Resource: Engineering & Technology for a Sustainable World articles from March 2009

Resource: Engineering & Technology for a Sustainable World archives from March 2009

Virtual networks based on professional respect.(FROM THE President)
March 1, 2009... Last week, I was interviewed by a regional business newspaper for a profile in their small business section. Since we are a technology-driven company, the writer kept probing for what makes us more successful than many others. When the...

Market opportunities: biosensor technologies in the food industry.(FOOD SAFETY Series)
March 1, 2009... Although America's food supply is unmatched in quality and quantity, we face new challenges involving biological threats to the food supply chain from intentional and natural contaminations. Food production and processing are becoming...

Non-thermal food processing with pulsed electric field technology.(FOOD SAFETY Series)
March 1, 2009... Extending the shelf life of foods by conventional thermal treatment is not only energy intensive but, in most cases, adversely affects the flavor, chemical composition, and nutritional quality of preserved foods. There is a great need for a...

Secrets of the hive: propolis might have life-saving properties.
March 1, 2009... Unexplained disappearances, a baffling plague, an irreplaceable society crumbling: these are not the musings of a musty history textbook or war coverage from across an ocean. They are essential pieces of a modern-day mystery that spans the...

Energy, agriculture, and the food system: cutting costs, improving efficiency, and stewarding natural resources.(ENERGY ISSUES Series)
March 1, 2009... Today, much excitement in the agricultural sector is centered on producing biofuels or alternative "crops" of wind turbines that can provide additional income to farm operations. Yet many opportunities still exist for the sector to become more...

Carnegie Mellon developing automated systems to enable precision farming of apples and oranges.(UPDATE March 2009)
March 1, 2009... In Brief: Two groups of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute have recently received a total of $10 million in grants from the USDA to build automated farming systems. One is for apple growers, and one is for orange...

Nutrients in water may be a bonus for agriculture.
March 1, 2009... In Brief: Agriculture producers may find they don't have to bottle their water from the Texas Seymour Aquifer in the Rolling Plains to make it more valuable, according to Texas AgriLife Research scientists. Researchers John Sij, Cristine...

Waste coffee grounds offer new source of biodiesel fuel.
March 1, 2009... In Brief: Researchers in Nevada are reporting that waste coffee grounds can provide a cheap, abundant, and environmentally friendly source of biodiesel fuel for powering cars and trucks. In the new study, Mano Misra, Susanta Mohapatra, and...

Food safety developments are in the air.
March 1, 2009... In Brief: An experimental treatment from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) could one day help protect some fresh produce from potentially dangerous microbes such as Salmonella, Listeria, and Escherichia coli O157:H7. The treatment...

ALMANAC may predict crops' role in bioenergy production.
March 1, 2009... In Brief: Computer model ALMANAC promises to provide answers to a key issue facing agriculture today: the management of crops such as corn and switchgrass for bioenergy production. ARS Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory agronomist...

"Bioenergy extension education: challenges and opportunities!(LAST WORD)
March 1, 2009... Political and economic realities are causing scientists to join forces to fulfill the vision of growing energy and converting agricultural and forestry waste into a viable source of energy. Universities and ARS stations around the country are...