Capacity investigation of brine-bearing sands of the Frio Formation for geologic sequestration of CO2

The capacity of fluvial brine-bearing formations to sequester CO2 is investigated using numerical simulations of CO2 injection and storage. Capacity is defined as the volume fraction of the subsurface available for CO2 storage and is conceptualized as a product of factors that account for two-phase flow and transport processes, formation geometry, formation heterogeneity, and formation porosity. The space and time domains used to define capacity must be chosen with care to obtain meaningful results, especially when comparing different authors’ work. Physical factors that impact capacity include permeability anisotropy and relative permeability to CO2, brine/CO2 density and viscosity ratios, the shape of the trapping structure, formation porosity and the presence of low permeability layering.National Energy Technology LaboratoryBureau of Economic Geolog

Halon: Tower Defense

For our project we set out to create a uniquely engaging product within a sub-genre of strategy games known as Tower Defense. This is a genre where waves of enemies attempt to travel through a maze to reach the exit while players attempt to build defenses strong enough to stop them. We want to take the genre in a new direction by putting more power in the hands of the players. By giving players agency over aspects of the genre that they don\u27t normally control, such as maze design, we believe that the creativity of players will be able to shine in a way that encourages competition and community. With this in mind, we chose to construct this product on the game development platform known as Unity. At the beginning of this project, most of us had little to no experience with this development engine, and as a result were tasked with learning difficult skills on the fly to produce high quality content. Whether developing algorithms for enemy pathing and resource placement, constructing an intuitive UI for the players, or adjusting assets from the Unity store to suit our design needs, we have overcome each obstacle placed in our path. We are on schedule to finish a single player build of the game by the end of March, and are currently planning on implementing multiplayer by the end of May

Evaluation of brine-bearing sands of the Frio Formation, Upper Texas Gulf Coast for geologic sequestration of CO2

Bureau of Economic Geolog

The good, the bad and the tasty: The many roles of mushrooms

Fungi are often inconspicuous in nature and this means it is all too easy to overlook their importance. Often referred to as the “Forgotten Kingdom”, fungi are key components of life on this planet. The phylum Basidiomycota, considered to contain the most complex and evolutionarily advanced members of this Kingdom, includes some of the most iconic fungal species such as the gilled mushrooms, puffballs and bracket fungi. Basidiomycetes inhabit a wide range of ecological niches, carrying out vital ecosystem roles, particularly in carbon cycling and as symbiotic partners with a range of other organisms. Specifically in the context of human use, the basidiomycetes are a highly valuable food source and are increasingly medicinally important. In this review, seven main categories, or ‘roles’, for basidiomycetes have been suggested by the authors: as model species, edible species, toxic species, medicinal basidiomycetes, symbionts, decomposers and pathogens, and two species have been chosen as representatives of each category. Although this is in no way an exhaustive discussion of the importance of basidiomycetes, this review aims to give a broad overview of the importance of these organisms, exploring the various ways they can be exploited to the benefit of human society