October 11, 2019

Every year in the first week of October, the Nobel Foundation in Sweden awards Nobel Prizes to artists, economists, scientists, and peace workers who—in keeping with the vision of the Swedish chemist and industrialist Alfred Nobel—have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. Today, World Book looks at the first three prizes, in the scientific categories of physiology or medicine, physics, and chemistry.

Nobel Prize medal (Credit: Nobel Foundation)

On Monday, October 7, 2019, the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was given jointly to the scientists William G. Kaelin, Jr., Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe, and Gregg L. Semenza for their work showing how cells adapt to the changing availability of oxygen. Kaelin, Ratcliffe, and Semenza identified the molecular machinery that allows cells to respond to changes in oxygen levels. Their discoveries offer promising new strategies in the treatment of such diseases and maladies as anemia, cancer, heart attacks, and strokes.

William G. Kaelin, Jr., was born in New York and is a professor of medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School. Peter J. Ratcliffe of the United Kingdom is the director of clinical research at the Francis Crick Institute in London and director of the Target Discovery Institute at the University of Oxford. Gregg L. Semenza, also from New York, is a professor of genetic medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

On Tuesday, October 8, the Nobel Foundation announced the prize for physics had been awarded to the Canadian-American cosmologist James Peebles and to the Swiss scientists Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz for their work on explaining the evolution of the universe and for discovering distant exoplanets (planets beyond our solar system). Among other things, Peebles theorized how matter in the young universe swirled into galaxies. In 1995, Mayor and Queloz discovered an exoplanet orbiting a star elsewhere in our home galaxy, the Milky Way, enhancing the study of planetary systems beyond our own that could support life.

James Peebles is the Albert Einstein professor of science at Princeton University in New Jersey. Michel Mayor is an astrophysicist and professor emeritus of astronomy at the University of Geneva. Didier Queloz is a professor of physics at the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University, and at the University of Geneva.

On Wednesday, October 9, the Nobel Foundation announced that John B. Goodenough of the United States, M. Stanley Whittingham of the United Kingdom, and Akira Yoshino of Japan would share the prize for chemistry for developing and refining rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. The lightweight, rechargeable, and powerful batteries are used in everything from mobile phones to laptop computers and electric vehicles. They can also store great amounts of energy from solar and wind power, further enabling the possibility of a fossil fuel-free future.

At 97 years old, John B. Goodenough is the oldest ever recipient of the Nobel Prize. He is currently the Virginia H. Cockrell Chair in Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. M. Stanley Whittingham is a distinguished professor at Binghamton University, State University of New York. Akira Yoshino is an honorary fellow at Tokyo’s Asahi Kasei Corporation and a professor at Meijo University in Nagoya, Japan.

July 17, 2019

To help reduce pollution in the United States, a Sierra Club program called “Ready for 100” is encouraging communities and individuals to commit to the use of 100 percent renewable energy sources. The Sierra Club, founded in 1892 by the naturalist John Muir, is an organization that works to protect the environment. Ready for 100 is asking business, civic, community, and religious leaders, as well as families and students, to help achieve the goal of complete nationwide reliance on clean, renewable energy by the year 2050.

Renewable energy comes from such sources as the sun, wind, moving water, heat beneath the ground, and plants. Such energy sources are considered “clean” because they cause little or no pollution, and they differ from fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. Burning fossil fuels causes air pollution and acid rain, and also releases large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The gases trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere, contributing to global warming and climate change.

Since November 2016, solar panels and battery systems have provided 100 percent of the energy needed to power the island of Ta’u, seen here, in the U.S. Pacific territory of American Samoa. Credit: © SolarCity

There are many benefits to using clean energy sources. They can provide communities with cleaner air and water, lower energy costs, greater energy independence, and greater local ownership of energy systems. More than 50 nations around the world, including Brazil, Canada, and Norway, already get more than 50 percent of their energy supply from renewable sources. Costa Rica expects to be using 100 percent renewable energy by 2021. The U.S. state of Hawaii has promised to be Ready for 100 by 2045, and recent California legislation requires the country’s most populous state to achieve 50 percent renewable energy use by 2030. Such worldwide cities as Munich, New York, and Sydney are also well beyond the 50 percent mark, and they are fast approaching total reliance on renewable energy. To reach 100 percent, the amount of energy generated from renewable sources (for such uses as electric power, heating and cooling, and transportation) must equal or exceed the annual energy consumed.

Hoover Dam on the Colorado River has been providing renewable hydroelectric energy in the southwestern United States since 1935. Credit: U.S. Department of Transportation

So far, 182 U.S. towns and cities from coast to coast have committed to 100 percent renewable energy use by 2050. Aspen, Colorado (since 2015); Burlington, Vermont (2014); Georgetown, Texas (2018); Greensburg, Kansas (2013); Kodiak Island, Alaska (2012); and Rock Port, Missouri (2008) have already hit the 100 percent renewable energy mark, leading the push for cleaner energy and a healthier future.

May 30, 2018

Earlier this month, on May 3, Kilauea, a large volcano on the “Big Island” of Hawaii, erupted violently and pumped dangerous lava flows near residential neighborhoods, prompting local officials to order emergency evacuations. Since then, dozens of fissures have opened up along the slopes of the volcano, oozing glowing lava or shooting fountains of it high into the air. The volcano has also produced massive columns of smoke and ash and a haze with varying amounts of poisonous gases. As of today, Kilauea’s eruption proceeds without any signs of stopping, and new lava fissures and cracks appear daily.

A massive column of ash and smoke billows from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano on May 4, 2018, near Pahoa, Hawaii. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey

Volcanologists have used flying drones to monitor Kilauea’s flowing lava as it creeps towards homes and other buildings in the Leilani Estates neighborhood near the town of Pahoa. Hawaii Governor David Ige mobilized the Hawaii National Guard to assist with evacuations and security in the area. So far, 82 homes have been destroyed by lava and around 2,000 residents have been evacuated. Kilauea’s flows have also damaged several other structures, including the Puna Geothermal Venture, a conversion plant that uses heat from volcanic activity to generate electric power.

Lava erupts from a fissure in the Kilauea volcano on May 22, 2018, in Kapoho, Hawaii. Credit: © Mario Tama, Getty Images

Kilauea is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. The current eruption is only the latest of a highly active eruption cycle that began in January 1983. This month’s eruption was preceded by a swarm of small earthquakes caused by the movement of magma beneath Kilauea and the collapse of a volcanic vent in Kilauae’s crater floor. On May 3, 2018, hours after a magnitude-5.0 earthquake, steam and lava spewed from several surface cracks on the eastern side of Hawaii’s Big Island.

Kilauea rises 4,190 feet (1,227 meters) above sea level and constitutes about 14 percent of the land area of the Big Island. Kilauea and massive Mauna Loa are the stars of the area’s Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Kilauea is a shield volcano, a volcanic mountain with broad, gently sloping sides. Shield volcanoes commonly erupt in fountains of lava. The fountains feed lava lakes within a caldera (large crater), and long, often slow-moving flows seep down the volcano’s sides. Repeated eruptions produce layer upon layer of flows. The layers gradually build the slope upwards and outward, forming a shallow, rounded cone. The name shield volcano refers to such a volcano’s broadly curved shape, which resembles a soldier’s shield. Kilauea’s summit caldera contains a lava lake known as Halema`uma`u. In Hawaiian mythology, the molten lake is the home of the volcano goddess, Pele.

Volcanologists are worried about the many fissures that have opened along the eastern slope of Kilauea, spewing lava, smoke, and ash. Some flows reached the Pacific Ocean, where red-hot lava created huge clouds of steam laced with poisonous and stinky sulfur dioxide. Gases from Kilauea have collected into a toxic volcanic smog that has now drifted as far away as Guam and the Mariana Islands, where residents have been warned to limit outdoor activity.

October 4, 2017

Yesterday, October 3, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden, awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in physics to three American scientists. Rainer Weiss of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) shared the prize with Barry Barish and Kip Thorne of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) for their work on the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) experiment that led to the discovery of gravitational waves.

Nobel Prize medal (Credit: Nobel Foundation)

The existence of gravitational waves was predicted in 1915 by the German-born American physicist Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. A gravitational wave is a type of radiation that carries gravitational force. Scientists think that violent cosmic events create powerful gravitational waves. The waves, however, are difficult to detect because they grow weaker as they travel outward from their source. Researchers expect the waves that reach Earth to be very weak. The strongest waves might change the separation between two balls 0.6 mile (1 kilometer) apart by less than a thousandth of the diameter of the nucleus of an atom. Detecting such waves presented a significant challenge in physics.

Over years of research and collaboration, Thorne made important predictions of what the detection of gravitational waves would actually look like and how to identify them. He and Weiss helped develop plans to build large interferometers, devices that use light waves or other waves to make precise measurements, that could detect gravitational waves from cosmic sources. These sources include such violent cosmic events as collisions between black holes and neutron stars, the smallest and densest type of star known. Barish is widely credited for overseeing LIGO from its construction in 1999 to its first measurements in 2002. In 2016, LIGO scientists announced that they had detected gravitational waves coming from two colliding black holes. The gravitational waves had been detected by LIGO on Sept. 14, 2015. Since then, gravitational waves have been detected three more times.

Rainer Weiss was born on Sept. 29, 1932, in Berlin, Germany. He immigrated to the United States in 1938, and he earned a Ph.D. degree from MIT in 1962. Kip S. Thorne was born on Jun. 1, 1940, in Logan, Utah. He studied physics at Caltech and received his Ph.D. degree at Princeton University in New Jersey in 1965. Barry C. Barish was born on Jan. 27, 1936, in Omaha, Nebraska. He studied physics at the University of California at Berkeley, where he received his Ph.D. degree in 1962.

June 21, 2017

On June 10, the Expo 2017 international exhibition opened in Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan, a country in west-central Asia. Expo 2017—like so many exhibitions and fairs before it—is a celebration of international commerce, industry, and science. The theme for Expo 2017 is “Future Energy,” concentrating on clean energy innovations as well as creative ideas for the future. The expo stresses the importance of moving from polluting fossil fuels to such green technologies as wind and solar power and providing “solutions for tackling humankind’s greatest challenge”—climate change.

The sprawling Expo 2017 complex centers on the large sphere of the National Pavilion of Kazakhstan. The international exhibition runs from June into September in Astana, Kazakhstan. Credit: © Nick Melnichenko, Shutterstock

Expo 2017 kicked off with elaborate opening ceremonies and a speech by longtime Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev. “The most advanced technologies in the field of clean energy will be showcased here,” he said. “And I hope that the results of the Astana Expo 2017 will bring tangible benefits to all.” The expo runs through the summer until September 10. More than 130 countries and numerous global organizations are taking part in the fair. Between 3 million and 5 million people are expected to visit the expo’s sprawling 430-acre (174-hectare) complex, a busy mix of international pavilions clustered around the giant sphere-shaped National Pavilion of Kazakhstan.

Astana, Kazakhstan, is known for its unusual architecture and futuristic appearance. Credit: © Shutterstock

The expo’s Energy Best Practices Area Pavilion features innovative energy-related ideas and projects dealing with the creation, distribution, storage, and use of renewable and alternative energy. The new technologies include plant-powered biological fuel cells, the harnessing of bioluminescent microorganisms to produce light, inflatable solar collectors, the use of ice to power cooling and heating systems, and electric-powered zero-emission race cars and scooters. The expo also includes a full schedule of concerts and cultural programs, as well as food and drink from around the world and numerous shops and other diversions.

The Space Needle in Seattle is one of the most recognizable buildings in the United States. The 605-foot (184-meter) tower served as the centerpiece for a 1962 world’s fair called Century 21. Credit: © Shutterstock

World’s fairs and expositions have a long tradition dating back to London’s Great Exhibition of 1851. Over the years, world’s fairs have been a showcase for new inventions, unfamiliar peoples, and new kinds of art. The newly invented telephone wowed audiences at the Philadelphia exhibition in 1876, and the Eiffel Tower changed the skyline of Paris for the world’s fair of 1889. Automobiles impressed people and scared horses as they rumbled through the 1904 expo in St. Louis, and early television broadcasts showed the future of entertainment at the famous Century of Progress Exhibition in Chicago in 1933-1934. The 1962 Century 21 fair in Seattle introduced the Space Needle at the dawn of the space age.

June 2, 2017

Yesterday, June 1, United States President Donald Trump announced that the United States would formally withdraw from the Paris Agreement, an international treaty designed to combat global warming. The decision to withdraw from the treaty represented a sharp break with leaders of nearly all nations and went against the wishes of thousands of corporate executives, economists, environmentalists, other U.S. politicians, scientists, and even members of the president’s own Cabinet. Trump’s decision to withdraw from the treaty met with immediate international and domestic scorn and spurred numerous protests.

On June 1, 2017, protesters gather outside the White House in Washington, D.C., moments after President Donald Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. Credit: Kellybdc (licensed under CC BY 2.0)

By joining the Paris Agreement in 2015 and ratifying it in 2016, the United States had voluntarily committed to cut back on the use of polluting fossil fuels, develop more green (environmentally friendly) technology, and raise funds to help poorer countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Trump, who has previously called climate change a “hoax,” sees these commitments as an unfair economic burden on the United States. Most evidence, however, shows that climate change is real and that moving to green technology actually stimulates economic growth.

The goal of the Paris Agreement is to slow and eventually cease the rise in global temperatures that has sharply increased in the last few decades. Scientists predict that, if global warming continues unchecked, it will damage human society and the environment. For example, global warming could melt enough of the ice near Earth’s poles to raise sea levels, flooding many coastal cities. Global warming could lead to more widespread droughts. It could also raise the risk of extinction for many plant and animal species. Already, global warming has greatly reduced glaciers at the North and South poles, harmed the world’s coral reefs, and created ever more erratic and extreme weather patterns.

Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement is a lengthy process that will take until November 2020 to complete, leaving time for the United States to rejoin the treaty. A number of U.S. cities and states have already announced they will continue to comply with the provisions of the Paris Agreement whether the federal government does or not.

April 21, 2017

Tomorrow, on Saturday, April 22, thousands of scientists, teachers, researchers, and science advocates will take part in an unprecedented experiment of public protest to demonstrate the importance of science in society. The first ever March for Science will take place in Washington, D.C., and other cities across the United States. The march was organized to coincide with Earth Day, an annual observance to increase public awareness of environmental issues. The march is the result of a grass-roots campaign by scholars and scientists hoping to preserve and continue environmental and scientific research. President Donald Trump has strongly criticized such research; expressed doubts about, or rejected, the validity of its conclusions; and questioned its value to society.

The Women’s March in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21, 2017, inspired a similar March for Science on Earth Day, April 22. 2017. Credit: Mark Dixon (licensed under CC BY 2.0)

The March for Science was inspired by the massive turnout of the Jan. 21, 2017, Women’s March, when millions of people in cities throughout the United States and the rest of the world protested the controversial policies and comments of the newly inaugurated President Trump. The idea of a March for Science began on social media as a suggestion for a science-based protest, but the scope quickly grew as the supporting Facebook page gained hundreds of thousands of followers. The event’s honorary cochairs are American science educator and activist Bill Nye and Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician who first discovered that high levels of lead in drinking water were poisoning children in Flint, Michigan.

American science educator Bill Nye, known for his educational television show “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” is an honorary cochair of the March for Science. Credit: © AP Photo

The March for Science represents an unusually vocal response from the otherwise temperate community of academic scientists and researchers. But many scientists who work in federal agencies or have their work funded by the government have recently expressed concern that their work is being ignored or threatened by the Trump administration. Scholars point to a strong antiscience stance by Trump-appointed officials at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Trump administration’s dismissal of scientific findings on climate change by government-funded scientists, and Trump’s proposed federal budget that would eliminate funding for many science programs ranging from basic cancer research, oceanography, and Earth-monitoring programs at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The main March on Science will take place tomorrow in Washington, D.C., and satellite marches are planned for hundreds of cities across the United States. Large satellite marches are expected in such cities as Boston, Chicago, Houston, New York, and San Francisco, which are important hubs for computer, medical, technology, oil and gas, and alternative energy industries. These industries make up a large and fast-growing component of the U.S. economy, yet they depend on a scientifically literate and highly educated work force. Many researchers feel that science is becoming less important in the public sphere, when it is actually more important than ever in order to help prevent and solve global problems. In addition to the protests, the marches will feature programs of speakers to communicate the importance of science in the everyday lives of all people.

December 22, 2016

Last month, a new dawn rose over a small island in American Samoa. The island of Tau (also spelled Ta’u), home to less than 1,000 people, now gets all of its electric power from the sun. It is a small but significant step in the global push toward renewable energy. American Samoa is a United States territory in the Pacific Ocean, about 2,300 miles (3,700 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii. It consists of seven tropical islands with a combined population of about 55,000 people.

Solar panels and battery storage systems on the island of Ta’u, seen here, have provided all the island’s electric power since November 2016. Credit: © SolarCity

Tau worked with the company SolarCity, which was recently acquired by the electric car manufacturer Tesla, to convert its small electrical grid to run entirely on solar energy. (Both companies were founded by Elon Musk, a South African-born business developer.) About 5,000 solar panels and 60 battery storage systems were installed on the island over the course of two years. The battery systems store electric energy for nights and cloudy days. With the battery backups, the island can operate without sun for several days in a row.

Prior to the solar conversion, Tau’s power came from costly and polluting electric generators. Diesel fuel had to be shipped to the island over long stretches of ocean, an expensive process that itself used a lot of fuel. The new solar energy system will save some 110,000 gallons (415,000 liters) of diesel fuel each year, thereby preventing about 2.5 million pounds (1.1 million kilograms) of carbon dioxide emissions—a main cause of global warming and climate change—from entering the atmosphere.

The conversion is the latest step in the slow but steady trend toward renewable energy. Not only are such power systems better for the environment, but they are also becoming cheaper than fossil fuel-burning systems in a growing number of situations. Prices for solar cells continue to fall while their efficiency at capturing the sun’s energy slowly improves. Manufacturers are producing larger and more efficient wind turbines as well. Earlier this month, the first offshore wind farm in the United States began delivering power to an island within the state of Rhode Island. Offshore wind farms are more expensive and complicated to build than wind turbines on land, but they take advantage of strong, steady winds off the coasts to deliver cheap, consistent power.

Pacific islands like Tau are prime targets for switching to solar energy. Many are close to the equator and have few cloudy days. Therefore, they receive a strong, constant supply of sunlight year-round. Furthermore, the remote locations of these islands make shipping fossil fuels to them extremely expensive. Residents of Tau saw their electric bills remain the same after the switch and will now be insulated from oil’s fluctuating (rapidly changing) prices that, in the past, often caused energy costs to spike.

SolarCity is now working with the Hawaiian island of Kauai to improve distribution and storage of solar energy there. Kauai is significantly larger than Tau, with a population of over 70,000, but the Hawaiian state government is committed to switching to entirely renewable energy. Such islands as Kauai and Tau are likely to bear the brunt of global warming through rising sea levels and greater numbers of extreme weather events. Renewable energy, often considered the best environmental choice, may soon become the best economic choice as well.

June 15, 2016

On June 10, 2016, in the oil hub city of Warri in Nigeria’s Delta State, a billboard asks for citizens’ help against the Niger Delta Avengers’ campaign of oil industry disruption. © Stefan Heunis, AFP/Getty Images

On Monday, June 13, Nigeria’s Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) announced they were ready to talk with the west African nation’s federal government. The NDA—a militant group that has attacked petroleum and natural gas installations in the Niger River Delta—has strict preconditions, however, before a dialogue can be arranged. The NDA insists that damaged pipelines and facilities remain out of service, and that the selling of crude oil be suspended. The group wants international oil companies at the talks and a commitment from the government to improve conditions in the impoverished and badly polluted delta. The government, desperate to stop the attacks and regain the delta’s fossil fuel wealth, has recently called off military efforts against the NDA. The government, however, may be unwilling or unable to comply with the militant group’s pretalk conditions.

The NDA grabbed the government’s attention earlier this year by launching “Operation Red Economy,” systematic attacks meant to cripple the Niger Delta’s rich oil and gas industry. NDA sabotage has destroyed or forced the closures of pipelines, terminals, and wells belonging to such oil giants as Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, and Italy’s ENI. Nigeria’s oil production has since been reduced to its lowest level in 20 years.

The NDA emerged from the remains of previous militant groups in the Niger Delta that fought for control of the region’s oil wealth as well as independence from the Nigerian government. The NDA’s crusade, however, has largely centered on the economic well-being of delta citizens and the restoration of land and water contaminated by spills and irresponsible oil and gas exploration. The NDA has thus far avoided open warfare with Nigerian troops and has followed self-imposed rules against kidnapping or killing. The NDA has ominously warned, however, that these rules could change.

The Niger Delta forms the southernmost region of Nigeria, along the Gulf of Guinea. It consists of deposits of clay, mud, and sand at the mouth of the Niger River. Lagoons and mangrove swamps cover much of the region. Large-scale oil and gas extraction in the delta began in the 1950′s.

May 5, 2016

A small plane flies through the smoke above Fort McMurray, Alberta, on May 3, 2016. Local government evacuated the entire population of the Canadian oil sands city as a wildfire whipped by high winds engulfed homes and sent ash raining down on residents. Credit: © Kitty Cochrane, The Canadian Press/AP Photos

A wildfire that began burning on Sunday, May 1, in Alberta, Canada, forced the evacuation of an entire town, Fort McMurray. The fire broke out during record-high temperatures—in the 90′s °F (30′s °C)—and low humidity for this time of year in this area of Canada. By May 2, around 7,500 acres (3,000 hectares) of forested area was burning and, on May 3, the fire turned toward Fort McMurray. In anticipation, the town, home to over 60,000 people, had been evacuated the night before. Fort McMurray is surrounded on all sides by forest and the fire laid waste to nearly the entire town by May 4. Nearby areas—including the Anzac, Gregoire Lake Estates, and Fort McMurray First Nation communities—were evacuated as the fire spread south. The Canadian government estimates a total of nearly 90,000 people have been displaced.

The Fort McMurray area, in the Athabasca tar sands region, is a dangerous place for wildfires. The area is home to recovery plants (similar to refineries) for oil extracted from the sands. The recovery plants are filled with flammable oil and chemicals. The fire has stopped oil production in much of Canada’s energy region.

About 18,000 acres (7,200 hectares) of forest have burned. Firefighters hope that cooler temperatures today (the forecast temperature is 66 °F [19 °C]) will make it easier to bring the fire under control. 

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