Wind turbines could power half the world’s future energy demands with minimal environmental impact, according to new research published by University of Delaware and Stanford University scientists in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers arrived at the determination by calculating the maximum theoretical potential of wind power worldwide, taking into account the effects that numerous wind turbines would have on surface temperatures, water vapor, atmospheric circulations and other climatic considerations.

“Wind power is very safe from the climate point of view,” said Cristina Archer, associate professor of geography and physical ocean science and engineering at UD.

Cloud droplets are central to Earth's energy balance and to the water cycle, sea sprays play an important role in hurricane dynamics and air bubbles in the ocean’s boundary layer alter the acoustical and optical properties of ocean water. These examples of environmental multiphase turbulent flows represent an emerging research area that combines the complexities of turbulent flow, multiphase and multi-scale physics and environmental applications. Eleven University of Delaware researchers contributed to a workshop designed to increase understanding of these and other multiphase turbulent flows in the atmosphere and ocean that was held at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., Aug. 13-17.

University of Delaware researchers participated in the Rio+20 global summit conference in June and organized “The Oceans Day” at the international event to chart next steps in global action on oceans. Biliana Cicin-Sain, professor of marine policy, and Miriam Balgos, Gwénaëlle Hamon, Joseph Appiott, C. Ryan Ono and Marisa Van Hoeven from UD’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment joined more than 45,000 others from around the world for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from June 20-22.

 DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife is reassuring Delaware residents and hunters that an insect-borne disease that has been killing white-tailed deer throughout North America does not affect humans, does not affect livestock and has minimal long-range ramifications for the viability of the state’s deer herd.

With its eye on likely future threats, the Navy wants to increase mine warfare and anti-submarine training and gain approval for all training across a wide stretch of the North Atlantic Ocean.

Delaware’s environmental officials and special interest groups say the jury’s still out on whether that’s a good idea.

Summer is the perfect time to watch the waves roll in at the beach – or at a 137-footlong research tank with slow-motion video replay.

High school students had the opportunity to do both recently as part of TIDE Camp, a two-week overnight program at the University of Delaware exploring the scientific processes at work along the coast.

The University of Delaware has received a $5 million gift from DuPont to support the construction of the 197,000-square-foot Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Laboratory (ISE-Lab) on the University’s Newark campus.  In recognition of the company’s leadership support, an instructional wing of the new facility will be known as the “DuPont Science Learning Center.”

The gift is the latest chapter in a strong relationship between UD and DuPont that has spanned over a century and in which DuPont has supported academic, programmatic and capital building initiatives throughout the University.

Three 2012 graduates of the electronics and engineering technologies departments at Delaware Technical Community College in Georgetown are spending the summer at the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment (CEOE) working on projects funded through grants from the Delaware Space Grant Consortium.

The program, established in 1991, is funded by NASA in order to train students and researchers in the state of Delaware in the areas of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and geography.