Coralline Algae Aids in Climate Reconstruction

Scientists are studying coralline algae at the Labrador Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean. These algae (Clathromorphum compactum) can be used to study the progression of the ice cover in the Arctic sea over the last 150 years. The purpose of the study is to reconstruct the past climates on Earth (Climate Reconstruction)

Climate reconstruction aims to reconstruct a consistent record of the Earth's climate dating back to thousands of years. By understanding the long term history of Earth's climate, scientists can explain and project the planet's current and future climate trends. Scientists usually drill for sediments which can reveal the past state of the Earth's climate.

The new method of using studying algal deposits on the ocean floor is similar to the practice of using tree rings to track the passing of the time. With algae, these "rings" can be as small as 30 microns. Scientists study the magnesium levels in these layers which is dependent on the amount of sunlight and water temperature.

Past climate data only goes back 150 years but with the new method of using coralline algae, this record can go back to the life span of the algae which is more than a thousand years.

Organic Energy and Electronics - Using Bacteria As An Energy Source

Scientists are studying ways to take advantage of the anaerobic respiration process of bacteria in creating fuel and electricity.

Using Dissimilatory metal-reducing bacteria (DRMB), scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory are studying how these organisms catalyze electron reactions during their respiration process. This process can be used to harvest energy from cultured bacteria in its own environment such as seawater or wastewater.

Anaerobic respiration is a a process that uses electron acceptors such as sulfate (SO42-), nitrate (NO3-), and sulfur (S) instead of oxygen (O2). The process still uses a respiratory electron chain albeit without oxygen. An exogenous final electron acceptor is still needed for electrons to pass through the system.

The electron transfer, known as extracellular electron transfer (EET), is what is exploted to ultimately create energy.

The study can open up applications in the future such as fuel from seawater, electricity from wastewater or at a microlevel - bacteria coated electronics that can power up on its own. Other related technologies have used algae and other crops such as soybean to create biofuel and biodiesel.

In 2009, researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark discovered the presence of bacteria capable of generating electric currents in the seabed.

Algae Based Hydrogen Biofuel Being Studied As A Possibility For Renewable Energy

Researchers are studying the possibility of hydrogen fuel production using green energy; an advancement that can bring alge produced biofuel to a whole new level.

Bioenergy is energy that is produced from biological sources such as plants, agricultural crops and living organisms. Fuel, also known as biofuel, can be derived from these biological or organic sources. It is renewable, natural, and environmentally friendly.

One primary source of biofuel is algae. It is noted that one acre of algae can produce between 1,000 to 5,000 gallons of biofuel each year. The fact that it is sustainable and renewable, biofuel technology has grown tremendously with global biofuel production growing from 17.8 billion liters in 2009 to 21.4 billion liters in 2011.

Bioengineered Plant Boosts Oil Production For Use in BioFuels

Researchers have bioengineered plants to improve its oil production. Proof of their experiment can be seen from caterpillar larvae that has become fat from consuming the leaves of these plants. This study can lead to better production of biofuels.

Biological sources most specially from agricultural crops like soybean can be used to produce biofuels. An acre of soybean can yield about 50 gallons of biodiesel per year.

But algae surpasses this by far. Biofuel from an acre of algae can produce as much as 1,000 to 5,000 gallons per year. Biofuel production from these sources are renewable, economical, and environment friendly. Algae is easy and fast to cultivate. It only takes one to ten days to harvest fuel from algae and does not compete with regular agricultural crops for land space and water.

The process in producing biofuel from algae involves the photosynthesis. Algae converts sunlight to biomass which undergoes a chemical process to produce biofuel.

Algae Shows Great Promise As A Next Generation Sustainable and Renewable Bio Fuel

Algae Biofuel is being touted as an efficient, sustainable and renewable energy source for generations to come.

Algae has more oil per pound compared to traditional biological sources such as corn and soybean. Since it can be cultivated in sewage water or saltwater, it does not compete with food crops in terms of land space or freshwater sources.

Algae is also easy to cultivate. It can grow twenty to thirty times faster than traditional food crops with a harvesting cycle of one to ten days. This gives this alternative fuel source an almost abundant and continuous supply all year round.

For examply, biodiesel is typically sourced from soybeans. With soybeans, the yield per acre per year is about 50 gallons. Comparing this to bio-oil that can be sourced from algae, the yield would be anywhere between 1,000 to 5,000 gallons per acre per year.

The reason for this is because algae efficiently converts sunlight to biomass. Through chemical processes, oil can be extracted from this and converted to various oils and fuels that can even be used in combustible engines.

Toward a more economical process for making biodiesel fuel from algae

Scientists today described an advance toward a long-sought economical process that could turn algae, like the stuff of pond scum, into a revolutionary new and sustainable source of biodiesel and other "green" fuels. Their report on the use of an environmentally friendly process for extracting oil from algae came at a session of 16th annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference, being held here June 18-20 by the Green Chemistry Institute, part of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society.

"Algae has great promise as a next-generation biofuel, a fuel that is sustainable and renewable," explained Julie Zimmerman, Ph.D., who leads the research team. "It has more oil per pound than corn and soybeans, does not divert crops from the food supply and can potentially be grown in sewage water and seawater without impacting the freshwater supply." The presentation was part of a symposium on green fuel sources, abstracts for which appear below.

Lindsay Soh, a graduate student in Zimmerman's lab, described their efforts toward a simple process that would extract the fatty molecules called lipids used to make biodiesel from algae and transform them into usable fuel in one fell swoop. This could make biodiesel production from algae cheaper, faster and greener than current methods, which require separate steps — each with its own vessel and chemicals — to perform those operations. This "one-pot" reaction uses so-called supercritical carbon dioxide, which uses elevated pressures and temperatures so that it fills its container like a gas but is as dense as a liquid.

Nanobiodevice Consisting of Pond Scum Microbe, Euglena, Used To Detect Cancer

Scientists are utilizing a microbe found in pond scum called Euglena to construct a nanobiodevice that will help detect and treat cancer.

A nanobiodevice is a technology gained from applying nanotechnology and biology. It is a is a piece of contrivance, equipment, machine, or component used for biological, medical, and clinical purposes.

The terms bionanotechnology nanobiotechnology and nanobiology refer to the same technology. During the past decade, nanobiodevice has progressively begun to focus on the establishment of main four fields of biomedical applications of nanotechnology, including

1. Diagnostic Devices
2. Molecular Imaging
3. Regenerative Medicine
4. Drug Delivery Systems.

The Euglena microbe found in pond scum (pea-green surface slicks that form on ponds) are unicellular organisms classified into the Kingdom Protista, and the Phylum Euglenophyta. All euglena have chloroplasts and can make their own food by photosynthesis. They are often abundant in quiet, inland waters such as ponds, where they may bloom in numbers sufficient to color the surface of ponds and ditches green (E. viridis) or red (E. sanguinea).

Scientists are enlisting these living, self-propelled microbes found in pond scum in the development of a long-awaited new test to detect the cells that spread cancer through the bloodstream from the original tumor to new sites in the body.

In a report at the 243rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society, they described how the test is intended to not only identify the spreading of cells, but allow lab analysis of those cells so that doctors can decide on the most effective treatment.