Over the next 50 years, wildfire risk in the southern U.S. will likely continue to increase, but in many landscapes, a sustained fuel management program might reduce wildfire risk enough to mostly offset expected future increases, according to a new report. The report is part of the Southern Forest Outlook assessment, and is based on synthesis and interpretation of existing science, data, and 50-year projections. 

University of Illinois Physics Professor Paul Kwiat and members of his research group have developed a revolutionary new tool for precision measurement at the nanometer scale in scenarios where background noise and optical loss from the sample are present. This new optical interferometry technology leverages the quantum properties of light—specifically, extreme color entanglement—to enable faster and more precise measurements than widely used classical and quantum techniques can achieve.

MIT engineers developed a membrane that filters the components of crude oil by their molecular size, an advance that could dramatically reduce the amount of energy needed for crude oil fractionation.

Researchers from the Federal University of São Paulo used oysters and mussels as sentinel organisms to assess the presence of these pollutants. The results show that even the most restrictive sites for human presence have significant contamination.

Researchers developed a faster, more stable way to simulate the swirling electric fields inside industrial plasmas — the kind used to make microchips and coat materials. The improved method could lead to better tools for chip manufacturing and fusion research.