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Is Earth's climate really changing? Climate researchers have answered this question with a resounding "Yes!" It is widely accepted that Earth's temperature will rise two to three degrees Celsius over the next 50 years if current fossil fuel emissions continue to grow at their present rate. The next question is how this warming trend will affect the climate--particularly water resources.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's climate research program was created in 1989 in response to a Presidential Initiative called the U.S. Global Change Research Program. The climate research group was formed in two places, with the Richland, Wash., group focusing on physical climate research and the Washington, D.C., group focusing on technology.

The mineral cryptomelane holds promise to absorb the toxic sulfur oxides that can degrade the emission control systems on diesel vehicles. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers have identified the potential of using cryptomelane to trap sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide from diesel engine emissions on monolith supports – sturdy honeycombed structures composed of small parallel channels.

One of the most lethal substances in the world -- botulism -- can be detected using special systems in about 20–25 minutes. Now, researchers at DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory can detect its presence in five minutes, using the lab's successful Biodetection Enabling Analyte Delivery System, or BEADS combined with optical detection.

It's not a new material, but a new application of silver hollandite could make a big impact in diesel emissions control. Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed an inexpensive method of synthesizing nano-sized silver hollandite and have found the material has unique catalytic properties that can completely oxidize nitrogens of oxide, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. These chemical reactions caused by the silver hollandite are key to reducing pollutants in diesel engine emissions.

Supercomputers of the future will provide orders of magnitude more computing power, but their increasing complexity also requires experts in computational science, mathematics and computer science working together to develop the software needed for the science.

University of California, San Diego researcher John Weare will be presenting his results at 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 30. Weare conducted his research as a user of the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

If you're looking for concealed weapons these days, you need more than x-ray machines and metal detectors. You want something that also will identify non-metallic weapons, or any other threatening object that may be concealed under clothing. Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed an innovative screening technology that uses harmless, ultrahigh-frequency radio waves to penetrate clothing and can quickly identify plastic explosives and other types of weapons.

As researchers at Pacifi c Northwest National Laboratory investigated the hydrogen storage capabilities of amine borane compounds, they knew that a rhodium catalyst readily releases hydrogen from the compound at room temperature. But they weren't sure how it worked. Aside from the scientific quest for knowledge, understanding the mechanism at work with rhodium may help with the development of a more cost-effective catalyst to enable hydrogen storage.

Rising oil prices have revved momentum to develop more efficient combustion systems. But instrumental to this goal is a need to achieve greater understanding of the complex chemical reactions involved in combustion processes.