The current low-cost process for mineral carbonation involves the direct carbonation of a slurry of magnesium or calcium silicate mineral with supercritical CO2. The process is currently limited by the slow reaction kinetics of the carbonation reactions, and in particular the slow dissolution rates of the silicates in weakly acidic conditions. Enhancing the dissolution rate in weakly acidic con...

I present the results of a culture-independent survey of soil bacterial communities from serpentine soils and adjacent nonserpentine comparator soils using a variety of newly developed phylogenetically based statistical tools. The study design included site-based replication of the serpentine-to-nonserpentine community comparison over a regional scale ( approximately 100 km) in Northern Califor...

This paper describes the design and performance of the OmniTread serpentine robot, developed at the University of Michigan. Serpentine robots are mobile robots that comprise of multiple rigid segments, connected by actuated joints. The segments usually have drive elements, such as wheels or tracks. To date, we have developed two versions of the OmniTread. The larger version, called “OT-8,” has ...

Nyberg Berglund, A.-B. 2005. Postglacial colonization and parallel evolution of metal tolerance in the polyploid Cerastium alpinum. Doctoral dissertation. ISSN 1652-6880, ISBN 91-576-6964-3. The Fennoscandian flora is characterized by a high frequency of polyploids, probably because they were more successful than diploid plants in colonizing after the last Ice Age. The first postglacial coloniz...

Introduction: Serpentines are 1:1 trioctahedral phyllosilicates with general formula (Fe,Mg)6Si4O10(OH)8 and form during metamorphism, hydrothermal activity, or weathering of ultramafic rocks. Serpentine is an expected aqueous alteration product on Mars, given the mafic to ultramafic crust and prevalence of olivine. Serpentinziation reactions produce H2, which can serve as an important energy s...

The subband structure and band-to-band optical matrix elements are computed for serpentine superlattice quantum-wire arrays. The subband dispersion and bandwidths are examined as a function of the curvature of the confining barriers and of the barrier height separating the wires. The optical matrix elements show a strong polarization dependence, even when the coupling between wires in the array...