Thanks to Michael White, Patent Librarian extraordinaire who posted this on his blog – The Patent Librarian’s Notebook

The European Patent Office has created a new classification scheme for green technologies and applications related to the mitigation of climate
change. The new category, identified as Y02 in the ECLA classification, has two main subclasses:

* Y02C – CAPTURE, STORAGE, SEQUESTRATION OR DISPOSAL OF GREENHOUSE
GASES [GHG]
* Y02E – REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GASES [GHG] EMISSION, RELATED TO
ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION [N1006]

Each subclass is further subdivided into dozens of sub-groups. Here’s
the scheme for biofuels:

* Biofuels [N1006] Y02E50/10
* CHP turbines for biofeed [N1006] Y02E50/11
* Gas turbines for biofeed [N1006] Y02E50/12
* Bio-diesel [N1006] Y02E50/13
* Bio-pyrolysis [N1006] Y02E50/14
* Torrefaction of biomass [N1006] Y02E50/15
* Cellulosic bio-ethanol [N1006] Y02E50/16
* Grain bio-ethanol [N1006] Y02E50/17
* Bio-alcohols produced by other means than fermentation
[N1006] Y02E50/18

Currently, there are about 17,000 patent documents classified under Y02.

A very interesting article in the June issue of Atlantic Magazine is focusing on the Conficker worm – The Enemy Within

This article reads like Dan Brown’s novel…

You can also find more academic research about Conficker in our computer sciences databases, e.g. IEEE Xplore Digital Library or ACM Digital Library

The newest crop of 2010 Earth and Ocean Science Undergraduate Honours Theses and Reports are now available online on cIRcle, the UBC Library’s Digital Repository.

Below is a list of 2010 submissions.

Waste Solutions for Metro Vancouver
Ho, Anthony; MacDonald, Jessica; Lam, Clement; Dean, Monika; Lai, Joseph; Lu, Nan; Sim, Nari (2010-05-07)

Effects of Triclosan on a Detrital-Based, Aquatic Food Web
Chan, Carita (2010-05-07)

Ecosystem Services of the British Columbia Coast: Modeling the Impacts of Agriculture on the Provision of Shellfish
Solomon, Cody; Thompson, Allison (2010-05-05)

Slope Stability Analysis of Fly Ash Containment Dyke
Brisbin, Aaron (2010-04-27)

Mechanical strength of Anhydrite and its Role in the Seismicity of the Duke River Fault, Yukon Territory
Sampaleanu, Christian (2010-04-22)

Delineation of Groundwater Capture Zone for the Grum Pit, Faro Mine Complex, Yukon Territory
Yungyoo, Thiyapa (2010-04-19)

The Classification and Analysis of 300 Cycling Crashes that Resulted in Visits to Hospital Emergency Departments in Toronto and Vancouver. Frendo, Theresa (2010-04-15)

Sensitivity Analysis of UBCDFLOW and Debris Flow Travel Distance in Mountainous Forested Terrain around the Kootenay, British Columbia Region. Kurylo, John Bohdan (2010-04-13)

Investigation of Liquid Limit of Kamloops Silt by Soft-base Casagrande Apparatus and British Drop-Cone Penetrometer.
Lu, Alan Zhong (2010-04-12)

Identifying Landscapes and their Formation Timescales: Comparing Knowledge and Confidence of Beginner and Advanced Geoscience Undergraduate Students. Jolley, Alison Rae (2010-04-07)

Stability and Seepage Analysis of the Bralorne Gold Mines Tailings Dam Following a Change in Usage from Tailings Dam to Water Reservoir Dam. Lefrancois, Anne-Marie (2010-04-01)

An Assessment of the Greywater and Composting Toilet Tea Leach Field Geochemistry at the C.K. Choi Building, University of British Columbia Vancouver Campus. Larson, Leila (2010-02-17)

Submitted by Kevin Lindstrom Liaison Librarian for Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of British Columbia.

86 incidents are listed. Data from NOAA Office of Response and Restoration.

Access the Database

“Each year, oil and fuel spills are caused by accidents involving tankers, barges, pipelines, trucks and storage facilities. When oil leaks into water, it spreads out rapidly forming a thin layer called a sheen. It can be harmful to birds, mammals, fish and plant life, and it can foul beaches and coastal areas. Search here to see some of the cases handled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Emergency Response Division, which provides technical and scientific help when oil spills into waterways.”

More specific information would be available in some of our databases, e.g. Environmental Sciences & Pollution Management, GREENR or GreenFile

** photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/

Newsmaker Interview:
Imponderables Complicate Hunt For Intelligent Life Beyond Earth

Dr. Paul Davies a professor at Arizona State University, Tempe discusses his role in the search for intelligent life beyond Earth.

Read the full interview here.

Other articles published by Dr. Davies include Are ALIENS among Us? Davies, Paul, Scientific American, Dec2007, Vol. 297, Issue 6, p62-69.

Submitted by Kevin Lindstrom Liaison Librarian for Physics and Astronomy at the University of British Columbia

In one of the classic understatements of aviation history, Eric Moody turned on the flight intercom of his British Airways 747 and reported to his 248 passengers:

Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them under control. I trust you are not in too much distress.

The date was 24 June 1982, and Moody’s 747 was south of Java, en route from Heathrow to Auckland, amidst an ash cloud from Mount Galunggung in Indonesia. At first it looked as if the only hope was to ditch the plane in the ocean. However, the crew was able to glide the plane (let’s all nod now to engineers who managed to create a jumbo jet that descends only one meter for every 15 flown without power) until successfully restarting three of the four engines, but the damage from the cloud made for a harrowing landing over the mountainous terrain around Jakarta. In 1989, another 747 temporarily lost use of all four engines due to a volcanic plume (from Alaska’s Mt. Redoubt).

Not surprisingly, since the British Airways incident, volcanic plumes—previously studied more closely for their climatic effects—have become a preoccupation of weather forecasters. The world meteorological and aviation communities have collaborated on the International Airways Volcano Watch, whose advisories Thursday led to the cancellation of flights across northern Europe due to the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjalla volcano. It will be hard to overstate the consequence of this eruption for travelers around the world; it is already being compared to the no-fly days after 9/11.

For more information, read the full American Meteorological Society Blog Post

The Science and Engineering Library hosts a number of databases that will give you access to the peer-reviewed literature dealing with the effects of volcanic eruptions on climate and weather.

Have a look at

Geobase
MGA
Web of Science

Submitted by Kevin Lindstrom Liaison Librarian for Earth and Ocean Sciences

For a complete list of impact factors, go to the Elsevier Earth Science link.

Earth-Science Reviews

2008 Impact Factor 6.558
2007 Impact Factor 4.310

Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta

2008 Impact Factor 4.235
2007 Impact Factor 3.665

Earth And Planetary Science Letters

2008 Impact Factor 3.955
2007 Impact Factor 3.873

Precambrian Research

2008 Impact Factor 3.736
2007 Impact Factor 3.247

Submitted by Kevin Lindstrom Liaison Librarian for Earth and Ocean Sciences

It is a very good news to us in the Science and Engineering library to hear that Richard Kerekes is to receive the 2010 TAPPI Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal Award.

From the UBC Applied Science press release:

The award recognizes an individual who has created a pre-eminent scientific and engineering achievement that has proven of commercial benefit to the world’s pulp, paper, board and forest products industries.

“Dr. Kerekes’ contributions to research, technology and education for our industry over a 38-year period are exemplary and make him a deserving recipient for TAPPI’s highest honor,” said Larry N. Montague, President of TAPPI. “He has made numerous significant contributions to papermaking technology during his career, including founding the Pulp and Paper Centre at The University of British Columbia where he established a research program between UBC and Paprican.”

“To a remarkable degree, he has contributed to most all of the unit operations in papermaking, from stock chests to calenders,” said Gary A. Baum, 2009 Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal Winner, who nominated Kerekes for the award. “His research has been characterized by a blend of solid science and the application of fundamental principles to the solution of practical problems.”

To see some of Prof. Kerekes publications in the Web of Science database (around 70 articles) , please use this search:

Subject Heading=(MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY OR PHYSICAL SCIENCES) AND Author=(KEREKES R*) AND Institution=(UNIV BRITISH COLUMBIA OR PULP PAPER RES INST CANADA OR PAPRICAN)

The earliest article dates back to 1974 and the newest was published last year.

Relief was the order of the day for Canadian scientists on Thursday as the federal government brought down its fiscal blueprint for 2010-11.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty moved to partially offset scheduled cuts in the budgets of the nation’s three granting councils, though they’ll still take a blow and there’ll be tighter competition for research operating grants.

Read the ScienceInsider news article here.

Submitted by Kevin Lindstrom science and engineering liaison librarian

I have a personal interest in geoengineering and I tend to read many publications that discuss these topics. Lat week Science had a short article about geoengineering that I found interesting:

The Latest on Geoengineering. Eli Kintisch (26 February 2010). Science 327 (5969), 1070-b. [DOI: 10.1126/science.327.5969.1070-b]

Moreover, here is a short list of books we have in UBC Library about environmental engineering

** photos by http://www.flickr.com/photos/courambel