ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- A new Sandia National Laboratories accelerator called Thor is expected to be 40 times more efficient than Sandia's Z machine, the world's largest and most powerful pulsed-power accelerator, in generating pressures to study materials under extreme conditions.

"Thor's magnetic field will reach about one million atmospheres, about the pressures at Earth's core," said David Reisman, lead theoretical physicist of the project.

Though unable to match Z's 5 million atmospheres, the completed Thor will be smaller -- 2,000 rather than 10,000 square feet -- and will be considerably more efficient due to design improvements that use hundreds of small capacitors instead of Z's few large ones.

Methane is increasing in the atmosphere, though poor understanding of the sources has led to rampant speculation by environmental groups.

By compiling previously reported measurements made at a total of 733 northern water bodies - from small ponds formed by beavers to large lakes formed by permafrost thaw or ice-sheets - researchers are able to more accurately estimate emissions over large scales. 

A gene believed to suppress the growth and spread of cancer has the opposite effect in some forms of colorectal cancer, researchers have found. 

Sprouty2 is the gene and the new paper studied it in cancer cell models, mouse models and human biopsy samples. Using different molecular methods, the researchers found that the gene functions differently in colorectal cancer than in other types of cancers. Sprouty2 is known to block molecular circuits to prevent cancer cells from growing and spreading to other parts of the body. However, the researchers found that in colorectal cancer, Sprouty2 may increase the metastatic ability of cancer cells instead of suppress it. They believe this occurs when the gene is up-regulated, or supercharged.  

Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plant growth, and nitrogen fertilization and is often used in agriculture in the developing world and in organic process farming in wealthy countries. But organic farmers have to worry about yield also, and that has led to overuse and misuse that has resulted in the accumulation of surplus nitrogen in soil and its eventual migration to soil layers and groundwater.

It won't surprise you to learn that people have different metabolisms and body types. Some people can eat a lot and stay thin, others have to struggle to keep pounds off.

While there is no "obesity" gene, it is the time of year when epidemiologists talk about it anyway. One such gene that has been causalated to obesity is FTO and a new paper suggest a physically active lifestyle can change that genetic determinism. 

Yes, if you exercise and burn more calories, you will lose weight.

Trainers of dogs, horses, and other animal performers take note: a bacterium named Moorella thermoacetica has been induced to perform only a single trick, but it's a doozy. Berkeley Lab researchers are using M. thermoacetica to perform photosynthesis - despite being non-photosynthetic - and also to synthesize semiconductor nanoparticles in a hybrid artificial photosynthesis system for converting sunlight into valuable chemical products.