Water shortages in near future...

Water shortages in Asia near 2050...

Economic and population growth on top of climate change could lead to serious water shortages across a broad swath of Asia by the year 2050, a newly published study by MIT scientists has found.

Sources:

Water problems in Asia’s future? | MIT News

Understanding the basic principles of life...

The simplest form of live has been developed inside a laboratory and has only 473 genes...

Not all the 'code' used is already understood...

... Improved transposon mutagenesis methods revealed a class of quasi-essential genes that are needed for robust growth, explaining the failure of our initial design. Three cycles of design, synthesis, and testing, with retention of quasi-essential genes, produced JCVI-syn3.0 (531 kilobase pairs, 473 genes), which has a genome smaller than that of any autonomously replicating cell found in nature. JCVI-syn3.0 retains almost all genes involved in the synthesis and processing of macromolecules. Unexpectedly, it also contains 149 genes with unknown biological functions. JCVI-syn3.0 is a versatile platform for investigating the core functions of life and for exploring whole-genome design.

Sources:

Design and synthesis of a minimal bacterial genome | Science

Bacteria 'eats' plastic

The plastic is one of the new materials that humans use extensively worldwide... Is no really 'compatible' with nature but there is a 'bacteria' (Ideonella Sakaiensis) that seems to put this new material into the biodegradation scheme...

It could be a viable remediation or recycling strategy.

Bacteria isolated from outside a bottle-recycling facility can break down and metabolize plastic. The proliferation of plastics in consumer products, from bottles to clothing, has resulted in the release of countless tons of plastics into the environment.

Sources:

A bacterium that degrades and assimilates poly(ethylene terephthalate) | Science

Water filtered using graphene

New method based in graphene membranes is more effective to remove contaminants from water...

Mi says that membranes made from graphene or graphene oxide can more effectively remove wastewater contaminants—including pharmaceuticals, pathogens and endocrine disruptors—than current methods and can be applied to wastewater reuse, water desalinization and storm water treatment.

The longstanding problem with graphene oxide membranes has been that adding oxygen makes graphene more likely to dissolve in water.

But when Mi was able to adhere a chemical to the sheets of graphene oxide to "glue" them together, the membrane stayed intact in water. The results of that breakthrough were published in a 2013 academic journal.

Sources:

Using graphene to filter water

New instrument to mesure gravitational waves... in place.

The ripples in space-time predicted by Albert Einstein in his General Theory of Relativity are difficult to detect in a planet...

"LISA Pathfinder was launched on 3 December 2015 and arrived today (22 January 2016) in its orbit around 'L1', a virtual point in space some 1.5 million km from Earth towards the Sun."

Sources:

ESA Science & Technology: LISA Pathfinder arrives at its worksite

ESA Science & Technology: LISA Technology Package core assembly – without vacuum enclosures

It's so hot...

This is a global scale warming problem.

At this point I really don't know if it's possible to stop this process...

And the most impressive... there are people who doesn't believe in planet climate change.



Sources:

NASA, NOAA Analyses Reveal Record-Shattering Global Temperatures | NASA

Cultivate potatoes in Mars...

A new research will grow potatoes under Martian conditions.

If it works it would be a good notice for malnutrition poverty all around the globe.

Sources:

NASA Will Test Growing Potatoes In Mars-Like Environment | IFLScience

Potatoes on Mars: Setting course for Martian farming