin and might lead to a diagnostic test for SIDS risk."

Finally Back from a Cold Grave at Frozen Chosin

2006-10-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

NEWS RELEASES from the United States Department of Defense

No. 1064-06 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 20, 2006
Media Contact: (703) 697-5131/697-5132
Public/Industry(703) 428-0711

Soldier Missing in Action from the Korean War is Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

He is Pfc. Francis Crater Jr., U.S. Army's 32nd Infantry Regiment, of Barberton, Ohio. He will be buried Oct. 21 in Akron, Ohio.

From Nov. 27-Dec. 1, 1950, the U.S. Army's 31st Regimental Combat Team, to which Crater's regiment was temporarily assigned, fought elements of the Chinese People's Volunteer Forces in the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. After intense fighting, the 1/32 Infantry was forced to abandon its position, leaving its dead behind. Regimental records compiled after the battle indicate that Crater was killed in action on Nov. 28, 1950.

Between 2002 and 2003, two joint U.S.-Democratic People's Republic of North Korea teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), excavated two, adjacent mass graves on the eastern shore of the Chosin Reservoir believed to be burial sites of U.S. soldiers from the 31st RCT. The team found human remains for eight individuals and other material evidence, including Crater's identification tags.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in the identification of the remains.

For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at
http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169."

Tracking Information Flow in the Brain

2006-10-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

Technology Review -- By Jennifer Chu

"Scientists at MIT have engineered a nano-sized calcium sensor that may eventually shed light on the intricate cell-to-cell communications that make up human thought. Alan Jasanoff and his team at the Francis Bitter Magnet Lab and McGovern Institute of Brain Research have found that tracking calcium, a key messenger in the brain, may be a more precise way of measuring neural activity, compared with current imaging techniques, such as traditional functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Scientists at MIT have engineered a nano-sized calcium sensor that may eventually shed light on the intricate cell-to-cell communications that make up human thought. Alan Jasanoff and his team at the Francis Bitter Magnet Lab and McGovern Institute of Brain Research have found that tracking calcium, a key messenger in the brain, may be a more precise way of measuring neural activity, compared with current imaging techniques, such as traditional functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Nanowire Transistors

2006-09-26T13:51:00.000-07:00

Technology Review: By Kevin Bullis

"One of the leading candidates for a technology that could make computers smaller and more powerful is based on transistors made from semiconducting nanowires. But until now, circuits made with such transistors have been impractical, because they were too power hungry and too difficult to manufacture. Now researchers at Caltech have built efficient nanowire-based circuits using a process they believe could be reliable enough for mass production. "

Finally Coming Home

2006-09-22T12:44:00.000-07:00

DefenseLink News: News Release

The remains of Army Pvt. Francis Lupo of Cincinnati, Ohio, killed at the Second Battle of the Marne, WW I, have been recovered and returned to his family. The identification was accomplished with the help of mitochondrial DNA.

"First Global Connection between Weather and Space Weather"

2006-09-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

SpaceRef

"Weather on Earth has a surprising connection to space weather occurring high in the electrically-charged upper atmosphere, known as the ionosphere, according to new results from NASA satellites.

'This discovery will help improve forecasts of turbulence in the ionosphere, which can disrupt radio transmissions and the reception of signals from the Global Positioning System,' said Thomas Immel of the University of California, Berkeley, lead author of a paper on the research published August 11 in Geophysical Research Letters.

Researchers discovered that tides of air generated by intense thunderstorm activity over South America, Africa and Southeast Asia were altering the structure of the ionosphere."

Gravity Probe B Mission Enters Third Phase

2006-09-16T16:39:00.000-07:00

Stanford University

"We are now beginning Phase III—the final phase-of the data analysis—which will last until January-February, 2007. Whereas in Phases I and II the focus was on individual gyro performance, during Phase III, the data from all four gyros will be integrated over the entire experiment. The results of this phase will be both individual and correlated changes in gyro spin axis orientation covering the entire 50-week experimental period for all four gyros. These results will be relative to the position of our guide star, IM Pegasi, which changed continually throughout the experiment. Thus, the final step in the analysis, currently scheduled to occur early in the spring of 2007, will be to combine our gyro spin axis orientation results with data mapping the proper motion of IM Pegasi relative to the unchanging position of a distant quasar. The proper motion of IM Pegasi has been mapped with unprecedented precision using a technique called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) by Irwin Shapiro and his team at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), in collaboration with Norbert Bartel at York University in Toronto and French astronomer Jean-Francois Lestrade"

The Gravity Probe B Mission:

"Gravity Probe B is the relativity gyroscope experiment being developed by NASA and Stanford University to test two extraordinary, unverified predictions of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity.

The experiment will check, very precisely, tiny changes in the direction of spin of four gyroscopes contained in an Earth satellite orbiting at 400-mile altitude directly over the poles. So free are the gyroscopes from disturbance that they will provide an almost perfect space-time reference system. They will measure how space and time are warped by the presence of the Earth, and, more profoundly, how the Earth's rotation drags space-time around with it. These effects, though small for the Earth, have far-reaching implications for the nature of matter and the structure of the Universe."

Enzyme that Snips Apart Tau Proteins? Let Us Hope

2006-09-12T18:12:00.000-07:00

BBC NEWS

"The team of scientists found that an enzyme called puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidase, or PSA, was snipping apart tau proteins in human brain tissue.

They also discovered, looking at fruit flies, that higher levels of PSA protected against brain cell death - neurodegeneration, while lower levels speeded up the brain's demise.
The researchers concluded that PSA may play a 'pivotal' protective role. The team of scientists found that an enzyme called puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidase, or PSA, was snipping apart tau proteins in human brain tissue.

They also discovered, looking at fruit flies, that higher levels of PSA protected against brain cell death - neurodegeneration, while lower levels speeded up the brain's demise.
The researchers concluded that PSA may play a 'pivotal' protective role."

Better fMRI?

2006-09-12T17:45:00.000-07:00

Technology Review

"Stefan Posse and colleagues at the University of New Mexico are developing new ways to collect and analyze fMRI data that allow them to detect brain activity from a single thought. They've created their highly sensitive imaging methods by taking more pictures in a shorter amount of time and by developing new algorithms to integrate those images and to reduce background noise.

As described in a paper last month in the journal Neuroimage, Posse's team asked eight volunteers lying in a scanner to think of a word beginning with a letter flashed on a screen above their faces. They then recorded the activity in Broca's area, a part of the brain involved in the generation of language."

Lockheed Martin to Build Shuttle Replacement

2006-09-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

SpaceRef

"NASA selected Wednesday Lockheed Martin Corp., based in Bethesda, Md., as the prime contractor to design, develop, and build Orion, America's spacecraft for a new generation of explorers.
Orion will be capable of transporting four crewmembers for lunar missions and later supporting crew transfers for Mars missions. Orion could also carry up to six crew members to and from the International Space Station.
The first Orion launch with humans onboard is planned for no later than 2014, and for a human moon landing no later than 2020. Orion will form a key element of extending a sustained human presence beyond low-Earth orbit to advance commerce, science and national leadership."

Why My Old Friend Tiger Balm Works

2006-09-01T19:54:00.000-07:00

Technology Review - By Jennifer Chu

"Creams like BenGay can relieve minor aches and pains. But exactly why they work is a mystery. Now researchers have discovered a neurological mechanism behind such cooling remedies that, if tapped just right, could have implications for people with chronic and nerve-related pain.
A study published yesterday in the journal Current Biology reveals that activating a crucial protein in the skin may counteract the nerve signals associated with chronic pain brought on by nerve injury. One trigger for this protein receptor is menthol, an active ingredient in topical analgesics like BenGay. But an even more effective trigger is icilin -- a chemical originally designed for toothpaste and nasal sprays. The researchers found that when applied to the skin, icilin stimulates the body's natural cooling system, and helps block chronic, nerve-related pain."

Major Coastal Study Funded by NSF and Others

2006-08-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

OGI School of Science & Engineering

"PORTLAND, Ore. - Oregon Health & Science University has received a $19 million National Science Foundation grant to form a new center for studying coastal margins, the biologically rich but highly vulnerable environments where rivers meet the ocean.
The NSF Science and Technology Center for Coastal Margin Observation and Prediction, or CMOP, is one of only 17 active STC's and one of four chosen for funding this year. It is the only STC focused on coastal margins and the first ever hosted in Oregon.
OHSU's OGI School of Science & Engineering and its partners, including the University of Washington and Oregon State University, are kicking in an extra $5.6 million to the effort, for a total of $24.6 million over the next five years. The NSF grant also is renewable after five years.
The Science and Technology Center for Coastal Margin Observation and Prediction (CMOP), supported by the National Science Foundation, will use advanced science and technologies to help society meet important challenges. CMOP research will in particular be driven by key questions in coastal margin understanding: How do climate and climate change impact coastal margins? What roles do coastal margins play in global elemental cycles? How far seaward do human activities impact ecosystems?"

Nanowires Used to Probe Neurons

2006-08-29T12:17:00.000-07:00

Technology Review, By Katherine Bourzac

"The research group, led by Charles Lieber, professor of chemistry at Harvard University, has developed techniques for synthesizing large arrays of silicon nanowires, which act as transistors, amplifying very small electrical signals from as many as 50 places on a single neuron. In contrast, the most precise existing methods can pick up only one or two signals from a neuron. By detecting electrical activity in many places along a neuron, the researchers can watch how it processes and acts on incoming signals from other cells.
The nanowires are about the same size as the branches that neurons use to communicate with one another. William Ditto, professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Florida, says neurons probably send the same kinds of signals to the nanowires as they do to other neurons. As a result, the nanowires could provide a realistic view of a neuron's complex firing patterns."

PNNL Researchers Reveal Bacterium's Ability to Process Uranium

2006-08-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

Small Times: News about MEMS, Nanotechnology and Microsystems, By John Trumbo
Tri-City Herald

"Aug. 22, 2006 -- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientists have discovered Shewanella oneidensis bacteria's dirty little secret.
It oozes goo loaded with pearls of uraninite, said Jim Frederickson, chief scientist on the research project.
Shewanella bacteria have the remarkable ability to oxidize heavy metal uranium, converting the deadly byproduct of nuclear age processes at Hanford into less harmful uranium dioxide, or uraninite. Shewanella bacteria have the ability to 'breathe,' or reduce, metals the way human beings process oxygen."

Update: Link to the article, published in PLoS Biology.

"The Gene that Makes Us Human?"

2006-08-17T16:39:00.000-07:00

Technology Review, By Emily Singer

"In the new paper, researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz compared the human genome to the genomes of chimps, dogs, rats, mice, and chickens, searching for genetic sequences that were highly conserved during evolution and therefore functionally important. They then looked for sequences within those conserved regions that had changed rapidly in humans, indicating that those changes were important for human's unique evolution.
The researchers identified several rapidly evolving chunks of DNA, but the fastest piece by far was a small chain of DNA that's part of a gene expressed in the hippocampus, which is involved in learning and memory. According to the findings, the sequence was very similar in chickens and chimps, with only two changes to the genetic code; but it had changed remarkably in human DNA, showing 18 genetic differences from the version in chimps. "

"Turning Slash to Cash" : Good Idea?

2006-08-14T18:34:00.000-07:00

Technology Review

"A small company in Ottawa, Canada, says it has developed an economical way of turning North America's vast supply of forest waste, called 'slash,' into a carbon-neutral liquid for power generation and chemical production.
Its approach is built around a modular, quick-to-assemble pyrolysis plant that can follow logging companies into the bush and directly convert their leftover trimmings into a clean-burning renewable fuel.
The trimmings, also known as forest slash, are the unwanted branches, tops, stumps, and leaves that are removed during logging and typically burned in piles at the sides of roads.
It's a tremendous amount of wasted energy. In the United States alone, 16 percent of wood resulting from logging activities is slash, or 49 million tons in 2004, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. "

Why Am I Not Surprised

2006-08-11T12:19:00.000-07:00

National Geographic News

"In a sort of evolutionary arms race, primates kept improving their eyesight to help spot and avoid snakes as the snakes became more dangerous, suggests Lynne Isbell, a behavioral ecologist at the University of California, Davis. 'The initial change in primate [eyes] ... occurred when they had to deal with constricting snakes, probably about 90 million years ago,' Isbell said.
'That ended up with primates that have forward-facing eyes, whereas other mammals tend to have eyes on the sides of their heads.' Forward-facing eyes allow better depth perception.
When poisonous snakes evolved about 60 million years ago, primates further specialized their visual systems.
'That resulted in the anthropoid primates - which we are one of - which had better vision all around, compared to the earlier primates that only had to deal with constricting snakes,' Isbell said.
The study is published in the July issue of the Journal of Human Evolution. "

"Judge blasts EPA for delays in Clean Air Act implementation (8/7/06)"

2006-08-08T15:37:00.000-07:00

Govexec; by Jenny Mandel (8/7/06)

"A federal judge reprimanded the Environmental Protection Agency last week for devoting resources to discretionary activities while it remains years behind schedule in meeting its statutory obligations to regulate hazardous air pollutants as required by the 1990 Clean Air Act.
In an opinion issued last Wednesday, Judge Paul Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia laid out the reasoning behind an order, issued in March, that EPA promulgate regulations according to an accelerated schedule that he said would reflect Congress's original intent in setting a timeline for completion of the work. "

Techniques of Materials Science Come to Biology

2006-07-26T16:28:00.000-07:00

MIT Tecnology Review

"Sticky Problems
Suresh points back to the computer screen, where Mills has captured another cell. But red blood cells are not solitary things. The parasite creates 'knobs' on the surface of a red blood cell that make it stick to healthy cells, sometimes causing clumping in the bloodstream. Such clumping can cause tremendous internal damage and even death.
'We think we can measure the force of adhesion between two cells -- a measure of the stickiness, which also plays a huge role in the development of the disease,' Suresh says. 'As far as we know, nobody has quantified that stickiness.' Suresh hopes that determining the force of adhesion will help lead to a malaria treatment that improves blood flow.
Although Suresh is excited about the biological work he's doing, he's also circumspect. Nanoscale measurement of the physical properties of biological cells is really still in its early phases, he says. 'We're just starting to put this together. It'll be five years before we start to see where we can go. We still have to understand the science. Then we can figure out the potential for treatments.'"

"Lockheed Martin to Design Nano Air Vehicle to Monitor the Urban Battlefield"

2006-07-21T17:48:00.000-07:00

Commercial Space Watch

"The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded Lockheed Martin a $1.7-million, 10-month contract to design a revolutionary remote-controlled nano air vehicle (NAV) that will collect military intelligence indoors and outdoors on the urban battlefield.
Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Laboratories (ATL) leads a team that will design a remote-controlled NAV, similar in size and shape to a maple tree seed. A chemical rocket enclosed in its one-bladed wing will power a sensor payload module more than 1,100 yards. Delivered from a hover and weighing up to 0.07 ounces, the module will be interchangeable based on mission requirements. Besides controlling lift and pitch, the wing will also house telemetry, communications, navigation, imaging sensors, and battery power. The NAV will be about 1.5 inches long and have a maximum takeoff weight of about 0.35 ounces. " {Emphasis added.}

A Deficiency of Amygdala Neurons in Autism?

2006-07-19T13:50:00.000-07:00

EurekAlert

"Authors Cynthia Schumann, PhD, of the University of California, San Diego, and David Amaral, PhD, director of the M.I.N.D. Institute at the University of California, Davis, counted and measured neurons in the amygdala of nine postmortem autistic male brains and 10 age-matched male postmortem non-autistic brains. Ages ranged from 10 to 44 years old. Unlike previous postmortem studies, the sample excluded brains of individuals with epilepsy or similar disorders associated with cell loss in the amygdala.
Paradoxically, past research using magnetic resonance imaging with children has shown that the amygdala in young males with autism is abnormally large in volume due to precocious maturation. 'It is somewhat surprising, therefore, that there are ultimately fewer neurons in the autistic amygdala,' says Schumann."

This study points to a deficit of grey matter; below is the Carnegie Mellon research pointing to problems with white matter.

Russia Wants to Store Nuclear Waste

2006-07-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

Washington Post: "Russian President Vladimir Putin is maneuvering to take the nuclear waste the rest of the world shuns, hoping for a financial bonanza _ and President Bush, in a reversal of U.S. policy, is offering to help."

Autism: A Wiring Problem?

2006-07-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

Carnegie Mellon researchers discover key deficiencies in brains of people with autism: "In a pair of groundbreaking studies, brain scientists at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh have discovered that the anatomical differences that characterize the brains of people with autism are related to the way those brains process information.
Previous studies have demonstrated a lower degree of synchronization among activated brain areas in people with autism, as well as smaller size of the corpus callosum, the white matter that acts as cables to wire the parts of the brain together. This latest research shows for the first time that the abnormality in synchronization is related to the abnormality in the cabling. The results suggest that the connectivity among brain areas is among the central problems in autism. The researchers have also found that people with autism rely heavily on the parts of the brain that deal with imagery, even when completing tasks that would not normally call for visualization."

Control of Brain Activity

2006-07-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

Technology Review: Emerging Technologies and their Impact: "Until a few years ago, selective control of brain activity was just a provocative idea. But a new version of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has, for the first time, made brain activity visible in real time. The technology was just what deCharms needed. He and his collaborator Sean Mackey, associate director of the Pain Management Division at Stanford University, have already shown that their technique works, at least in the short term. In December, they published the results of their first study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showing that both healthy subjects and chronic-pain patients could learn to control brain activity -- and pain -- using real-time fMRI."

Technology Review: Is Defeating Aging Only a Dream?

2006-07-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

Technology Review: Is Defeating Aging Only a Dream?: "Last year, Technology Review announced a $20,000 prize for any molecular biologist who could demonstrate that biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey's 'Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence' (SENS) -- a much publicized prescription for defeating aging -- was 'so wrong that it was unworthy of learned debate.' The purpose of the challenge was to determine whether de Grey's proposals were science or fantasy.
The judges of the 'SENS Challenge' were Rodney Brooks, the director of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and the chief technology officer of iRobot; Anita Goel, the founder and chief executive of Nanobiosym; Vikram Kumar, the cofounder and chief executive of Dimagi and a pathologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston; Nathan Myhrvold, the cofounder and chief executive of Intellectual Ventures and the former chief technology officer of Microsoft; and J. Craig Venter, the founder and president of the Venter Institute, whose computational methods hastened the completion of the Human Genome Project.
We received five submissions, of which only three met the terms of the challenge. De Grey wrote a rebuttal to each qualifying submission, and the challengers wrote responses to those rebuttals. The judges considered all these documents.
In the end, the judges felt that no submission met the criterion of the challenge and disproved SENS, although they unanimously agreed that one submission, by Preston W. Estep and his colleagues, was the most eloquent. The judges also noted, however, that de Grey had not convincingly defended SENS and that many of his ideas seemed somewhat fanciful."

NASA Gravity Probe B Mission Update 7 July 2006 | SpaceRef - Space News as it Happens

2006-07-12T08:53:00.000-07:00

NASA Gravity Probe B Mission Update 7 July 2006 | SpaceRef - Space News as it Happens

"As of July 7, we are continuing to progress through Phase II of the data analysis process, which began at the beginning of March and is scheduled to run through late August 2006. During Phase II, our focus is on understanding and compensating for certain long-term systematic effects in the data that span weeks or months. The primary products of this phase will be monthly spin axis precession estimates for each gyro, as well as refined daily spin axis orientation estimates. In this phase, the focus remains on individual, rather than correlated gyro performance.

During June, the team made significant progress modelling the polhode motion of the gyroscopes. This polhode motion - a natural, periodic exchange of rotational energy among the inertial axes of a spinning body - does not affect the ability of the gyroscopes to measure relativistic precessions, but does introduce some subtle systematic errors that need to be removed to obtain the most accurate measurements. Using SQUID measurements of the trapped magnetic flux on the rotor, a very precise measurement of the polhode period history was identified. This information, together with the history of the spin speed of the gyroscope has allowed the team to build accurate physical models of the polhode motion and how it has evolved for each gyroscope over the mission. These models will form the base from which the effects of this class of systematic errors can be largely eliminated."

Virus-Assembled Batteries

2006-04-07T20:44:00.000-07:00

Technology Review

"The researchers, in work reported online this week in Science, used M13 viruses to make the positive electrode of a lithium-ion battery, which they tested with a conventional negative electrode. The virus is made of proteins, most of which coil to form a long, thin cylinder. By adding sequences of nucleotides to the virus' DNA, the researchers directed these proteins to form with an additional amino acid that binds to cobalt ions. The viruses with these new proteins then coat themselves with cobalt ions in a solution, which eventually leads, after reactions with water, to cobalt oxide, an advanced battery material with much higher storage capacity than the carbon-based materials now used in lithium-ion batteries."

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) Reveals Organization of Axons in Brain

2006-03-27T08:45:00.000-08:00

Technology Review: Emerging Technologies and their Impact

"Conventional imaging techniques, such as structural MRI, reveal major anatomical features of the brain -- gray matter, which is made up of nerve cell bodies. But neuroscientists believe that some diseases may be rooted in subtle 'wiring' problems involving axons, the long, thin tails of neurons that carry electrical signals and constitute the brain's white matter. With DTI, researchers can, for the first time, look at the complex network of nerve fibers connecting the different brain areas."

"U of M Researchers Identify Cause of Memory Loss"

2006-03-19T14:02:00.000-08:00

Academic Health Center, University of Minnesota

"In the past, it was generally accepted that Alzheimer's disease was caused by plaques and tangles, unnatural accumulations of two naturally occurring proteins in the brain: amyloid-beta, which builds into plaques between nerve cells in the brain; and tau, which forms the tangles bundles inside nerve cells.
Ashe's lab proved last year that the tangles are not the cause of memory loss; this latest research shows the plaques aren't a major cause either.
People with Alzheimer's disease exhibit memory impairment before they are formally diagnosed, or before nerve cells in their brains begin to die. Often it can be difficult to tell whether people are experiencing the normal memory impairment that comes with aging or if they are in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.
The researchers hypothesized that there was a substance in the brain that causes memory decline that is present before the nerve cells die. The researchers used mice whose genetic makeup was manipulated to develop memory loss much in a way people develop subtle memory problems before the earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease. Using mice that showed early signs of memory loss and had no plaques or nerve cell loss in the brain, they discovered a form of the amyloid-beta protein that is distinct from plaques. Once extracted and purified, the newly found protein complex was injected into healthy rats. It triggered cognitive impairment in the tested animals, confirming the detrimental effect of this protein on memory.
Ashe's research was done in collaboration with scientists at Johns Hopkins University, University of Southern California, and University of California, Irvine."

{Emphasis added.}

"Ringside Seat to the Universe's First Split Second"

2006-03-19T00:05:00.000-08:00

NASA HT SpaceRef.com

"Scientists peering back to the oldest light in the universe have evidence to support the concept of inflation, which poses that the universe expanded many trillion times its size faster than a snap of the fingers at the outset of the big bang."

Thanks to Mitochondrial DNA Airman Lost In 1942 Crash Is Identified

2006-03-12T14:03:00.000-08:00

DoD News

"Airman Lost In 1942 Crash Is Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. Army Air Forces airman, missing since 1942, have been identified and will soon be returned to his family for burial.

He is Aviation Cadet Leo Mustonen, 22, of Brainerd, Minn. The family has not set a date for his burial.

Mustonen was one of four men aboard a routine navigation training flight that departed Mather Field, Calif., on Nov. 18, 1942. Their AT-7 Navigator aircraft carried about five hours of fuel, and when the plane did not return to base, a search was initiated. It was suspended about a month later with no results.

In 1947, several hikers on Darwin Glacier in the Sierra Nevada mountain range discovered the aircraft wreckage. Human remains of three of the crew found at the site were buried in the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, Calif.

Several other hikers on Mendel Glacier, which is adjacent to Darwin Glacier, discovered frozen human remains, circumstantial evidence and personal effects in October 2005. Park rangers from Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and a forensic anthropologist from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) recovered the remains, which were later shipped to the JPAC laboratory in Hawaii.

Scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA as one of the forensic tools in the process. U.S. Army casualty and mortuary officials located and briefed representatives of the families of all four crewmen."

"Discovery of molecule that may hold key to learning and memory"

2006-02-27T11:02:00.000-08:00

news-medical.net

"Independent research teams from Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston have identified a master protein that sheds light on one of neurobiology's biggest mysteries--how neurons change as a result of individual experiences.
The research, which appears in two papers in Science, identifies a central protein that regulates the growth and pruning of neurons throughout life in response to environmental stimuli. This protein, and the molecular pathway it guides, could help investigators understand the process of learning and memory, as well as lead to new therapies for diseases in which synapses either fail to form or run rampant, such as autism, neurodegenerative diseases, and psychiatric disorders."

Bremerton's LiftPort Group Completes Second Round of Tests of Its Space Elevator Technology under FAA Waiver

2006-02-14T18:40:00.000-08:00

SpaceRef - Your Space Reference

"LiftPort Group, the space elevator companies, today announced that it has successfully completed its second round of preliminary tests of its high altitude platform and robotic lifters. The tests, which were conducted under a waiver to use airspace granted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), used prototypes of proprietary technology the company is developing for use in the LiftPort Space Elevator, the company's revolutionary way to ferry cargo into space."

Meet the Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope

2006-02-09T17:23:00.000-08:00

Scientists Analyze 650-Million-Year-Old Fossils in 3D: SpaceRef - Your Space Reference

"UCLA paleobiologist J. William Schopf and colleagues have produced 3-D images of ancient fossils -- 650 million to 850 million years old --preserved in rocks, an achievement that has never been done before.
If a future space mission to Mars brings rocks back to Earth, Schopf said the techniques he has used, called confocal laser scanning microscopy and Raman spectroscopy, could enable scientists to look at microscopic fossils inside the rocks to search for signs of life, such as organic cell walls. These techniques would not destroy the rocks."

Nice photos in article.

Crater Drilling Declared Major Success

2006-01-16T19:10:00.000-08:00

USGS Release

"Following three months of around-the-clock work, the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater Deep Drilling Project successfully completed its operations, extracting more than a mile long segment of rocks and sediments from the Earth. On Dec. 4, the drill bit reached a final depth of 5,795 ft (1.1 miles, 1.77 kilometers) within the structure of the crater.
The impact crater was formed about 35 million years ago when a rock from space struck the Earth at hypersonic speed. Scientists have only recently begun to explore the consequences from that distant event and learn how it has greatly affected the population living in southeastern Virginia today."

"Spinning black hole leaves dent in space-time"

2006-01-11T15:24:00.000-08:00

SpaceRef - Your Space Reference:

"MIT scientists and colleagues have found a black hole that has chiseled a remarkably stable indentation in the fabric of space and time, like a dimple in one's favorite spot on the sofa.
The finding may help scientists measure a black hole's mass and how it spins, two long-sought measurements, by virtue of the extent of this indentation. Using NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, the team saw identical patterns in the X-ray light emitted near the black hole nine years apart, as captured in archived data from 1996 and in a new, unprecedented 550-hour observation from 2005.
Black hole regions are notoriously chaotic, generating light at a range of frequencies. Similarities seen nine years apart imply something very fundamental is producing a pair of observed frequencies, namely the warping of space and time predicted by Einstein but rarely seen in such detail. "

"Feds back plan to save Sound's salmon"

2006-01-08T17:30:00.000-08:00

TheNewsTribune.com | Tacoma, WA:

"The Bush administration has tentatively endorsed a 10-year, $1.2 billion plan developed by a coalition of local groups to rebuild dwindling chinook salmon runs along Puget Sound.
After a six-month internal review, the National Marine Fisheries Service is seeking public comment on the recovery plan that covers 14 watersheds along the Sound, including the Nisqually and Puyallup rivers."

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory Looks Back at Earth

2006-01-03T13:43:00.000-08:00

SpaceRef - Your Space Reference

"In an unusual observation, a team of scientists has scanned the northern polar region of Earth with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The results show that the aurora borealis, or 'northern lights,' also dance in X-ray light, creating changing bright arcs of X-ray energy above the Earth's surface. "