What’s The Buzz
Biofuel made from whisky to power cars
A start-up firm in Scotland will soon be manufacturing biofuel made from whisky by-products, which could be used as a direct alternative for fossil-derived fuel. Edinburgh Napier University’s Celtic Renewables Ltd will initially focus on Scotland’s 4 billion pounds malt whisky industry to develop biobutanol and other chemicals, the BBC reported.
The company has asserted that the process also had “huge global potential” to be adapted to other biological by-products. Celtic Renewables is currently working with Scottish Enterprise to produce the biofuel from sustainable resources on an industrial scale. The fermentation procedure uses two main by-products of whisky production – ‘pot ale’, which is the residue left in copper stills, and ‘draff’, the spent grains. According to the research, biobutanol provides 25 percent more power output than the traditional bioethanol.
Compared to ethanol, butanol can run in unmodified engines with petrol and may also be mixed with diesel and biodiesel. “The Scottish malt whisky industry is a ripe resource for developing biobutanol,” Prof Martin Tangney, founder of Celtic Renewables and director of Napier University’s Biofuel Research Centre, said.
“The pot ale and draff could be converted into biofuel as a direct substitute for fossil-derived fuel, which would reduce oil consumption and CO2 emissions while also providing energy security - particularly in the rural and remote homelands of the whisky industry.”
How brain adapts to stress
Scientists have discovered a new mechanism that helps the brain adapt to stress – the finding may eventually lead to a better understanding of why prolonged and repeated exposure to stress can lead to anxiety disorders and depression.
Most stressful stimuli cause the release of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) from neurons in the brain. This is typically followed by rapid changes in CRH gene expression. In more practical terms, as soon as the CRH-containing neurons run out of CRH, they are already receiving directions to make more.
CRH controls various reactions to stress, including immediate “fight-or-flight” responses as well as more delayed adaptive responses in the brain. Regulation of CRH activity is critical for adaptation to stress, and abnormal regulation of CRH is linked with multiple human psychiatric disorders. “Despite the wealth of information regarding the physiological role of CRH in mediating the response to stress, the molecular mechanisms that regulate expression of the CRH gene, and thereby CRH synthesis, have remained largely elusive,” explained senior study author, Dr. Gil Levkowitz, from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.
Dr Levkowitz and colleagues discovered that the protein Orthopedia (Otp), which is expressed in parts of the brain associated with stress adaptation, modulated CRH gene expression and was required for stress adaptation.
Lifelong criminality may be in the genes
Ever wondered why some criminals don’t change even after repeated punishment? It’s because they are genetically programmed to break the law, scientists say.
The idea that crime could be in part genetic is extremely controversial because most criminologists argue the root causes of crime are environmental factors such as poverty.
But, a team at the University of Texas now claimed that the genes people are born with could play an even more significant role in their chances of turning to a criminal lifestyle in later years.
The researchers found that although there is no single gene which causes criminal behaviour, there are probably a wide range which play a small part in raising or lowering our chance of offending.
