Since its inception in 1951, the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory at Savannah River Site has advanced studies in biodiversity and ecological impacts of site activities and environmental change. As knowledge advances, so too do capabilities, and the lab now studies man-made wetland systems to isolate and prevent metals from Savannah River Site nuclear activities from reaching outside water systems. Read more.
A site discovered in Peru at 12,500 feet above sea level suggests that hunter-gatherers lived all-year-round at very high altitudes beginning at least 7,000 years ago. USA TODAY reports that archaeologists uncovered the remains of 16 individuals at the site of Soro Mik'aya Patjxa in the Andean Highlands, as well as stone points, animal bones—likely of the vicuña, a relative of the llama—and evidence of wild tubers. According to the researchers, several factors point to the group’s permanent residence in upper altitudes, including the lack of any imported materials found at the site, the great distance to lower elevations in the area, and the results of stable isotope analysis on their bone material, which yielded low oxygen and high carbon isotope ratios, indicating a life spent in thin air and dizzying heights. Read more.
The silvery vacuum chamber resembles a zeppelin, the vaguely Art Deco lines of the welds between its stainless steel panels looking at once futuristic and old-fashioned. One tenth the size of the Hindenburg—but still as big as a blue whale—the vessel looms in a hangarlike building at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), seemingly ready to float away. Although it is earthbound, the chamber has an ethereal purpose: weighing the most elusive and mysterious of subatomic particles, the neutrino. Read more.
One approach that can be used to distinguish between fruit and vegetables grown in organic and synthetic fertilizer is elemental analysis interfaced with isotope ratio mass spectrometry (EA-IRMS). EA-IRMS can be used to study a crop’s individual nitrogen isotope fingerprint – the subtle differences in the plant’s nitrogen components that can be used to identify the fertilizer used to grow it. Read more.
Customs officials want to detect contraband. Doctors want to know how quickly a patient is metabolizing a therapeutic drug. And suppliers of organic products, from nutritional supplements to honey, want to know their raw materials are pure. Each case calls for mass spectrometry – a technique that identifies molecules based on their mass – but current instruments are bulky, expensive, and typically specialize in one class of chemicals, discouraging widespread use outside of a specialized lab setting.
Mass spectrometry is up to the challenge, but better technology is needed to make more flexible instruments. Read more.