The age-old Elephant Gate bridge was fully demolished on Saturday. The Southern Railway dismantled the railway overbridge (ROB) within 12 days, after

100 kV is investigated as the operating voltage for single-particle electron cryomicroscopy (cryoEM). Reducing the electron energy from the current standard of 300 or 200 keV offers both cost savings and potentially improved imaging. The latter follows from recent measurements of radiation damage to biological specimens by high-energy electrons, which show that at lower energies there is an increased amount of information available per unit damage. For frozen hydrated specimens around 300 Å in thickness, the predicted optimal electron energy for imaging is 100 keV. Currently available electron cryomicroscopes in the 100–120 keV range are not optimized for cryoEM as they lack both the spatially coherent illumination needed for the high defocus used in cryoEM and imaging detectors optimized for 100 keV electrons. To demonstrate the potential of imaging at 100 kV, the voltage of a standard, commercial 200 kV field-emission gun (FEG) microscope was reduced to 100 kV and a side-entry cryoholder was used. As high-efficiency, large-area cameras are not currently available for 100 keV electrons, a commercial hybrid pixel camera designed for X-ray detection was attached to the camera chamber and was used for low-dose data collection. Using this configuration, five single-particle specimens were imaged: hepatitis B virus capsid, bacterial 70S ribosome, catalase, DNA protection during starvation protein and haemoglobin, ranging in size from 4.5 MDa to 64 kDa with corresponding diameters from 320 to 72 Å. These five data sets were used to reconstruct 3D structures with resolutions between 8.4 and 3.4 Å. Based on this work, the practical advantages and current technological limitations to single-particle cryoEM at 100 keV are considered. These results are also discussed in the context of future microscope development towards the goal of rapid, simple and widely available structure determination of any purified biological specimen.

Keepers at the Smithsonian's National Zoo perform an artificial insemination procedure on a pair of Stanley Cranes. A Stanley Crane chick was successfully hatched on May 23, 2011.

The post Bird keepers at the National Zoo demonstrate the art of artificially inseminating Stanley cranes appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Tuvan ensemble Alash demonstrates various traditional throat singing styles that they use in their music. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings video.

The post Alash demonstrates throat singing styles appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Demonstration projects can represent a critical intermediate step between research and development (R&D) and large-scale commercialisation; yet many involving new sustainable technologies fail. In order to map the internal and external factors that enable or prohibit demonstration projects from reaching their goals, a case study of 21 projects was conducted. Qualitative data collected from funding applications and interviews were analysed to identify key themes. Based on these findings, the study proposes a process model outlining the key activities for setting up a new demonstration project.

A new concrete-reinforcement system, used by the LIFE INSU-SHELL1 project, replaces steel rods with non-corrosive textile structures to reduce the amount of concrete needed in construction. This nearly halves the global warming potential of traditional steel-reinforced concrete which is the largest producer of CO2 emissions in the building industry.

A recent study has examined how ships no longer economical to run are broken apart, reassembled and made into goods of new value, such as furniture, in Bangladesh. There are strong concerns about working conditions for those who work in this industry and ship breaking yards have recently been closed as they are considered hazardous. However, this study draws a valuable lesson from ship breaking in that 'things are but temporary configurations of material', which can, potentially, be endlessly reassembled, under safe conditions.

Europe produces around 450 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste every year, representing a quarter of all waste materials. A recent study of construction and demolition waste suggests that, with the right policies in place, there are good opportunities to ensure sustainable practices through re-use and recycling.

The environmental benefits of recycling construction and demolition waste (CDW) are considerable, even after accounting for the impacts of the recycling process itself, research confirms. By assessing CO2 and energy use at a large-scale recycling plant in Portugal reseachers have shown that, over its 60-year lifespan, the CO2 emissions prevented will be ten times as much as those produced, and eight times as much energy will be saved, than is used.

The environmental and economic costs of a selection of common crops have been determined by a new study, which hopes to improve agricultural sustainability assessments in Europe. The researchers used life cycle analysis on organically farmed tomatoes and pears, and intensively farmed wheat, apples, and lettuce to show the overall impact of agricultural methods.

The EU Waste Framework Directive aims to recycle or recover materially 70% of non-hazardous construction and demolition waste by 2020. This study evaluated the performance of the Finnish waste management system against this target. The results showed that the system generates environmental benefits and is profitable, but has not reached the 70% target. The researchers suggest ways the target could be met and recommend region-specific recycling objectives in the EU.

How are Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden moving towards renewable and lower-carbon energy use? A recent study suggests the key areas for progress, to ensure Nordic countries meet low carbon goals, include more renewable and decentralised electricity supply, the development of low-carbon transport systems, improved energy efficiency in building design and industrial use of carbon capture and storage.

Flood management could be improved by including socio-demographic information in the assessment of flood risk, suggests new research. The research combined traditional flood risk assessment with information on the ‘social vulnerability’ of people living in flood risk areas. The results show that there are almost twice as many people of high social vulnerability (e.g. low-income or elderly) in flood risk areas of Rotterdam as low social vulnerability people.

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Cryptographic experts at NTU Singapore and INRIA in Paris, have demonstrated a critical security flaw in a commonly used security algorithm, known as SHA-1, which would allow attackers to fake specific files and the information within them, and pass them off as authentic....

The Indian Supreme Court delivers a serious ultimatum to the government: clean up or tear down the ailing global architectural landmark.

Environmentalist Robert Kennedy Jr. is fighting with community activists to save West Virginia's Coal River Mountain from the hands of major coal corporations t

Keeping discarded kitchens out of landfills is just the tip of the iceberg for this entrepreneur.

Now that it's established itself as one of the greenest homes in the Volunteer State, the New Norris House is seeking a private buyer.

From toilets (which keep you healthy) to phone connections (that don't need wires), we've never had it so good.

National surveys show the public supports having more green energy. But in local elections energy is likely to take a backseat to the economy.

A folk hero/renegade builder is sentenced to 539 days in jail after failing to pay for the demolition of hi folk private residence/art installation.

Like the space shuttle Endeavour but cheesier, Taco Bell 'Numero Uno' relocates from its original Southern California home.

We've got about a decade to fix our communities to cope with 70 million aging baby boomers. ​

A new, award-winning public arts project makes good use out of building materials salvaged from Detroit's sizable supply of destroyed/derelict homes.

The tenth SpaceX cargo resupply launch to the International Space Station, targeted for launch Feb. 18, will deliver investigations that study human health, Earth science and weather patterns.

Jo Ann Soule believes firmly in the value of a good education

Liteye Systems and Northrop Grumman demonstrates new added capabilities to the successfully deployed Counter Unmanned Systems called AUDS and M-AUDS.

Liteye and Openworks coordinate on a successful showing at the counter drone event in front of a diverse audience of attendees from multiple military and government agencies.

After the most recent successfully completed project for OPV optimization with regard to weak light behavior, OPVIUS has now developed an IoT platform based on this. The platform allows the integration of an OPV-based power supply into IoT sensors.

The Robert R. McCormick Foundation and the Executive Service Corps of Chicago (ESC) announce the inaugural Leadership in Democracy cohort

AR contents showing tidal flat organisms popular in Muan Ecological Tidal Flat Science Museum

The show featured fashion, musical performances, and a $20,000 custom gown donation to Chances for Children and The Animal Fund

Tom DeLong, Harvard Business School professor and author of "Flying Without a Net: Turn Fear of Change into Fuel for Success."

Rebecca Henderson, professor at Harvard Business School, says that both capitalism and democracy are failing us. She argues that it will take public and private leaders working together to simultaneously fix these two systems because free markets don't function well without free politics and healthy government needs corporate support to survive. She is calling on the business community to take the first step. Henderson is the author of the upcoming book "Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire." And the March Big Idea article, "The Business Case for Saving Democracy."

In the sci-fi series The Expanse, set in the 2300s, characters carry smartphone-like devices and are often seen "throwing" data from their device onto a nearby screen for group viewing. Here in humble ol' 2020, designer Cyril Diagne has figured out how to do it, without the histrionic swiping gesture performed on the TV show, and including a capturing step:

Diagne calls it "AR Cut Paste" (though some have commented it's really copy and paste) and has made the code freely available on Github.

India is currently in a sweet spot, with its working-age population expected to grow by a third over the next three decades, at a time when China and Russia will see a fall of over 20% .

Seema Nanda has announced her decision to step down as the CEO of the Democratic National Committee, the top administrative position in the main Opposition party, ahead of the presidential elections in November.

While his approval rating among Democrats is above 60 percent, the poll shows Gov. Larry Hogan draws less than 50 percent of the vote, in head-to-head matchups with leading Democratic candidates.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Rep. Andy Harris are weighing in.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Rep. Andy Harris are weighing in.

David Rohde points us to this new seminar series that has the following description: Machine learning is changing the world we live in at a break neck pace. From image recognition and generation, to the deployment of recommender systems, it seems to be breaking new ground constantly and influencing almost every aspect of our lives. […]

Local artisans will share their culture and crafts with Grand Canyon National Park visitors at the Desert View Watchtower. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/dv-cultural-demonstrations.htm

The Desert View Watchtower at Grand Canyon National Park will host the final artist in the annual Cultural Demonstrator Series. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/last-2015-desert-view-demonstration.htm

Weekends through autumn, join jewelers, silversmiths, weavers, potters and more during Desert View Watchtower's Cultural Demonstrator Series. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/watchtower-cultural-demonstrators.htm

Using the latest CSS techniques to bring the previous Photo Infor demo up to date.