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A New Energy-Efficient Hydrogel Pulls Water From Air

Cars That Think

Using a new kind of hydrogel material, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have pulled water out of thin air at temperatures low enough to be achieved with sunlight. Atmospheric water harvesting draws water from humidity in the air. The material is a hydrogel, a polymer network that naturally retains a lot of water.

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Cambridge study finds globalized economy making water, energy and land insecurity worse

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The first large-scale study of the risks that countries face from dependence on water, energy and land resources has found that globalization may be decreasing, rather than increasing, the security of global supply chains. Countries meet their needs for goods and services through domestic production and international trade.

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Climate Change is NSF Engineering Alliance’s Top Research Priority

Cars That Think

Since its launch in April 2021 , the Engineering Research Visioning Alliance has convened a diverse set of experts to explore three areas in which fundamental research could have the most impact: climate change; the nexus of biology and engineering; and securing critical infrastructure against hackers.

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How Engineers Can Help Protect Earth From Worsening Climate Change

Cars That Think

Fortunately, we still have a narrow window of opportunity to alter the Earth’s climate path, and I believe we can do it. Climate change is a global societal crisis that is causing devastating consequences. Deforestation is contributing to climate change. We need to address the crisis now in a sustainable way.

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NSF Engineering Alliance Supports IEEE’s Plan on Climate Change

Cars That Think

We read with considerable interest the story in the September 2022 issue of The Institute titled “ IEEE’s Plan to Help Combat Climate Change.” We believe it’s critical to bring all stakeholders to the table to collaboratively envision engineering solutions to address societal challenges such as climate change.

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Study projects thermoelectric power in Europe and US vulnerable to climate change due to lower summer river flows and higher river water temperatures

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A study published in Nature Climate Change suggests that thermoelectric power plants (i.e., nuclear and fossil-fueled generating units) in Europe and the United States are vulnerable to climate change due to the combined impacts of lower summer river flows and higher river water temperatures. Click to enlarge.

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DOE launches major 10-year project to use high performance computing for climate change research; ACME

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The project, called Accelerated Climate Modeling for Energy ( ACME ), is designed to accelerate the development and application of fully coupled, state-of-the-science Earth system models for scientific and energy applications. Biogeochemistry: How do biogeochemical cycles interact with global climate change?