A technique for breaking ice in the path of a ship

A technique is described for breaking ice in the path of a ship. A laser is placed on the bow of the ship with apparatus to scan the ice in the path of the ship with the laser beam. The beam cuts or shatters the ice, enabling the ship to break the ice in its path

Impacts devalue the potential of large-scale terrestrial CO2 removal through biomass plantations

Large-scale biomass plantations (BPs) are often considered a feasible and safe climate engineering proposal for extracting carbon from the atmosphere and, thereby, reducing global mean temperatures. However, the capacity of such terrestrial carbon dioxide removal (tCDR) strategies and their larger Earth system impacts remain to be comprehensively studied—even more so under higher carbon emissions and progressing climate change. Here, we use a spatially explicit process-based biosphere model to systematically quantify the potentials and trade-offs of a range of BP scenarios dedicated to tCDR, representing different assumptions about which areas are convertible. Based on a moderate CO2 concentration pathway resulting in a global mean warming of 2.5 °C above preindustrial level by the end of this century—similar to the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5—we assume tCDR to be implemented when a warming of 1.5 °C is reached in year 2038. Our results show that BPs can slow down the progression of increasing cumulative carbon in the atmosphere only sufficiently if emissions are reduced simultaneously like in the underlying RCP4.5 trajectory. The potential of tCDR to balance additional, unabated emissions leading towards a business-as-usual pathway alike RCP8.5 is therefore very limited. Furthermore, in the required large-scale applications, these plantations would induce significant trade-offs with food production and biodiversity and exert impacts on forest extent, biogeochemical cycles and biogeophysical properties

The limits to global-warming mitigation by terrestrial carbon removal

This is the final version of the article. Available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.Massive near-term greenhouse gas emissions reduction is a precondition for staying “well below 2°C” global warming as envisaged by the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, extensive terrestrial carbon dioxide removal (tCDR) through managed biomass growth and subsequent carbon capture and storage is required to avoid temperature “overshoot” in most pertinent scenarios. Here, we address two major issues: First, we calculate the extent of tCDR required to “repair” delayed or insufficient emissions reduction policies unable to prevent global mean temperature rise of 2.5°C or even 4.5°C above pre-industrial level. Our results show that those tCDR measures are unable to counteract “business-as-usual” emissions without eliminating virtually all natural ecosystems. Even if considerable (Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 [RCP4.5]) emissions reductions are assumed, tCDR with 50% storage efficiency requires > 1.1 Gha of the most productive agricultural areas or the elimination of > 50% of natural forests. In addition, > 100 MtN/yr fertilizers would be needed to remove the roughly 320 GtC foreseen in these scenarios. Such interventions would severely compromise food production and/or biosphere functioning. Second, we reanalyze the requirements for achieving the 160–190 GtC tCDR that would complement strong mitigation action (RCP2.6) in order to avoid 2°C overshoot anytime. We find that a combination of high irrigation water input and/or more efficient conversion to stored carbon is necessary. In the face of severe trade-offs with society and the biosphere, we conclude that large-scale tCDR is not a viable alternative to aggressive emissions reduction. However, we argue that tCDR might serve as a valuable “supporting actor” for strong mitigation if sustainable schemes are established immediately.This study was funded by the German Research Foundation's priority program DFG SPP 1689 on “Climate Engineering – Risks, Challenges and Opportunities?” and specifically the CE-LAND project. T.M.L. was supported by a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award

Vibrational Photoacoustic Microscopy for Depth-resolved Bond-selective Imaging of Tissues and Organisms

We realize vibrational photoacoustic microscopy (VPA) using molecular excitation of overtone vibration and acoustic detection of the resultant pressure transients. We demonstrate 3-D VPA imaging of lipid-rich atherosclerotic plaques and lipid bodies in living Drosophila larvae by exciting 2nd overtone of the CH bond stretch around 8300 cm^(−1). Depth-resolved spectral analysis and a penetration depth of several mm are available

Quantifying Capacity Loss due to Solid-Electrolyte-Interphase Layer Formation on Silicon Negative Electrodes in Lithium-ion Batteries

Charge lost per unit surface area of a silicon electrode due to the formation of solid-electrolyte-interphase (SEI) layer during initial lithiation was quantified, and the species that constitute this layer were identified. Coin cells made with Si thin-film electrodes were subjected to a combination of galvanostatic and potentiostatic lithiation and delithiation cycles to accurately measure the capacity lost to SEI-layer formation. While the planar geometry of amorphous thin films allows accurate calculation of surface area, creation of additional surface by cracking was prevented by minimizing the thickness of the Si film. The cycled electrodes were analyzed with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to characterize the composition of the SEI layer. The charge lost due to SEI formation measured from coin cell experiments was found to be in good agreement with the first-cycle capacity loss during the initial lithiation of a Si (100) crystal with planar geometry. The methodology presented in this work is expected to provide a useful practical tool for battery-material developers in estimating the expected capacity loss due to first cycle SEI-layer formation and in choosing an appropriate particle size distribution that balances mechanical integrity and the first cycle capacity loss in large volume expansion electrodes for lithium-ion batteries.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures; Journal of Power Sources, 201

Label-Free Bond-Selective Imaging by Listening to Vibrationally Excited Molecules

We report the realization of vibrational photoacoustic (VPA) microscopy using optical excitation of molecular overtone vibration and acoustic detection of the resultant pressure transients. Our approach eliminates the tissue scattering problem encountered in near-infrared spectroscopy and enables depth-resolved signal collection. The 2nd overtone of the CH bond stretch around 8300  cm^(−1), where blood interference is minimal, is excited. We demonstrate 3D VPA imaging of lipid-rich atherosclerotic plaques by excitation from the artery lumen, and lipid storage in live Drosophila larvae, with millimeter-scale penetration depth

FAST CARS: Engineering a Laser Spectroscopic Technique for Rapid Identification of Bacterial Spores

Airborne contaminants, e.g., bacterial spores, are usually analyzed by time consuming microscopic, chemical and biological assays. Current research into real time laser spectroscopic detectors of such contaminants is based on e.g. resonant Raman spectroscopy. The present approach derives from recent experiments in which atoms and molecules are prepared by one (or more) coherent laser(s) and probed by another set of lasers. The connection with previous studies based on "Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy" (CARS) is to be noted. However generating and utilizing maximally coherent oscillation in macromolecules having an enormous number of degrees of freedom is much more challenging. This extension of the CARS technique is called FAST CARS (Femtosecond Adaptive Spectroscopic Techniques for Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy), and the present paper proposes and analyses ways in which it could be used to rapidly identify pre-selected molecules in real time.Comment: 43 pages, 21 figures; replacement with references added. Submitted to the Proceedings of National Academy of Science

The origin of paramagnetic magnetization in field-cooled YBa2Cu3O7 films

Temperature dependences of the magnetic moment have been measured in YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-\delta} thin films over a wide magnetic field range (5 <= H <= 10^4 Oe). In these films a paramagnetic signal known as the paramagnetic Meissner effect has been observed. The experimental data in the films, which have strong pinning and high critical current densities (J_c ~ 2 \times 10^6 A/cm^2 at 77 K), are quantitatively shown to be highly consistent with the theoretical model proposed by Koshelev and Larkin [Phys. Rev. B 52, 13559 (1995)]. This finding indicates that the origin of the paramagnetic effect is ultimately associated with nucleation and inhomogeneous spatial redistribution of magnetic vortices in a sample which is cooled down in a magnetic field. It is also shown that the distribution of vortices is extremely sensitive to the interplay of film properties and the real experimental conditions of the measurements.Comment: RevTex, 8 figure

Detailed investigation of the superconducting transition of niobium disks exhibiting the paramagnetic Meissner effect

The superconducting transition region in a Nb disk showing the paramagnetic Meissner effect (PME) has been investigated in detail. From the field-cooled magnetization behavior, two well-defined temperatures can be associated with the appearance of the PME: T_1 (< T_c) indicates the characteristic temperature where the paramagnetic moment first appears and a lower temperature T_p (< T_1) defines the temperature where the positive moment no longer increases. During the subsequent warming, the paramagnetic moment begins to decrease at T_p and then vanishes at T_1 with the magnitude of the magnetization change between these two temperatures being nearly the same as that during cooling. This indicates that the nature of the PME is reversible and not associated with flux motion. Furthermore, the appearance of this paramagnetic moment is even observable in fields as large as 0.2 T even though the magnetization does not remain positive to the lowest temperatures. Magnetic hysteresis loops in the temperature range between T_1 and T_p also exhibit a distinct shape that is different from the archetypal shape of a bulk type-II superconductor. These behaviors are discussed in terms of the so-called 'giant vortex state'.Comment: Total 4 printed pages, 4 Figure