DETROIT - A new report provides an alarming forecast for the US: Sea level will rise as much in the next 30 years as it did in the past 100 -- increasing the frequency of high-tide flooding, pushing storm surge to the extreme and inundating vulnerable coastal infrastructure with saltwater. The interagency report, led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shows
BOSTON - Using a novel polymerization process, MIT chemical engineers have created a new material that is stronger than steel and as light as plastic, and can be easily manufactured in large quantities. The new material is a two-dimensional polymer that self-assembles into sheets, unlike all other polymers, which form one-dimensional, spaghetti-like chains. Until now, scientists had
SEATTLE - A Washington-state based aerospace company has exited stealth mode by announcing plans to develop one of the holy grails of spaceflight—a single-stage-to-orbit space plane. Radian Aerospace said it is deep into the design of an airplane-like vehicle that could take off from a runway, ignite its rocket engines, spend time in orbit, and
ANN ARBOR—The U.S. pandemic lockdown in 2020 caused a $2.3 trillion economic downturn and split the nation politically, and now some European nations are locking down again as Omicron surges through the global population. But do these drastic measures save lives? Are they worth massive job and income losses? A new University of Michigan-led study
ANN ARBOR - In the new Netflix movie “Don’t Look Up,” two actors playing fictional Michigan State University astronomers discover a comet on a collision course with Earth and struggle to convince people to take them seriously. The film is a satire about society’s inability to cope with climate change. Below, several real-world scientists from
ANN ARBOR - Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a new battery technology that could create electric vehicle batteries with five times the capacity of the industry-standard lithium ion batteries used today. A network of aramid nanofibers, recycled from Kevlar, can enable lithium-sulfur batteries to overcome their Achilles heel of cycle life—the number
ANN ARBOR - Epidemiologist Fred Brown returns to update what's the current and projected situation for the COVID-19 mutation dubbed Omicron. Fred consults with the FDA, many US states and nations to advise them on healthcare measures that need to be taken to minimize the spread of the pandemic. Trained as a medicinal biochemist, Brown
CHICAGO - As the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 demonstrates, COVID-19 is here to stay. In January 2021, President Biden issued the “National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness.” As the US moves from crisis to control, this national strategy needs to be updated. Policy makers need to specify the goals and strategies for
ANN ARBOR – If you’re planning to visit, work or attend an indoor athletic event at the University of Michigan campus, you have to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or negative-test results – or you won’t be admitted. The new policy was announced this week in response to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases throughout
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fl. - NASA is scaling back its presence in low-Earth orbit as the government focuses on sending humans back to the moon and, eventually, to Mars. As part of that transition, the space agency wants to rent out facilities for its astronauts on new space stations run by private companies. When these stations are ready, NASA
