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Tomorrow in Brief
edited by Cindy Wagner

Electricity from Rice

The biowaste from processed rice could become a vital source of electricity, according to a team of Vietnamese and German researchers. Rice is a staple food in Asia, but a quarter of the weight consists of husks that must be separated out. Currently only a small fraction of rice's biowaste is used for energy, but a system for using the husks to generate electricity is being developed by researchers at Hanoi University of Technology and Germany's Fraunhofer Institute. Used predominantly to burn coal, the fluidized bed firing system is being engineered to generate electricity using rice husks.

Source: Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF, Sandtorstr. 22, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany. Web site www.fraunhofer.de

Portable Lungs

A portable artificial lung could give new hope to millions of people suffering from acute respiratory infections. Scientists at Swansea University in Wales have developed a blood-air mass exchanger (artificial lung) that has overcome a critical problem of such devices: It keeps blood from clotting on contact with the artificial surfaces. "Blood is a uniquely complex fluid, and using artificial methods to control its flow and to exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen is enormously difficult," says lead researcher Rhodri Williams. The new portable device could eventually allow patients with respiratory infections to recover outside of high-cost intensive-care units.

Source: University of Wales Swansea, Press Office, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, United Kingdom. Web site www.swansea.ac.uk

Thinner Air?

Carbon-dioxide emissions could reduce the Earth's thermosphere (outer atmosphere) by 3% by 2017, predicts a team of geophysical scientists. "We're seeing climate change manifest itself in the upper as well as lower atmosphere," says Stan Solomon, co-author of the study by the National Center for Atmospheric Research and Pennsylvania State University. "This shows the far-ranging impacts of greenhouse-gas emissions." But there could be one important benefit of this thinning: Satellites in low Earth orbit would have less resistance and could stay in operation longer, according to the study. More-accurate forecasts of the thermosphere's density will allow NASA scientists to better plan satellite launches, potentially saving millions of dollars.

Source: National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22230. Web site www.nsf.gov.

War on Food-Borne Illnesses

Two new technologiesone optical and the other chemicalmay help combat food-borne pathogens such as Listeria and E. coli. A laser-based technology analyzes light refracted by bacterial colonies when the laser is beamed into a Petri dish. According to Purdue University food scientist Arun Bhunia, the technique can recognize Listeria monocytogenes, a pathogen with a 20% mortality rate (compared with 1% for E. coli victims). The second technology involves using chlorine dioxide gas to kill pathogens on fresh producea more effective technique than washing and scrubbing, according to food-science professor Richard Linton. His team is also investigating using the technique to sterilize food-processing equipment.

Source: Purdue University, News Service, Engineering Administration Building, 400 Centennial Mall Drive, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907. Web site www.purdue.edu/UNS/

Executives in the Classroom

Part-time MBA programs are continuing to grow as executives increasingly return to the classroom. About 80% of current MBA students are going to school part time rather than full time, according to Georgia State University Business School Dean H. Fenwick Huss. "The cost of full-time studying, in forgone salary as well as tuition, is just too great for a lot of prospects to consider full-time programs," says Huss. Part-time programs are gaining a reputation for quality, too, perhaps driven by competition from online programs, suggest respondents to a survey of business school deans. One of the challenges of such programs is adapting curriculum to the fast pace of change in business, the survey found.

Source: J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University, 35 Broad Street N.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30303. Web site robinson.gsu.ed