Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Mon, 4 Mar 2013 17:00:00 PST Joyce Hung http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101123/16300911997/dailydirt-microorganisms-biofuel-production.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101123/16300911997/dailydirt-microorganisms-biofuel-production.shtml

Companies like Luca Technologies and Next Fuel are investigating the potential for microbial methane production from coal. Their approach is to stimulate native microorganisms that feed on underground hydrocarbon deposits to produce more methane. This could make it possible to extract fuel from coal reserves that have been too expensive to mine. [url]

Researchers at Purdue University are studying how termite digestion could help improve biofuel production. They found that protists, which live in the termite's gut, may play an important role in the insect's digestion of woody material. Further research could lead to finding enzymes that could one day be used to help improve biofuel production. [url]

Researchers at UC Berkeley have created a biodiesel fuel using a fermentation process that was once used to make explosives in World War I. The process uses a bacterium called Clostridium acetobutylicum (also known as the "Weizmann Organism") to ferment sugar from various sources -- including corn, sugar cane, molasses, woody biomass, or plant biomass -- and produces acetone, butanol, and ethanol. The fermentation products are then converted into a mix of hydrocarbons that are similar to those in diesel fuel. The resulting fuel burns as well as petroleum-based fuel and has more energy per gallon than ethanol. [url]

Researchers at UC San Diego have demonstrated for the first time that marine algae can also be used to produce biofuels like fresh water algae. They genetically engineered the marine alga Dunaliella tertiolecta to produce five different enzymes that could be used to convert biomass to fuel. Their finding suggests that algal biofuels could also be produced in the ocean, in the brackish water of tidelands, or even on otherwise unusable agricultural land with high salt content in the soil. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20101123/16300911997 Tue, 28 Feb 2012 17:00:00 PST Joyce Hung http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120221/15380117834/dailydirt-tiny-drug-factories.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120221/15380117834/dailydirt-tiny-drug-factories.shtml

Are you depressed? You can use open-source DNA code from the Registry of Standard Biological Parts to genetically engineer yogurt bacteria to make Prozac. The process takes 4-5 days, and anyone can purchase the DNA code online. [url]

Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have created a strain of bacteria that can incorporate artificial amino acids into proteins at multiple sites. This could be used to engineer bacteria to produce a variety of synthetic chemicals. [url]

Green algae could be a cheaper alternative to bacteria in the manufacture of therapeutic drugs. While bacterial cultures require lots of energy and nutrients to maintain, the algae need only sunlight and carbon dioxide in the air. [url]

To discover more interesting science-related stuff, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20120221/15380117834 Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:00:00 PDT Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110625/10381714860/dailydirt-biotech-bugs.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110625/10381714860/dailydirt-biotech-bugs.shtml

Engineered algae could help clean up radioactive waste. These little organisms might significantly reduce the amount of nuclear waste just by separating lots of harmless calcium from radioactive strontium. [url]

One small step for man, one giant leap for yeast: multicellularity! Countdown until somebody tries to breed monkeys in a centrifuge... [url]

Entomologists are looking at insect genes to try to find potential pesticides that bugs are genetically susceptible to. This doesn't sound like the beginning of a scary bio-virus horror flick at all. [url]

To discover more biotech stuff, check out what's roaming around in the StumbleUpon jungle. [url]  

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110625/10381714860 Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:00:00 PDT Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110222/15355913214/dailydirt-if-only-we-had-mr-fusion-generator-handy.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110222/15355913214/dailydirt-if-only-we-had-mr-fusion-generator-handy.shtml

MIT's Alcator C-Mod fusion reactor is experimenting with a new mode of operation for a tokamak-style reactor design. Scientists still don't quite understand why it works, but it could help make fusion reactors operate more predictably and actually generate more energy than they consume. [url]

Making biofuels from algae has received some significant funding, but the process of growing the right kind of algae and separating out the fuel is still at least 5-10 years away. A few hundred million bucks should be able to screen a few thousand varieties of algae for optimum biofuel production, though. [url]

There's also a type of fungus that can produce hydrocarbons similar to diesel fuel. This kind of fungus could also have been originally responsible for creating fossil fuels from ancient organic plant matter. [url]

To discover more stuff on alternative energy, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110222/15355913214 Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:00:00 PST Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101229/01123812443/dailydirt-biofuels-tiny-organisms.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101229/01123812443/dailydirt-biofuels-tiny-organisms.shtml

The widespread use of algae to produce biofuels seems like a possibility to directly grow fuel from solar power. We just need about 10 million acres of algae vats that can soak up some sun and spit out fuel (in a cost-effective process). [url]

Yet another strain of yeast can convert xylose to ethanol. But growing the sugar in the first place seems like an extra step... and ethanol doesn't sound like the best biofuel available. [url]

Algaes aren't the only microorganisms that can grow biofuels -- cyanobacteria can do it, too. But this super-secret process claimed by a small biotech firm sounds a bit too good to be true. [url]

To discover more stuff on alternative energy, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

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