Word: carbonic
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...well as using carbon dating and infrared analysis, Charlier employed the unusual technique of olfacation, or sniffing. In a blind test, two smell experts from French perfumeries Guerlain and Jean Patou whiffed samples of burnt wood, decomposed bones and skin, and noted the odors. "The smells weren't all horrible," says Sylvain Delacourte of Guerlain. "Some were pleasant and fragrant." The predominant scent, vanilla, indicated that the relics came from a body that had decomposed naturally; the organic compound vanillin is produced during this process. Set alight while tied to a stake (three times over, if legend...
...Carbon 14 analysis dated the human rib contained in the relics to between the 7th and 3rd centuries B.C. Pollen testing also found traces of pine - a tree that didn't exist in medieval Normandy but whose resin was widely used to embalm bodies in ancient Egypt. The presence of the cat bones might have added weight to the relics' authenticity, as black cats were traditionally thrown on the fires that burned those accused of witchcraft in medieval times. DNA tests revealed however that the animal was of non-European origin...
...gallium nitride, which generates blue and white light. The resulting LEDs use as little as one-seventh the energy as an incandescent bulb and can last about 100 times as long, up to 100,000 hours. If they were widely used, LEDs could lead to enormous energy savings and carbon-emissions reductions. In the developing world, LEDs paired with solar panels could provide a cheap, sustainable light source that doesn't need a traditional power grid...
...great is the potential human toll of global warming that some economists believe that the focus of global efforts should be less on eliminating carbon emissions than on the urgent challenges of adapting to climate change, such as preparing new sources of water or planning for the movement of millions of environmental refugees. Others argue that while such preparations are a matter of urgency because of the warming trend already in motion, at the same time, if carbon emissions continue to rise, so will temperatures, intensifying the crisis. But there's broad agreement on the economic logic of immediate global...
...wake of February's IPCC report that sensationalist media coverage painting an inevitable and apocalyptic picture of climate change paralyzes rather than galvanizes the public. But the unwritten word behind the IPCC's dire predictions, and its source of hope, is if. If we can limit and later eliminate carbon emissions, if we can make a rapid transition to cleaner energy, if we help poorer nations adapt to the changes underway, then the worst consequences will be averted. But that can only happen if we act globally...