Researchers using a new chemical process have converted the cellulose in sawdust into hydrocarbon chains, building blocks for gasoline.

 Cellulose is the main substance in plant matter and is present in all non-edible plant parts of wood, straw, grass, cotton and old paper.  These hydrocarbons can be used as an additive in gasoline or as a component in plastics. 

"At the molecular level, cellulose contains strong carbon chains. We sought to conserve these chains, but drop the oxygen bonded to them, which is undesirable in high-grade gasoline. Our researcher Beau Op de Beeck developed a new method to derive these hydrocarbon chains from cellulose," explains Professor Bert Sels. 

Epidemiologists have linked El Niño, a recurring pattern where every 2-7 years warm waters in the Equatorial Pacific change the weather, to short stature, also known as stunting,  which is usually due to chronic malnutrition.

The authors found that children born in coastal Peru during and after the 1997-98 El Niño, the last strong one, have a lower height-for-age than others born before the event. 

El Niño
has also been linked to epidemics of malaria, dengue fever, cholera and diarrhea, though the first recorded one was in 1525, so they have been happening a lot longer than that.. 

How can the weather stunt growth?  

Take a spot that only gets 6 to 8 inches of rain per year, with erosion causing such blinding dust that there is zero visibility, and build a wheat farm.

Wait, why would you do that? Washington State University researchers do it in the Horse Heaven Hills of south-central Washington to understand summer fallow management practices that can mean efficient water and soil conservation and help farmers everywhere.

There has been concern about a lessening of social engagement, mostly created by older people who see young people behaving differently than they did (and do). Last decade it was noted that young people were
less likely to join clubs, had fewer close friends, and were less likely to perceive others as trustworthy.

So young people don't join the Masonic Lodge in their college years. Does that mean they are less social? 

No, there has been an increase in extraversion and self-esteem, according to a paper in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. In a review, the authors examined past studies that utilized the Revised UCLA loneliness scale (R-UCLA) to analyze changes in loneliness over time, and gender differences in loneliness.

Physicists have developed a new cooling technique for mechanical quantum systems by using an ultracold atomic gas, cooling a membrane down to less than 1 degree above absolute zero.

Ultracold atomic gases are among the coldest objects in existence. Laser beams can be used to trap atoms inside a vacuum chamber and slow down their motion to a crawl, reaching temperatures of less than 1 millionth of a degree above absolute zero - the temperature at which all motion stops.

At such low temperatures, atoms obey the laws of quantum physics: they move around like small wave packets and can be in a superposition of being in several places at once. These features are harnessed in technologies such as atomic clocks and other precision measurement devices.

Due to a loss of scientific relevance, which has led to scarcity of personnel
and thus decreasing government funding, Italian natural history museums are on the verge of collapse. 

A new paper in Zookeys proposes that the existing museums associate and collaborate to form a diffused structure, able to better manage their scientific collections and share resources and personnel. Basically, they need to be a little more corporate and start consolidating rather than relying on government to some day boost funding.