Daily non-political popular news in brief.

RAND paper finds diesel, hybrid vehicles can provide more societal benefits than gas-powered autos

11-08-2007 · EurekAlert!

Cars and light trucks powered by advanced diesel technology or hybrid technology can provide larger societal benefits than traditional gasoline-powered automobiles, according to a RAND Corporation working paper presented today.

Keywords: rand, paper, diesel, hybrid, vehicles, provide, societal, benefits, gas-powered, autos, vehicle, benefit, gas, powered, auto

« Previous | Next »

Similar news on "RAND paper finds diesel, hybrid vehicles can provide more societal benefits than gas-powered autos":

RAND says further study warranted on save the world air technology
05-03-2007 · EurekAlert!
A RAND Corp. report issued today says Save the World Air Inc. would need to conduct further laboratory studies and in-use testing to determine the effectiveness of its Zero Emission Fuel Saver technology that is intended to reduce tailpipe pollutants and increase fuel efficiency in gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles.
Similar news · Read more »
Study reveals new, cost-efficient method for creating portable hydrogen fuel cells
06-28-2007 · EurekAlert!
A new paper published in Journal of the American Ceramic Society proposes a new method of producing hydrogen for portable fuel cells. This new method negates the need for the complicated and expensive equipment currently used. With their ability to work steadily for 10-20 times the length of equivalently sized Lithium-ion batteries, portable fuel cells are ideal energy suppliers for devices such as computers, cell phones and hybrid vehicles.
Similar news · Read more »
Bigger Is Not Necessarily Better -- In Hydrogen Storage
09-30-2006 · ScienceDaily
University of Nottingham scientists have made a breakthrough which could help in the development of the next generation of environmentally-friendly cars. Their latest findings on hydrogen storage could be crucial in the development of hydrogen-powered vehicles that are a viable alternative to the petrol and diesel-powered vehicles of today.
Similar news · Read more »
Researchers Give New Hybrid Vehicle Its First Test-Drive in the Ocean
02-06-2008 · Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)
Taking a page out of a science fiction story, researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and Webb Research Corporation (Falmouth, Mass.) have successfully flown the first environmentally powered robotic vehicle through the ocean. The new robotic “glider” harvests heat energy from the ocean to propel itself across thousands of kilometers of water.
Similar news · Read more »
Pellets of power designed to deliver hydrogen for tomorrow's vehicles
08-21-2007 · EurekAlert!
Hydrogen may prove to be the fuel of the future in powering the efficient, eco-friendly fuel cell vehicles of tomorrow. Developing a method to safely store, dispense and easily "refuel" the vehicle's storage material with hydrogen has baffled researchers for years. However, a new and attractive storage medium being developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientists may provide the"power of pellets" to fuel future transportation needs.
Similar news · Read more »
Researchers give new hybrid vehicle its first test drive in the ocean
02-07-2008 · EurekAlert!
Taking a page out of a science fiction story, researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Webb Research Corporation (Falmouth, Mass.) have successfully flown the first environmentally powered robotic vehicle through the ocean. The new robotic "glider" harvests heat energy from the ocean to propel itself across thousands of kilometers of water.
Similar news · Read more »
Fuel cells gearing up to power auto industry
10-30-2007 · EurekAlert!
The average price for all types of gasoline is holding steady around $2.95 per gallon nationwide, but the pain at the pump might be short-lived as research from the University of Houston may eliminate one of the biggest hurdles to the wide-scale production of fuel cell-powered vehicles.
Similar news · Read more »
Group envisions MIT vehicles powered by fryer oil
02-09-2007 · Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
A student-led initiative known as Biodiesel@MIT wants to see used-up vegetable oil processed on campus into certifiable biodiesel and pumped into the tanks of MIT's growing number of diesel campus vehicles.
Similar news · Read more »
Advance in understanding of blood pressure gene could lead to new treatments
02-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
Research by scientists at UCL (University College London) has clearly demonstrated for the first time the structure and function of a gene crucial to the regulation of blood pressure. The discovery could be important in the search for new treatments for illnesses such as heart disease, the UK's biggest killer. In a paper published online today in Nature Medicine, the team, led by Professor Patrick Vallance and Dr James Leiper, UCL Department of Medicine, reveal the role of the human gene dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH), showing that loss of DDAH activity disrupts nitric oxide (NO) production. NO is critical in the regulation of blood pressure, nervous system functions and the immune system. The role of DDAH is to break down modified amino acids (Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and monomethyl arginine (L-NMMA)) that are produced by the body and have been shown to inhibit NO synthase. These molecules accumulate in various disease states including diabetes, renal failure and pulmonary and systemic hypertension, and their concentration in plasma (the fluid component of blood) is strongly predicative of cardiovascular disease and death. In a healthy human body, the majority of ADMA is eliminated through active metabolism by DDAH. Scientists have hypothesised that if DDAH function is impaired, NO production is reduced, and that this could be an important feature of increased cardiovascular risk. To examine this pathway in more detail, the researchers deleted the DDAH gene in mice. These mice went on to develop hypertension, or high blood pressure. They also designed specific inhibitors (small molecules) which bind to the active site of human DDAH. These small molecule inhibitors also induced hypertension in mice, confirming the importance of DDAH in the regulation of blood pressure. Dr Leiper, UCL Medicine, said: “These genetic and chemical approaches to disrupt DDAH showed remarkably consistent results, and provide compelling evidence that loss of DDAH function increases the concentration of ADMA and thereby disrupts vascular NO signalling. “There has been considerable scientific interest in this pathway and the role of ADMA as a novel risk factor, but so far there's been little evidence to support the idea that it's a cause of disease, rather than just a marker. Genes and their pathways are crucial to our understanding of cardiovascular disease and a better understanding of DDAH-1 could lead to important new treatments. “It could help us to establish if genetic variation predisposes certain people to these diseases, or whether environmental factors exert some of their effects through modulation of DDAH activity. “Our research also shows that this pathway could be harnessed therapeutically to limit production of NO in certain situations where too much nitric oxide is a bad thing; for example, hypotension and septic shock. These are some of the biggest problems in intensive care medicine and there is a huge unmet need for drug treatments.” The study, which was carried out at UCL's Rayne Institute, was funded by grants from the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, said: "The unexpected finding in the 1980s that a simple gas, nitric oxide (NO), is made by cells in the blood vessel wall and is a powerful control of blood vessel relaxation led to the award of the Nobel Prize in 1998 to its discoverers. "More recently, there has been increasing evidence that impairment of NO production is likely to be an important factor in the development of heart and circulatory disease, but the mechanisms responsible are not fully understood. "This study suggests for the first time that the loss of the activity of the enzyme DDAH-1 leads to reduced NO production and may cause heart and circulatory disease. These findings are likely to be important in the search for new ways to optimise the health of our blood vessels." ### Notes for Editors 1. For more information, please contact Ruth Metcalfe in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9739, mobile: +44 (0)7990 675 947, out of hours: +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk2. 'Disruption of methylarginine metabolism impairs vascular homeostasis' is published in the February issue of the journal Nature Medicine. Advance online publication is embargoed to 18.00 GMT (13.00 US Eastern) Sunday 4 February 2007. Journalists can obtain copies of the paper by contacting the UCL Media Relations Office.3. The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. About UCL Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. In the government's most recent Research Assessment Exercise, 59 UCL departments achieved top ratings of 5* and 5, indicating research quality of international excellence. UCL is the fourth-ranked UK university in the 2006 league table of the top 500 world universities produced by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. UCL alumni include Mahatma Gandhi (Laws 1889, Indian political and spiritual leader); Jonathan Dimbleby (Philosophy 1969, writer and television presenter); Junichiro Koizumi (Economics 1969, Prime Minister of Japan); Lord Woolf (Laws 1954, Lord Chief Justice of England & Wales); Alexander Graham Bell (Phonetics 1860s, inventor of the telephone), and members of the band Coldplay.
Similar news · Read more »
Rounding up gases, nano-style
02-01-2008 · EurekAlert!
A new process for catching gas from the environment and holding it indefinitely in molecular-sized containers has been developed by a team of University of Calgary researchers, who say it represents a novel method of gas storage that could yield benefits for capturing, storing and transporting gases more safely and efficiently. Paper published in current advanced online edition of Nature Materials.
Similar news · Read more »