mahdiebrahimi/science

On August 1st, 2008, starting in the morning, over northern Canada, observers on Earth could watch this years only total solar eclipse. While a partial eclipse could be seen over a larger area, the shadow of totality passed over Greenland, Norway and Russia, then evaporated into the night sky over China.

University of Georgia researchers have developed a new technology that promises to dramatically increase the yield of ethanol from readily available non-food crops, such as Bermudagrass, switchgrass, Napiergrass--and even yard waste.

Tropical soils often behave differently than temperate soils when being farmed. In tropical regions, soils lose nutrients quickly when cultivated. With food shortages looming and soil quality declining rapidly, new farming techniques are needed to make tropical and sub-tropical farming more productive and sustainable. New research from Agronomy Journal shows that no-till management combined with a winter cover crop is most effective in retaining nutrients in tropical soils.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a 27 kilometer (17 mile) long particle accelerator straddling the border of Switzerland and France, is nearly set to begin its first particle beam tests. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is preparing for its first small tests in early August, leading to a planned full-track test in September - and the first planned particle collisions before the end of the year. The final step before starting is the chilling of the entire collider to -271.25 C (-456.25 F). Here is a collection of photographs from CERN, showing various stages of completion of the LHC and several of its larger experiments (some over seven stories tall), over the past several years.

Most of the times we mean well when we say we would love to stay environmentally friendly and not over consume energy resources. However, it is difficult to keep track of all the energy we spend when we use electricity, gas and water. Resource Monitor, developed by California based eco-tech firm Agilewave is a smart building solution that helps you keep track of your resource consumption. It comes with a Creston control and uses behaviorally driven quantitative feedback to alert the users when they exceed their consumption limits. The alerts are sent via text or email and functions in real time and reflect past and current performance data. A flat panel touchscreen and several meters to track electricity, water and gas consumption are part of this system. This could very well be the answer to those who would like to keep track of their energy usage and regulate energy consumption.

"Jupiter is in the news again, this time because its "Baby Red Spot" - a storm less than a year old - appears to have been swallowed up by the massive storm known as the Great Red Spot. This is good occasion to share some of the best photographs of Jupiter and its larger system of rings and moons, as seen by various probes and telescopes over the past 30 years."