News
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Wednesday, May 16, 2012Forget gas mileage: The most striking aspect of the new Ford Focus Electric is what it doesn't have. "Battery-powered cars are intrinsically quiet, the motor sound falling between a whir and a whisper," marvels a New York Times review of the car. "But the Focus is deep-space silent, the quietest of the many electric cars I've driven."
And that, it turns out, is a problem.
Due to the Pedestrian Safety Act of 2010, by this summer the National Highway...
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Tuesday, May 15, 2012Watch video.
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Tuesday, May 15, 2012Thanks to the generosity of three professional meteorite hunters, the UA Lunar and Planetary Laboratory will own three samples of a rare kind of meteorite leftover from the earliest beginnings of the solar system.
To the untrained eye, the black, smooth-edged lump that is sitting under a glass cover looks similar to a piece of charcoal. But to scientists Dante Lauretta...
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Monday, May 14, 2012MONTPELIER, Vt. - Worries about health effects, privacy and cost are fueling growing opposition to wireless, digital "smart meters" that utilities around the country are installing at homes and businesses and touting as key energy conservation and grid reliability tools.
Vermont appears poised to take an unusually aggressive stance. While several states have allowed utilities to charge a fee to customers who want to opt out of smart meters, Vermont's governor is expected...
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Monday, May 14, 2012Watch video.
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Monday, May 14, 2012The UA Office of Sustainability has completed a climate action plan to track the UA's greenhouse gas emissions and provide concrete solutions to reduce them.
Back in the days of the Old West, the University of Arizona already was green. Literally. Inspired by the sagebrush, a hardy shrub whose small footprint and ability to conserve precious resources allow it to thrive in the harsh Arizona desert, the plant's chartreuse green was one of the UA's original school colors....
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Saturday, May 12, 2012A 38.5-acre photovoltaic array is the latest addition to the Solar Zone technology demonstration area at the University of Arizona Science and Technology Park.
The 6.1-megawatt system was built by AstroSol, a subsidiary of German solar developer Solmotion GmbH, in partnership with Astronergy, a Chinese solar manufacturer.
Astrosol CEO Michael Volz was on hand to screw the last solar panel in place at a dedication event Friday.
The new system uses thin-film, amorphous...
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Thursday, May 10, 2012View photo gallery.
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Thursday, May 10, 2012SAN DIEGO - An increase in plastic debris floating in a zone between Hawaii and California is changing the environment of at least one marine critter, scientists reported.
Over the past four decades, the amount of broken-down plastic has grown significantly in a region dubbed the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch." Most of the plastic pieces are the size of a fingernail.
During a seagoing expedition, researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography found that a...
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Thursday, May 10, 2012As commencement approaches, UANews looks back at a school year full of appointments, discoveries, awards and groundbreakings.
From medical gains and scientific discoveries to a changing of the guard within administration and Arizona Athletics, the University of Arizona had a busy – and productive – 2011-12 school year.
As the spring semester comes to a close, UANews reflects on its top 10 stories of the academic year.
1. ...