Intriguing science findings - not spacey

[Beyond]

DARK LIGHTNING ??
http://www.livescience.com/28594-dark-l ... ngers.html

[neufer]

I invented the perpetual motion machine.

I can't show anyone though because it will just get stolen.

You also can't show anyone because...
that would constitute a release of information H;
and information H = entropy S.

[b][color=#0000FF]Rendition of the Nefastis Machine, as described in Thomas Pynchon's 1965 The Crying of Lot 49.[/color][/b]

---

<<In literature thermodynamics, the Nefastis Machine is a fictional device described as a patented box inside of which is contained a Maxwell’s demon, outside of which is a sketch of James Maxwell, and as seen on the top, contains two pistons, which are said to be attached to a crankshaft and flywheel, whereby if one concentrates on one cylinder, right or left, the Demon will raise the temperature in that cylinder and the air will expand, pushing the piston upwards, thus operating as a perpetual motion machine of the second kind.

The Nefastis Machine was invented by Berkeley scientist John Nefastis, a character in the 1965 novel The Crying of Lot 49 by American writer Thomas Pynchon. The character is most-likely based on Hungarian chemical engineer John Neumann who in the 1940s suggested to American electrical engineer Claude Shannon to call is summation of logarithms equation (1948) for “information, choice and uncertainty” of telephone signal communications:

H = - k ∑ p log p (information, choice and uncertainty) (via Shannon)

by the thermodynamic term “entropy”, since supposedly the equations looks the same as the statistical entropy formulas of Ludwig Boltzmann (1882) and Willard Gibbs (1901):

S = - k ∑ p ln p (entropy) (via Gibbs)

The passage from the novel goes:

“For John Nefastis two kinds of entropy, thermodynamic [Boltzmann entropy] and informational [Shannon entropy], happened, say by coincidence, to look alike, when you wrote them down as equations. Yet he had made his mere coincidence respectable, with the help of Maxwell’s demon.”>>

[Beyond]

Transparent Brains reveal their secrets. No... it's not science fiction.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/video ... rets-video

[bystander]

According to The Telegraph,

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... chine.html

And the date really ISN'T April first...

Scientist Invents a Time Machine (*Wink*)
Universe Today | Nancy Atkinson | 2013 Apr 12

An interesting news item from Iran’s Entkhab news agency: Iranian scientist Ali Razeghi – who is also the managing director of Iran’s Center for Strategic Inventions — has registered a new invention of his own making: a time machine.

It doesn’t actually take anyone to the past or future, but produces printed reports with details about the future, and can “predict five to eight years of the future life of any individual, with 98 percent accuracy” according to Razeghi, as quoted in The Telegraph.
...
The “time machine” would be a good resource for governments, he said, but he doesn’t want to launch a prototype at this point because “the Chinese will steal the idea and produce it in millions overnight.”

Razeghi said his latest project has been criticized by friends for “trying to play God” with ordinary lives and history. “This project is not against our religious values at all,” Razaghi was quoted. “The Americans are trying to make this invention by spending millions of dollars on it where I have already achieved it by a fraction of the cost.”

[geckzilla]

Someone should tell Razeghi about this: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0453467/plotsummary
Apparently we've had one since 2006 and it was used to stop a terrorist from bombing a ferry.

[Beyond]

Can Ants Predict Earth Quakes?
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-n ... h/10211815

[bystander]

The Sun Doesn’t Cause Earthquakes
Universe Today | Jason Major | 2013 Apr 12

If that title seems like an obvious statement to you, it’s ok… it seems pretty obvious to me too. But there are those who have been suggesting — for quite some time, actually — that earthquakes can be triggered or strengthened by solar activity; that, in fact, exceptionally powerful solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and other outpourings from our home star can cause the planet’s crust to shift, shake, and shudder.

Except that that’s simply not true — at least, not according to a recent study by researchers from the USGS.
...
(Oh, and the Moon doesn’t cause earthquakes either.)

[neufer]

The Sun Doesn’t Cause Earthquakes
Universe Today | Jason Major | 2013 Apr 12

(Oh, and the Moon doesn’t cause earthquakes either.)

That is correct. Earthquakes are caused by Neptune & Triton.

The Power of Poseidon by Nancy Conner, PhD

<<When the Olympian gods divided the domains by drawing lots, Poseidon drew the seas. However, his power extended beyond the sea to include other bodies of water, such as lakes and freshwater springs. Some myths say he also controlled the rivers, although most rivers had their own lesser deities. Poseidon was often called “Earth-Shaker” because he had the power to create earthquakes. Using his trident, he could generate savage sea storms, force the waves as high as he desired, summon sea monsters, and cause landslides and floods. He answered to no one except Zeus, and even Zeus could not always rein him in before severe damage was done.>>

[bystander]

Moore’s Law and the Origin of Life
MIT Technology Review | The Physics arXiv Blog | 2013 Apr 15

As life has evolved, its complexity has increased exponentially, just like Moore’s law. Now geneticists have extrapolated this trend backwards and found that by this measure, life is older than the Earth itself.

---

Here’s an interesting idea. Moore’s Law states that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles every two years or so. That has produced an exponential increase in the number of transistors on microchips and continues to do so.

But if an observer today was to measure this rate of increase, it would be straightforward to extrapolate backwards and work out when the number of transistors on a chip was zero. In other words, the date when microchips were first developed in the 1960s.

A similar process works with scientific publications. Between 1990 and 1960, they doubled in number every 15 years or so. Extrapolating this backwards gives the origin of scientific publication as 1710, about the time of Isaac Newton.

Today, Alexei Sharov at the National Institute on Ageing in Baltimore and his mate Richard Gordon at the Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory in Florida, have taken a similar to complexity and life.

These guys argue that it’s possible to measure the complexity of life and the rate at which it has increased from prokaryotes to eukaryotes to more complex creatures such as worms, fish and finally mammals. That produces a clear exponential increase identical to that behind Moore’s Law although in this case the doubling time is 376 million years rather than two years.

That raises an interesting question. What happens if you extrapolate backwards to the point of no complexity–the origin of life?

Sharov and Gordon say that the evidence by this measure is clear. “Linear regression of genetic complexity (on a log scale) extrapolated back to just one base pair suggests the time of the origin of life = 9.7 ± 2.5 billion years ago,” they say.

And since the Earth is only 4.5 billion years old, that raises a whole series of other questions. Not least of these is how and where did life begin.

Of course, there are many points to debate in this analysis. The nature of evolution is filled with subtleties that most biologists would agree we do not yet fully understand.

For example, is it reasonable to think that the complexity of life has increased at the same rate throughout Earth’s history? Perhaps the early steps in the origin of life created complexity much more quickly than evolution does now, which will allow the timescale to be squeezed into the lifespan of the Earth.

Sharov and Gorden reject this argument saying that it is suspiciously similar to arguments that squeeze the origin of life into the timespan outlined in the biblical Book of Genesis.

Let’s suppose for a minute that these guys are correct and ask about the implications of the idea. They say there is good evidence that bacterial spores can be rejuvenated after many millions of years, perhaps stored in ice.

They also point out that astronomers believe that the Sun formed from the remnants of an earlier star, so it would be no surprise that life from this period might be preserved in the gas, dust and ice clouds that remained. By this way of thinking, life on Earth is a continuation of a process that began many billions of years earlier around our star’s forerunner.

Sharov and Gordon say their interpretation also explains the Fermi paradox, which raises the question that if the universe is filled with intelligent life, why can’t we see evidence of it.

However, if life takes 10 billion years to evolve to the level of complexity associated with humans, then we may be among the first, if not the first, intelligent civilisation in our galaxy. And this is the reason why when we gaze into space, we do not yet see signs of other intelligent species.

There’s no question that this is a controversial idea that will ruffle more than a few feathers amongst evolutionary theorists.

But it is also provocative, interesting and exciting. All the more reason to debate it in detail.

Life Before Earth - Alexei A. Sharov, Richard Gordon

• arXiv.org > physics > arXiv:1304.3381 > 28 Mar 2013

[Ann]

Thanks for posting that, bystander. While there is no way to prove it (I think), it is definitely a highly thought-provoking hypothesis.

Ann

[Beyond]

Sharov and Gorden reject this argument saying that it is suspiciously similar to arguments that squeeze the origin of life into the timespan outlined in the biblical Book of Genesis.

I guess that Sharov and Gorden are mistaking -new forms of life-, for -Life- itself. Life itself, goes back a lot farther than the start of the Biblical book of Genesis. The universe had to come from somewhere. It's the how and why, that is the mystery. The problem is, that we can't actually see Life. We can only see some of the forms that it's in, and not very many at that, because of the limited human senses. Maybe one day that will change, but for now, it's pretty much like a dead end, scientifically, or any other way you want to put it.

[MargaritaMc]

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/ ... 041213.php

Quantum computing taps nucleus of single atom

Australian engineers from UNSW have created a functional quantum bit based on the nucleus of a single atom in silicon


SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - A team of Australian engineers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) has demonstrated a quantum bit based on the nucleus of a single atom in silicon, promising dramatic improvements for data processing in ultra-powerful quantum computers of the future.

Quantum bits, or qubits, are the building blocks of quantum computers, which will offer enormous advantages for searching expansive databases, cracking modern encryption, and modelling atomic-scale systems such as biological molecules and drugs.

The world-first result, to be published in Nature on April 18, brings these machines one-step closer, describing how information was stored and retrieved using the magnetic spin of a nucleus.

"We have adapted magnetic resonance technology, commonly known for its application in chemical analysis and MRI scans, to control and read-out the nuclear spin of a single atom in real time," says Associate Professor Andrea Morello from the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications at UNSW.

The nucleus of a phosphorus atom is an extremely weak magnet, which can point along two natural directions, either "up" or "down". In the strange quantum world, the magnet can exist in both states simultaneously – a feature known as quantum superposition.

The natural positions are equivalent to the "zero" and "one" of a binary code, as used in existing classical computers. In this experiment, the researchers controlled the direction of the nucleus, in effect "writing" a value onto its spin, and then "reading" the value out – turning the nucleus into a functioning qubit.

"We achieved a read-out fidelity of 99.8 per cent, which sets a new benchmark for qubit accuracy in solid-state devices," says UNSW Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, who is also Director of the Australian National Fabrication Facility at UNSW, where the devices were made.

The accuracy of the UNSW team's nuclear spin qubit rivals what many consider to be today's best quantum bit – a single atom in an electromagnetic trap inside a vacuum chamber. The development of this "Ion Trap" technology was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in physics.

"Our nuclear spin qubit operates at a similar level of accuracy, but it's not in a vacuum chamber – it's in a silicon chip that can be wired up and operated electrically like normal integrated circuits," says Morello. "Silicon is the dominant material in the microelectronics industry, which means our qubit is more compatible with existing industry technology and is more easily scaleable."

[MargaritaMc]

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/ ... 041613.php

Coelacanth genome surfaces: Unexpected insights to an ancient-looking fish.
http://www.broadinstitute.org/news/4980
An international team of researchers has decoded the genome of a creature whose evolutionary history is both enigmatic and illuminating: the African coelacanth. A sea-cave dwelling, five-foot long fish with limb-like fins, the coelacanth was once thought to be extinct. A living coelacanth was discovered off the African coast in 1938, and since then, questions about these ancient-looking fish – popularly known as “living fossils” – have loomed large. Coelacanths today closely resemble the fossilized skeletons of their more than 300-million-year-old ancestors. Its genome confirms what many researchers had long suspected: genes in coelacanths are evolving more slowly than in other organisms.

Just to put this in perspective...

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, approximately 230 million years ago, and were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for 135 million years, from the beginning of the Jurassic (about 201 million years ago) until the end of the Cretaceous (66 million years ago)

But the coelacanths kept on swimming...

Margarita

[MargaritaMc]

http://www.adelaide.edu.au/news/news60721.html

Ancient DNA reveals Europe's dynamic genetic history

Wednesday, 24 April 2013 (Australian time zones)

Ancient DNA recovered from a series of skeletons in central Germany up to 7500 years old has been used to reconstruct the first detailed genetic history of modern Europe.

The study, published today in Nature Communications, reveals a dramatic series of events including major migrations from both Western Europe and Eurasia, and signs of an unexplained genetic turnover about 4000-5000 years ago.

The research was performed at the University of Adelaide's Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD). http://www.adelaide.edu.au/acad/

Researchers used DNA extracted from bone and teeth samples from prehistoric human skeletons to sequence a group of maternal genetic lineages that are now carried by up to 45% of Europeans.

The international team also included the University of Mainz in Germany and the National Geographic Society's Genographic Project.

"This is the first high-resolution genetic record of these lineages through time, and it is fascinating that we can directly observe both human DNA evolving in 'real-time', and the dramatic population changes that have taken place in Europe," says joint lead author Dr Wolfgang Haak of ACAD.

"We can follow over 4000 years of prehistory, from the earliest farmers through the early Bronze Age to modern times."

"The record of this maternally inherited genetic group, called Haplogroup H, shows that the first farmers in Central Europe resulted from a wholesale cultural and genetic input via migration, beginning in Turkey and the Near East where farming originated and arriving in Germany around 7500 years ago," says joint lead author Dr Paul Brotherton, formerly at ACAD and now at the University of Huddersfield, UK.

ACAD Director Professor Alan Cooper says: "What is intriguing is that the genetic markers of this first pan-European culture, which was clearly very successful, were then suddenly replaced around 4500 years ago, and we don't know why. Something major happened, and the hunt is now on to find out what that was."

The team developed new advances in molecular biology to sequence entire mitochondrial genomes from the ancient skeletons. This is the first ancient population study using a large number of mitochondrial genomes.

"We have established that the genetic foundations for modern Europe were only established in the Mid-Neolithic, after this major genetic transition around 4000 years ago," says Dr Haak. "This genetic diversity was then modified further by a series of incoming and expanding cultures from Iberia and Eastern Europe through the Late Neolithic."

"The expansion of the Bell Beaker culture (named after their pots) appears to have been a key event, emerging in Iberia around 2800 BC and arriving in Germany several centuries later," says Dr Brotherton. "This is a very interesting group as they have been linked to the expansion of Celtic languages along the Atlantic coast and into central Europe."

"These well-dated ancient genetic sequences provide a unique opportunity to investigate the demographic history of Europe," says Professor Cooper.

"We can not only estimate population sizes but also accurately determine the evolutionary rate of the sequences, providing a far more accurate timescale of significant events in recent human evolution."

The team has been working closely on the genetic prehistory of Europeans for the past 7-8 years.

Professor Kurt Alt (University of Mainz) says: "This work shows the power of archaeology and ancient DNA working together to reconstruct human evolutionary history through time. We are currently expanding this approach to other transects across Europe."

Genographic Project director Spencer Wells says: "Studies such as this on ancient remains serve as a valuable adjunct to the work we are doing with modern populations in the Genographic Project. While the DNA of people alive today can reveal the end result of their ancestors' ancient movements, to really understand the dynamics of how modern genetic patterns were created we need to study ancient material as well."

[MargaritaMc]

American Society for Microbiology

Roundworm quells obesity and related metabolic disorders

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, have shown in a mouse model that infection with nematodes (also known as roundworms) can not only combat obesity but ameliorate related metabolic disorders. Their research is published ahead of print online in the journal Infection and Immunity.

Gastrointestinal nematodes infect approximately 2 billion people worldwide, and some researchers believe up until the 20th century almost everyone had worms. In developed countries there is a decreasing incidence of nematode infection but a rising prevalence of certain types of autoimmunity, suggesting a relationship between the two. Nematode infection has been purported to have therapeutic effects and currently clinical trials are underway to examine worms as a treatment for diseases associated with the relevant cytokines, including inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, and allergies.

In the study researchers tested the effect of nematode infection on mice fed a high-fat diet. Infected mice of normal girth gained 15 percent less weight than those that were not infected. Mice that were already obese when infected lost roughly 13 percent of their body weight within 10 days. Infection also drastically lowered fasting blood glucose, a risk factor for diabetes, and reduced fatty liver disease, decreasing liver fat by ~25 percent, and the weight of the liver by 30 percent.

The levels of insulin and leptin also dropped, "indicating that the mice restored their sensitivities to both hormones," says corresponding author Aiping Zhao of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore. Leptin moderates appetite. As with too much insulin, too high a level of leptin results in insensitivity, thus contributing to obesity and metabolic syndrome, Zhao explains.

The mechanism of the moderation of these hormones "was associated with a parasite-induced reduction in glucose absorption in the intestine, reduced liver triglycerides, and an increase in the population of cells called "alternatively activated macrophages," which regulate glucose metabolism and inflammation," says coauthor Joe Urban of the United States Department of Agriculture. Some of these changes involved "a protein called interleukin-13 and related intracellular signaling mechanisms," he says. "This suggests that there are immune related shifts in metabolism that can alter expression of obesity and related metabolic syndrome."

The incidence of obesity has been climbing dramatically, worldwide. It is a key risk factor for many metabolic diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. Recent studies indicate that it is accompanied by chronic low-grade inflammation in adipose tissues, causing the release of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines that contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome.

Parasitic nematode infection induces a marked elevation in host immune Th2-cells and related type 2 cytokines which, besides combating the infection, also have potent anti-inflammatory activity, according to the report.

###
A copy of the manuscript can be found online at http://bit.ly/asmtip0413d Formal publication is scheduled for the June 2013 issue of Infection and Immunity

(Z. Yang, V. Grinchuk, A. Smith, B. qin, J.A. Bohl, R. Sun, L. Notari, Z. Zhang, H. Sesaki, J.F. Urban, Jr., T. Shea-Donohue, A. Zhao, 2013. Parasitic nematode-induced modulation of body weight and associated metabolic dysfunction in mouse models of obesity. Infect. Immun. Published ahead of print 18 March 2013, doi:10.1128/IAI.00053-13.)

Infection and Immunity is a publication of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The ASM is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. Its mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.

[bystander]

Government Lab Reveals It Has Operated Quantum Internet For Over Two Years
MIT Technology Review | The Physics arXiv Blog | 2013 May 06

A quantum internet capable of sending perfectly secure messages has been running at Los Alamos National Labs for the last two and a half years, say researchers.

Network-Centric Quantum Communications with Application to Critical Infrastructure Protection - Richard J. Hughes et al

• arXiv.org > quant-ph > arXiv:1305.0305 > 01 May 2013

[MargaritaMc]

US Forest Service

US urban trees store carbon, provide billions in economic value


WASHINGTON, May 7, 2012

—From New York City’s Central Park to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, America’s urban forests store an estimated 708 million tons of carbon, an environmental service with an estimated value of $50 billion, according to a recent U.S. Forest Service study.

Forest Service research shows that urban trees store an estimated 21 million tons of carbon, which translates to an environmental service valued at $1.5 billion in economic benefit.

Annual net carbon uptake by these trees is estimated at 21 million tons and $1.5 billion in economic benefit.

In the study published recently in the journal Environmental Pollution, Dave Nowak, a research forester with the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station, and his colleagues used urban tree field data from 28 cities and six states and national tree cover data to estimate total carbon storage in the nation’s urban areas.
“With expanding urbanization, city trees and forests are becoming increasingly important to sustain the health and well-being of our environment and our communities,” said U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell. “Carbon storage is just one of the many benefits provided by the hardest working trees in America. I hope this study will encourage people to look at their neighborhood trees a little differently, and start thinking about ways they can help care for their own urban forests.”

[geckzilla]

Storing billions in economic value? Why does that seem like such a ridiculous way of thinking about trees?

[MargaritaMc]

Storing billions in economic value? Why does that seem like such a ridiculous way of thinking about trees?

I thought the same...
But - if it will get bean- counters to place some value trees over billboards?

I think that I shall never see
A billboard lovely as a tree.
Indeed, unless the billboards fall
I'll never see a tree at all.

[neufer]

---

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

Greater wax moth 'can sense' highest recorded frequency
BBC News, 8 May 2013

<<The greater wax moth is capable of hearing the highest recorded frequency of any animal in the natural world, researchers have discovered.

A team at Strathclyde University in Glasgow found the moth can sense sound frequencies of up to 300kHz [~ 1 mm wavelength]. Humans can only manage up to 20kHz, while dolphins, which use ultrasound, have limitations around 160kHz. The university hopes the discovery will lead to new technological innovations, such as miniature microphones.

The findings, which have been published in the Royal Society journal, Biology Letters, were recorded at the university's centre for ultrasonic engineering. Dr James Windmill, who led the research, said: "We are extremely surprised to find that the moth is capable of hearing sound frequencies at this level and we hope to use the findings to better understand air-coupled ultrasound.

"The use of ultrasound in air is extremely difficult as such high frequency signals are quickly weakened in air. Other animals such as bats are known to use ultrasound to communicate and now it is clear that moths are capable of even more advanced use of sound."

Dr Windmill said it was not clear how the moths had developed this ability. He added: "It is possible that they have had to improve the communication between each other to avoid capture from their natural predator - the bat - which use similar sounds."

Dr Windmill and his colleagues now want to develop their understanding of ultrasound and how to transmit and receive ultrasonic pulses travelling in air. His team is working to apply the study of the greater wax moths and other insect ears to the design of micro-acoustic systems. It is hoped that by studying the unprecedented capabilities of the moth's ear, the team can produce new technological innovations, such as miniature microphones.>>

[Chris Peterson]

Greater wax moth 'can sense' highest recorded frequency
BBC News, 8 May 2013

This is strong evidence for evolution, given that all the young, delinquent wax moths who party and ruin their hearing with loud music late at night get eaten by bats before they can reproduce.

[MargaritaMc]

Greater wax moth 'can sense' highest recorded frequency
BBC News, 8 May 2013

This is strong evidence for evolution, given that all the young, delinquent wax moths who party and ruin their hearing with loud music late at night get eaten by bats before they can reproduce.

[MargaritaMc]

University of Strathclyde press release about the greater wax moth.

[Doum]

Look good. Now will it happen?

"Researchers Find a Way to Make Steel Without Greenhouse-Gas Emissions"

"The new process even carries a couple of nice side benefits: The resulting steel should be of higher purity, and eventually, once the process is scaled up, cheaper.......

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 133124.htm

[MargaritaMc]

Look good. Now will it happen?

"Researchers Find a Way to Make Steel Without Greenhouse-Gas Emissions"

"The new process even carries a couple of nice side benefits: The resulting steel should be of higher purity, and eventually, once the process is scaled up, cheaper.......

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 133124.htm

Moon mission paves way to 'green' steel

The dream of "green" steel is a reality with US scientists unveiling a new method of extracting metallic iron from its ore while curbing carbon dioxide emissions.

The process uses electrolysis and, according to its developers, will eventually result in cheaper steel of higher purity.

Critically the only other by-product of the innovation, reported today in the journal Nature, is oxygen.

About 1.5 billion tonnes of iron is produced worldwide annually, contributing about five per cent of the world's greenhouse-gas emissions. Despite its best efforts, until now the steel-making industry has had little success in developing environmentally friendly processing.

Senior author Professor Donald Sadoway at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says in a statement the idea for the new approach arose while working on a NASA project to look for ways of producing oxygen on the moon - a key step toward future lunar bases.

Sadoway found a process called molten oxide electrolysis (MOE) could use iron oxide from the lunar soil to make oxygen in abundance, with no special chemistry.

He tested the process using lunar-like soil from Meteor Crater in Arizona - which contains iron oxide from an asteroid impact thousands of years ago - finding it produced steel as a by-product.


Sadoway's original method used an iridium anode, but since iridium is expensive and supplies are limited, it was not a viable approach for bulk steel production.

However the MIT team identified an inexpensive metal alloy of chromium and iron that can replace the iridium anode in molten oxide electrolysis.

Co-author Professor Antoine Allanore says another side benefit of the process is it will be cost-effective in smaller-scale factories.

Conventional steel plants are only economical if they can produce millions of tonnes of steel per year, whereas MOE could be viable for production of a few hundred thousand tonnes per year, he says.

In a commentary on the study also published in today's Nature, Professor Derek Fray, of the University of Cambridge, says the process could also be used for the extraction of other metals from their oxides.

He believes it will prompt "researchers to consider how to design a large pilot reactor", but concedes "considerable technical development will be required for the authors' discovery to be used commercially".

And in a nod to the technology's inspiration, Fray says the development could be invaluable for space exploration.

"If the process were carried out on the Moon," he writes "the gas could be used in the fuel-oxygen mixture that is needed for rockets and to sustain life, making human colonisation of the solar system more feasible."

Scientific American: Cleaner, Cheaper Way to Make Steel Uses Electricity
Making steel in a similar way to aluminum is cheaper and reduces greenhouse gas emissions