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Chilean volcano captured blasting ashChile's Chaiten Volcano is shown spewing ash and smoke (centre left of image) into the air for hundreds of km over Argentina's Patagonia Plateau in this Envisat image acquired on 5 May 2008.
The 1000 m-high volcano had been dormant for thousands of years before erupting on 2 May, causing the evacuation of thousands. Chaiten Volcano is located in southern Chile 10 km northeast of the town of Chaiten on the Gulf of Corcovado.
Envisat's........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 5/8/2008 8:54:07 PM)
High fuel prices could slash US emissions.HIGH gasoline prices could lead to a dramatic saving in US greenhouse-gas emissions. Thats the conclusion of economists in the US, who suggest high fuel prices are turning consumers off SUVs and onto smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Whats more, car owners are predicted to cut back on driving in order to save money. Together, these changes in consumer behaviour could make an important dent in the US contribution to global warming,........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 5/7/2008 7:47:52 PM)
Alternatives to ozone-depleting pesticideMethyl bromide, an odorless, colorless gas used as an agricultural pesticide, was introduced in the 1980s as an effective way to control weeds and increase fruit yields. Agricultural production nurseries around the world relied on methyl bromide (MB) to produce healthy plants for export and domestic sales. In 2000, the widely used pesticide was classified as an ozone-depleting substance, and in 2005 MB was banned in the United States and all........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 5/7/2008 7:42:27 PM)
Moms have few interactions with their infants during TV timeInfants who are exposed to television and video in low socio-economic households tend to have limited verbal interactions with their mothers, as per a new study led by Alan L. Mendelsohn, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Director of Clinical Research for the divisions of General and Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics at NYU School of Medicine.
The study, reported in the recent issue of Archives of........Go to the Entertainment-blog (Added on 5/5/2008 8:25:26 PM)
Hillary supports McCain's 100 years in IraqIt is facinating to see Hillary holds 'McCain's 100 years in Iraq" view :
How easy we forget...Febuary 20,2005 on national TV...CBS's Face the Nation. Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Lindsey Graham were interviewed by Bob Schieffer.
I found this interview....well I almost fell off the chair. Given the recent DNC ad about John McCain's 100 year in Iraq statement and the GOP threat to bring suit to remove it. W'ell it's a hot topic and........Go to the Media-blog (Added on 5/5/2008 7:36:56 PM)
As gas prices climb, employee productivity plummetsRising gas prices are affecting more than the family budget. More pain at the pump results in more employee stress on the job, says Wayne Hochwarter, the Jim Moran Professor of Management at Florida State Universitys College of Business.
People concerned with the effects of gas prices were significantly less attentive on the job, less excited about going to work, less passionate and conscientious and more tense, Hochwarter said. These people........Go to the Media-blog (Added on 5/5/2008 5:55:08 PM)
Ancient "Nutcracker Man" Challenges Ideas on EvolutionTiny marks on the teeth of an ancient human ancestor known as the "Nutcracker Man" may upset current evolutionary understanding of early hominid diet.
Using high-powered microscopes, scientists looked at rough geometric shapes on the teeth of several Nutcracker Man specimens and determined that their structure alone was not enough to predict diet.
Peter Ungar, professor of anthropology at the University of Arkansas in........Go to the Archeology-blog (Added on 4/30/2008 6:26:29 PM)
Low chance of record low Arctic sea ice in 2008New University of Colorado at Boulder calculations indicate the record low minimum extent of sea ice across the Arctic last September has a three-in-five chance of being shattered again in 2008 because of continued warming temperatures and a preponderance of younger, thinner ice.
The forecast by scientists at CU-Boulder's Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research is based on satellite data and temperature records and indicates there is a 59........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/30/2008 5:58:52 PM)
Did dust storms make the Dust Bowl drought worse?The Dust Bowl drought of the 1930s was one of the worst environmental disasters of the Twentieth Century anywhere in the world. Three million people left their farms on the Great Plains during the drought and half a million migrated to other states, almost all to the West. But the Dust Bowl drought was not meteorologically extreme by the standards of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Indeed the 1856-65 drought may have involved a more........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/30/2008 5:42:00 PM)
Heat transfer between materialsManaging heat is a major challenge for engineers who work on devices from jet engines to personal electronics to nano-scale transistors.
A team led by a University of Michigan mechanical engineer has received a five-year, $6.8-million grant from the Air Force to examine this problem, which is a barrier to more powerful, efficient devices.
Led by Kevin Pipe, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the team has........Go to the Technology-blog (Added on 4/30/2008 5:20:36 PM)
First nanoscale image of soilA handful of soil is a lot like a banana, strawberry and apple smoothie: Blended all together, it is hard to tell what's in there, particularly if you have never tasted the fruits before.
But when you look at soil's organic carbon closely, it has an incredible variety of known compounds. And looking closely is exactly what Cornell scientists have done for the first time -- at a scale of 50 nanometers (1 nanometer equals the width of three........Go to the Technology-blog (Added on 4/28/2008 8:31:25 PM)
Satellite Mission To Map Earth's Water CycleMIT Professor Dara Entekhabi will lead the science team designing a NASA satellite mission to make global soil moisture and freeze/thaw measurements, data essential to the accuracy of weather forecasts and predictions of global carbon cycle and climate. NASA announced recently that the Soil Moisture Active-Passive mission (SMAP) is scheduled to launch December 2012.
At present, researchers have no network for gathering soil moisture data as........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 4/28/2008 8:27:05 PM)
Biodiversity Is Crucial to Ecosystem ProductivityIn the first experiment involving a natural environment, researchers at Brown University have shown that richer plant diversity significantly enhances an ecosystem's productivity. The finding underscores the benefits of biodiversity, such as capturing carbon dioxide, a main contributor to global warming.
Osvaldo Sala, director of the Environmental Change Initiative and the Sloan Lindeman Professor of Biology at Brown, and Pedro Flombaum, a........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/24/2008 10:28:21 PM)
Geological faults threaten HoustonHOUSTON, April 24, 2008 After finding more than 300 surface faults in Harris County, a University of Houston geologist now has information that could be vitally useful to the regions builders and city planners.
This information the most accurate and comprehensive of its kind was discovered by Shuhab Khan, assistant professor of geology, and Richard Engelkemeir, a geology Ph.D. student, using advanced radar-like laser technology. ........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/24/2008 9:37:40 PM)
Injecting Sulfate Particles into StratosphereA much-discussed idea to offset global warming by injecting sulfate particles into the stratosphere would have a drastic impact on Earth's protective ozone layer, new research concludes.
The study, led by Simone Tilmes of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., warns that such an approach would delay the recovery of the Antarctic ozone hole by decades and cause significant ozone loss over the Arctic.
The........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/24/2008 8:58:26 PM)
Party San Antonio StyleWhat began as an Easter celebration at a time when San Antonio was still a small desert enclave has become a week long celebration in America's fastest growing city. Fiesta rings in spring Texas style. There are parades, concerts, dancing in the streets, and of course, plenty of food.
Downtown San Antonio hosts nearly one hundred events beginning on April 18th. It is estimated that three million people will attend at least one event........Go to the Media-blog (Added on 4/23/2008 4:33:02 PM)
Making New Optical MaterialsChemical engineers have developed a "self-assembling" method that could lead to an inexpensive way of making diamondlike crystals to improve optical communications and other technologies.
The method, developed at Purdue University, works by positioning tiny particles onto a silicon template containing precisely spaced holes that are about one-hundredth the width of a human hair. The template is immersed in water on top of which particles are........Go to the Technology-blog (Added on 4/22/2008 9:24:59 PM)
Rewrite Fossil History Of Shell-breaking CrabWhile waiting for colleagues at a small natural history museum in the state of Chiapas, Mexico last year, Cornell paleontologist Greg Dietl chanced upon a discovery that has helped rewrite the evolutionary history of crabs and the shelled mollusks upon which they preyed.
In a museum display case he recognized a 67- to 69-million-year-old fossil from the Late Cretaceous period of a big crab with an oversized right claw. Such crabs with claws........Go to the Archeology-blog (Added on 4/22/2008 8:54:44 PM)
How climate change impacts food productionThe old adage, We are what we eat, may be the latest recipe for success when it comes to curbing the perils of global climate warming. Despite the recent popular attention to the distance that food travels from farm to plate, aka food miles, Carnegie Mellon scientists Christopher L. Weber and H. Scott Matthews argue in an upcoming article in the prestigious Environmental Science & Technology journal that it is dietary choice, not food miles,........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/21/2008 6:17:41 PM)
Sharper imags: sports vision clinicThe standard eye chart only covers letters and numbers, but athletes need above average vision to track balls hurtling toward them at alarming speeds. To test those special skills, a University of Houston optometrist has founded the Sports Vision Performance Center, a facility where athletes perform while a strobe light is flashing, play tag with a board of lights and engage in other activities designed to improve their visual abilities.
The........Go to the Sports-blog (Added on 4/21/2008 6:10:48 PM)
How strong is a hurricane?Knowing how powerful a hurricane is, before it hits land, can help to save lives or to avoid the enormous costs of an unnecessary evacuation. Some MIT scientists think there may be a better, cheaper way of getting that crucial information.
So far, there's only one surefire way of measuring the strength of a hurricane: Sending airplanes to fly right through the most intense winds and into the eye of the storm, carrying out wind-speed........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/10/2008 9:27:56 PM)
Grand Canyon may be as old as dinosaursNew geological evidence indicates the Grand Canyon may be so old that dinosaurs once lumbered along its rim, as per a research studyby scientists from the University of Colorado at Boulder and the California Institute of Technology.
The team used a technique known as radiometric dating to show the Grand Canyon may have formed more than 55 million years ago, pushing back its assumed origins by 40 million to 50 million years. The scientists........Go to the Archeology-blog (Added on 4/10/2008 9:05:19 PM)
Forecasters Implement New Hurricane-Tracking TechniqueA new technique that helps forecasters continuously monitor landfalling hurricanes, giving them frequent and detailed images of a storm's location, will be implemented this summer.
The new system, developed by National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, D.C., will be implemented at the National Hurricane........Go to the Technology-blog (Added on 4/10/2008 8:08:10 PM)
Pressing onPressing On (Return of the Phoebe) from the Undiscovery Channel on Vimeo
Ah, to be as single-minded as a phoebe! To sing for the sheer joy of it, one’s message reduced to the bare fundamentals
I am here
Life is good
Gimme some sugar
Isn’t that really what we’re all trying to do, as artists and writers
Apparently not. “Whether a person blogs to make a little money, to influence opinion or just for sheer........Go to the Media-blog (Added on 4/9/2008 8:22:53 PM)
14-year-old CEO makes chemistry a gameAge seems to be no obstacle when it comes to starting a business. Thats the case with 14-year-old Anshul Samar, CEO of Alchemist Empire, Inc., who invented a trading card game, Elementeo, that aims to teach chemistry to students in a fun, unusual way.
At the 235th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans, Samar will present his inventive card game. While other 14-year olds play on their Xbox, this precocious CEO hopes........Go to the Chemistry-blog (Added on 4/8/2008 9:54:59 PM)
Money Doesn't Grow on Trees, But Gasoline MightScientists have made a breakthrough in the development of "green gasoline," a liquid identical to standard gasoline yet created from sustainable biomass sources like switchgrass and poplar trees.
Reporting in the cover article of the April 7, 2008 issue of Chemistry & Sustainability, Energy & Materials (ChemSusChem), chemical engineer and National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER awardee George Huber of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst........Go to the Technology-blog (Added on 4/7/2008 10:43:06 PM)
'Revolutionary' CO2 maps zoom in on greenhouse gas sourcesWhere CO2 is being emitted interactive map of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels has observed that the emissions aren't all where we thought.
"For example, we've been attributing too a number of emissions to the northeastern United States, and it's looking like the southeastern U.S. is a much larger source than we had estimated previously," says Kevin Gurney, an assistant professor of earth and atmospheric science at Purdue........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/7/2008 9:16:34 PM)
The Flight of the Red Balloon"Like his 2004 film Cafe Lumière, Hou Hsiao-hsien''s sublime new movie The Flight of the Red Balloon finds the director in a foreign country paying homage to another filmmaker," writes Chris Wisniewski at indieWIRE. "With Lumiere, Yasujiro Ozu was Hou''s reference point and Tokyo his canvas; here, Hou reimagines Albert Lamorisse''s classic 1956 short The Red Balloon as a Parisian family melodrama.
"A remarkably rich, rewarding, and restful........Go to the Entertainment-blog (Added on 4/6/2008 7:14:34 PM)
Sense of Smell and Parkinson's DiseaseIn the earliest stage of Parkinson's disease, impaired sense of smell can occur. So that this means that an impaired sense of smell indicate the development of Parkinson's disease
According to researchers, smell impairment can precede the development of PD in men by at least four years
The results showed that an odor identification deficit can predate the development of PD by at least four years, although it was not a strong........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 4/6/2008 7:28:13 AM)
Yamaha Recalls 2008 Rhino 450 and 700Yamaha Recalls 2008 Rhino 450 and 700 due to possible brake failure.
About 7,800 units affected. The brake caliper on the left front wheel could have been made incorrectly, resulting in brake fluid leaking. This can cause a loss of braking and control of the vehicle, posing a serious safety risk to the driver and passenger. There have not been any reported accidents or injuries due to this possible defect.
Consumers should immediately........Go to the Auto-blog (Added on 4/6/2008 7:10:12 AM)
Golf Digest's "Big Contest"Courtesy: ExpandingKnowledge.co
Torrey Pines, site of the 2008 U.S. Ope
How do you spell gimmick
Well, if you work at Golf Digest magazine, you spell it "U S O p e n C o n t e s t"........Go to the Sports-blog (Added on 4/5/2008 11:42:03 AM)
Computer System Consistently Makes Most Accurate NCAA PicksSports professionals and fans get pretty emotional about their picks for the NCAA basketball tournament each year, and that emotion often clouds their judgment.
But three engineering professors at the Georgia Institute of Technology have created a computer ranking system, called LRMC, that consistently predicts NCAA basketball rankings more accurately than the AP poll of sportswriters and the ESPN/USA Today poll of coaches, formulas (the........Go to the Sports-blog (Added on 4/3/2008 8:26:30 PM)
Electricity and gas consumption at a glancePeople who want to save energy should always keep an eye on their consumption. The EWE Box offers customers a neat solution: It enables private households to monitor their electricity and gas consumption whenever they want - and save costs thanks to new pricing models.
Once a year, someone from the electricity or gas works comes to read the meter. Soon afterwards, the customer receives an invoice listing the power consumption for the whole........Go to the Technology-blog (Added on 4/1/2008 10:19:38 PM)
Solving Mystery Of Polyketide Drug FormationA number of top-selling drugs used to treat cancer and lower cholesterol are made from organic compounds called polyketides, which are found in nature but historically difficult for chemists to alter and reproduce in large quantities.
For the first time, researchers at UC Irvine have discovered how polyketides form their ringlike shape, making it easier for chemists to manipulate them into new drugs.
The key, they found, is an enzyme........Go to the Chemistry-blog (Added on 4/1/2008 9:56:32 PM)
Is it a bird, is it a plane, no it's a bridge!A government lab in Teddington has taken on its biggest sample for analysis to date a 14 tonne foot-bridge.
The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is a world-leading centre of excellence in developing and applying the most accurate measurement standards, science and technology. For over 100 years it has been the UKs National Measurement Institute and provides highly accurate measurement and analysis for public and private sector benefit........Go to the Technology-blog (Added on 4/1/2008 9:07:03 PM)
Geologist decries floodplain developmentMidwesterners have to be wondering: Will April be the cruelest month?.
Patterns in the Midwest this spring are eerily reminiscent of 1993 and 1994, back-to-back years of serious flooding. The great flood of 1993 caused nearly $20 billion of economic damage, damaging or destroying more than 50,000 homes and killing at least 38 people.
Parallels this year include abnormally high levels of precipitation in late winter and early spring, and........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/1/2008 9:04:45 PM)
Fear of messing up may cause whites to avoid blacksDemocratic consultant Donna Brazile brought home Americas reluctance to talk openly about race in a New York Times article that preceded the Barack Obama speech that now has the whole nation buzzing. In essence, she said in her quote, any serious discussion about race has the effect of clearing a room.
Braziles remark and the presidential hopefuls groundbreaking speech about a subject that politicians generally tiptoe around in public hint........Go to the Media-blog (Added on 4/1/2008 8:46:26 PM)
Small is Big During NanoDaysApril 2008 witnesses the launch of two efforts--with major funding from the National Science Foundation--that are intended to promote understanding of nanotechnology among the general public. Nanotechnology is the art and science of manipulating matter at the nanoscale (down to 1/100,000 the width of a human hair) to create new and unique materials and products. It is also the subject of "Nanotechnology: The Power of Small," a three-part,........Go to the Technology-blog (Added on 4/1/2008 8:28:23 PM)
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Epimedium grandiflorumFor local readers, just a reminder that the Perennial Plant Sale at UBC BG is coming up on Sunday. This particular Epimedium won''t be there, but I noticed there were several others on the list of plants for sale in 2008
Thank you to Connor for both today''s photograph and write-up
Epimedium grandiflorum is a member of the Berberidaceae and is native to China, Korea, and parts of Japan. Its silky white petals and sepals with a........Go to the Botany-blog (Added on 5/8/2008 8:11:05 PM)
Fests and eventsNew Yorkers headed to the Walter Reade this evening to see Joachim Trier present his highly regarded Reprise may want to stick around to see Trier introduce Remonstrance, made by his grandfather in 1972. As the L Magazine''s Mark Asch notes, "Erik Løchen was perhaps Norway''s premier modernist filmmaker.
At Twitch, Blake Ethridge reports from the Marfa Film Festival. Lots and lots here on the making of There Will Be Blood
The cinetrix........Go to the Entertainment-blog (Added on 5/8/2008 7:48:19 PM)
Climate Models Overheat AntarcticaComputer analyses of global climate have consistently overstated warming in Antarctica, concludes new research by researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and Ohio State University. The study can help researchers improve computer models and determine if Earth's southernmost continent will warm significantly this century, a major research question because of Antarctica's potential impact on global sea-level rise.
"We........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 5/7/2008 7:40:40 PM)
University research contributes to global warmingAdd university research to the long list of human activities contributing to global warming.
Herv Philippe, a Universit de Montral professor of biochemistry, is a committed environmentalist who observed that his own research produces 44 tonnes of CO2 per year. The average American citizen produces 20 tonnes.
Herv PhilippeI did my PhD on nucleotide sequencing in the hope of advancing our knowledge of biodiversity, but I never thought that........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 5/7/2008 6:50:26 PM)
ESA contributes to ocean carbon cycle researchThe Earth's oceans play a vital role in the carbon cycle, making it imperative that we understand marine biological activity enough to predict how our planet will react to the extra 25 000 million tonnes of carbon dioxide humans are pumping into the atmosphere annually.
The colour of oceanic seawater depends largely on the number of microscopic phytoplankton, marine plants that live in the well-lit surface layer. Just like land-based plants,........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 5/5/2008 8:04:03 PM)
Global Warming Affects World's Largest Freshwater LakeRussian and American researchers have discovered that the rising temperature of the world's largest lake, located in frigid Siberia, shows that this region is responding strongly to global warming.
Drawing on 60 years of long-term studies of Russia's Lake Baikal, Stephanie Hampton, an ecologist and deputy director of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) in Santa Barbara, Calif., and Marianne Moore, a........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/30/2008 6:28:06 PM)
Lexicon Evolved To Fit In The BrainThe latest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary boasts 22,000 pages of definitions. While that may seem far from succinct, new research suggests the reference manual is meticulously organized to be as concise as possible a format that mirrors the way our brains make sense of and categorize the countless words in our vast vocabulary.
Dictionaries have often been thought of as a frustratingly tangled web of words where the definition of........Go to the Science-blog (Added on 4/30/2008 6:21:06 PM)
How deep is Europe?The Earth's crust is, on global average around 40 kilometres deep. In relation to the total diameter of the Earth with approx. 12800 kilometres this appears to be rather shallow, but precisely these upper kilometres of the crust, the human habitat, is of special interest for us. Europe's crust shows an astonishing diversity: for example the crust under Finland is as deep as one only expects for crust under a mountain range such as the Alps. It........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/30/2008 6:13:38 PM)
New Ocean CurrentResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered a new climate pattern called the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation. This new pattern explains, for the first time, changes in the water that are important in helping commercial fishermen understand fluctuations in the fish stock. They're also finding that as the temperature of the Earth is warming, large fluctuations in these factors could help climatologists predict how the oceans........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/30/2008 5:45:17 PM)
Mini-Origami: ISI Folds Up Tiny Packages for Drug DeliveryScientists at the USC Information Sciences Institute have demonstrated a way to manufacture miniscule containers that might be used to deliver precise micro- or even nano- quantities of drugs.
As per ISI project leader Peter Will, who is a research professor in the Viterbi School of Engineering, the new technique, described in a paper in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, is a two-step process.
Part one is the creation of........Go to the Technology-blog (Added on 4/29/2008 8:37:37 PM)
New 3-D test method for biomaterials 'flat out' fasterA novel, three-dimensional (3-D) screening method for analyzing interactions between cells and new biomaterials could cut initial search times by more than half, scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Rutgers University report in the new issue of Advanced Materials.* The technique, an advance over flat, two-dimensional screening methods, enables rapid assessment of the biocompatibility and other properties........Go to the Technology-blog (Added on 4/29/2008 8:17:56 PM)
Copper nanowires grown by new processA new low-temperature, catalyst-free technique for growing copper nanowires has been developed by scientists at the University of Illinois. The copper nanowires could serve as interconnects in electronic device fabrication and as electron emitters in a television-like, very thin flat-panel display known as a field-emission display.
We can grow forests of freestanding copper nanowires of controlled diameter and length, suitable for........Go to the Technology-blog (Added on 4/28/2008 5:20:39 PM)
'New' ancient Antarctic sediment reveals climate change historyRecent additions to the premier collection of Southern Ocean sediment cores at Florida State Universitys Antarctic Marine Geology Research Facility will give international researchers a close-up look at fluctuations that occurred in Antarcticas ice sheet and marine and terrestrial life as the climate cooled considerably between 20 and 14 million years ago.
FSUs latest Antarctic sediment core acquisition was extracted from deep beneath the........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/28/2008 4:54:20 PM)
Genetic Sequencing of Protein from T. RexResearchers have put more meat on the theory that dinosaurs' closest living relatives are modern-day birds.
Molecular analysis, or genetic sequencing, of a 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex protein from the dinosaur's femur confirms that T. rex shares a common ancestry with chickens, ostriches, and to a lesser extent, alligators.
The dinosaur protein was wrested from a fossil T. rex femur discovered in 2003 by paleontologist John........Go to the Archeology-blog (Added on 4/24/2008 9:34:01 PM)
Earthquake in IllinoisTo the surprise of a number of, the earthquake on April 18, 2008, about 120 miles east of St. Louis, originated in the Wabash Valley Fault and not the better-known and more-dreaded New Madrid Fault in Missouri's bootheel.
The concern of Douglas Wiens, Ph.D., and Michael Wysession, Ph.D., seismologists at Washington University in St. Louis, is that the New Madrid Fault may have seen its day and the Wabash Fault is the new kid on the block.
........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/24/2008 8:55:44 PM)
Book Review: You're So MoneyFarnoosh Torabi, whose current claim to fame is getting that crazy Jim Cramer to sit down every day for a video interview on stocks to watch at TheStreet.com, is the author of a new book You're So Money, which offers a wealth of personal finance advice to those in her generation, i.e., 30 and younger. Sort of a Personal Finance for Young Dummies, the book is an enjoyable read, and I learned a few things, even though I'm slightly too old........Go to the Media-blog (Added on 4/23/2008 5:26:23 PM)
Gene Therapy May Treat Cocaine AddictionUsing gene therapy, researchers have demonstrated in rats that increasing the levels of dopamine D2 receptors in the brain can reduce use of cocaine by 75 percent.
"By increasing dopamine D2 receptor levels, we saw a dramatic drop in these rats' interest in cocaine," said lead author Panayotis (Peter) Thanos, a neuroscientist with Brookhaven Lab and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Laboratory of........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 4/23/2008 3:59:24 PM)
The Antarctic deep sea gets colderThe Antarctic deep sea gets colder, which might stimulate the circulation of the oceanic water masses. This is the first result of the Polarstern expedition of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association that has just ended in Punta Arenas/Chile. At the same time satellite images from the Antarctic summer have shown the largest sea-ice extent on record. In the coming years autonomous measuring buoys........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/21/2008 8:21:13 PM)
Arctic Ice More Vulnerable to Sunny WeatherThe shrinking expanse of Arctic sea ice is increasingly vulnerable to summer sunshine, new research concludes. The study, by researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and Colorado State University (CSU), finds that uncommonly sunny weather contributed to last summer's record loss of Arctic ice, while similar weather conditions in past summers do not appear to have had comparable impacts.
The study, which draws on........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/21/2008 8:05:56 PM)
Wanted: Forty-thousand More Health IT ProfessionalsStudy by OHSU expert says a 40 percent hike in IT workforce will be needed to move U.S. healthcare toward a paperless system that controls costs and reduces medical errors.
If the U.S. healthcare system moves toward wider adoption of advanced information technology systems to control health care costs, reduce medical errors and improve patient care, it will need at least 40,000 additional health IT professionals - or almost 40 percent more........Go to the Jobs-blog (Added on 4/17/2008 7:38:48 PM)
Dam removal increases property valuesTwo new studies appearing in Contemporary Economic Policy explore the impact of dam removal on local property values and find that property values increase after dams are removed.
Lynne Y. Lewis, Ph.D., of Bates College and scientists utilized geographic information systems mapping software to examine the effects of small hydropower dams on property values in Maine. The study examined the effects on property values of the Edwards dam in........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/17/2008 7:33:32 PM)
Hurricane Forecasters Adopt NCAR Radar TechniqueThe National Hurricane Center will implement a new technique this summer, developed by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), to continually monitor landfalling storms in the United States. The system, which relies on existing coastal Doppler radars, provides details on hurricane winds and central pressure every six minutes, indicating whether a hurricane is gathering strength........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/10/2008 9:19:41 PM)
Strong Labor Market for Scientists and EngineersScience and engineering workforce availability in the United States is under serious scrutiny by observers who worry about a decline in the nation's ability to fill future demand. However, three newly published National Science Foundation (NSF) reports show increasing supplies of researchers and engineers, as well as a strong labor market.
As per NSF data, the number of individuals working in science and engineering (S&E) occupations........Go to the Jobs-blog (Added on 4/10/2008 8:14:51 PM)
Don't Create the Wonder PollutantCarbon nanotubes are 10,000 times thinner than a human hair, yet stronger than steel and more durable than diamonds. They conduct heat and electricity with efficiency that rivals copper wires and silicon chips, with possible uses in everything from concrete and clothes to bicycle parts and electronics. The have been hailed as the next "wonder material" for what could become a multi-billion dollar manufacturing industry in the 21st century. But........Go to the Technology-blog (Added on 4/8/2008 10:27:59 PM)
Sea salt worsens coastal air pollutionAir pollution in the worlds busiest ports and shipping regions may be markedly worse than previously suspected, as per a new study showing that industrial and shipping pollution is exacerbated when it combines with sunshine and salty sea air.
In a paper published in this weeks advance online edition of the journal Nature Geoscience, a team of scientists that included University of Calgary chemistry professor Hans Osthoff report that the........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/8/2008 9:49:27 PM)
NOAA Aircraft to Probe Arctic PollutionNOAA researchers are now flying through springtime Arctic pollution to find out why the region is warming - and summertime sea ice is melting - faster than predicted. Some 35 NOAA scientists are gathering with government and university colleagues in Fairbanks, Alaska, to conduct the study through April 23.
"The Arctic is changing before our eyes," said A.R. Ravishankara, director of the chemistry division at NOAA's Earth System Research........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/7/2008 10:39:49 PM)
As nanotech goes mainstreamNanotechnology is now available in a store near you.
Valued for its antibacterial and odor-fighting properties, nanoparticle silver is becoming the star attraction in a range of products from socks to bandages to washing machines. But as silvers benefits propel it to the forefront of consumer nanomaterials, researchers are recommending a closer examination of the unforeseen environmental and health consequences of nanosilver.
The general........Go to the Technology-blog (Added on 4/6/2008 8:51:36 PM)
Gunshot residue analysis on a single gunpowder particleResearchers in Texas are reporting development of an highly dependable, rapid, and inexpensive new method for identifying the presence of gunshot residue (GSR). The test fills a GSR-detection gap that results from wider use of green lead free ammunition.
It requires only a single speck of GSR smaller than the period at the end of this sentence and could boost the accuracy of one of the most widely used tests employed at crime scenes........Go to the Chemistry-blog (Added on 4/6/2008 8:29:29 PM)
Corymbia 'Summer Beauty'Connor is responsible for today''s write-up
Thanks to kjbeath@Flickr (and Ken''s photo site) for this wonderful shot (original via UBCBG Botany Photo of the Day pool)
Corymbia ''Summer Beauty'' is a hybrid between Corymbia ficifolia, commonly known as the red-flower gum and, Corymbia ptychocarpa, commonly known as the swamp bloodwood. These two species are native to northwestern Australia
As kjbeath noted, prior to 1995 these two........Go to the Botany-blog (Added on 4/6/2008 6:59:46 PM)
Magnesium NanobladesResearchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have created tiny nanoblades made out of magnesium. They used oblique angle deposition, which was previously thought to always create cylindrical structures like nanorods or nanosprings........Go to the Technology-blog (Added on 4/6/2008 6:05:20 AM)
MLB And NFL Players© ConspiracyofHappines
Baseball season begins today (okay, it started last week in Japan, but that doesn't really count), and for many football fans, it is a way to fill the summer months until college and NFL action begin again. With that, here's a look at some players who were talented enough to excel at both sports
- Jim Thorpe: Thorpe, one of America's greatest athletes ever, played baseball from 1913 to 1919, from........Go to the Sports-blog (Added on 4/5/2008 12:45:17 PM)
The voyage to AmericaProfessor Eske Willerslev was surprised by the results of the DNA tests conducted by himself and colleagues on samples of what turned out to be fossilised human faeces found in deep caves in the Oregon desert. The oldest of the droppings have been carbon-dated to be approximately 14,340 years old. Willerslevs faeces samples clearly contain two main genetic types of Asian origin that are unique to present-day North American Indians. Not only is........Go to the Geography-blog (Added on 4/3/2008 8:44:07 PM)
Soccer robots compete for the titleRobot soccer is an ambitious high-tech competition for universities, research institutes and industry. Several major tournaments are planned for 2008, the biggest of which is the 'RoboCup German Open'. From April 21-25, over 80 teams of researchers from more than 15 countries are expected to face off in Hall 25 at the Hannover Messe. In a series of soccer matches in several leagues, they will be putting the latest technologies on display. The........Go to the Sports-blog (Added on 4/1/2008 10:15:10 PM)
Can a laser scanner drive a car?A car that navigates city streets without a driver - steered only by a computer? That might seem impossible to a number of. But scientists from Fraunhofer and the FU Berlin are presenting such an automated vehicle at this year's Hannover Messe on April 21 through 25, 2008 (Hall 25, Stand H25). Its core element is a three-dimensional laser scanner.
Can a computer steer a car through a city without a driver's help? The 'Spirit of Berlin', a........Go to the Auto-blog (Added on 4/1/2008 10:11:37 PM)
356 animal inclusions trapped in 100 million years old opaque amberPaleontologists from the University of Rennes (France) and the ESRF have found the presence of 356 animal inclusions in completely opaque amber from mid-Cretaceous sites of Charentes (France). The team used the X-rays of the European light source to image two kilogrammes of the fossil tree resin with a technique that allows rapid survey of large amounts of opaque amber. At present this is the only way to discover inclusions in fully opaque........Go to the Archeology-blog (Added on 4/1/2008 9:55:04 PM)
Some Migratory Birds Can't Find Success In Urban AreasNew research finds fresh evidence that urbanization in the United States threatens the populations of some species of migratory birds.
But the six-year study also refutes one of the most widely accepted explanations of why urban areas are so hostile to some kinds of birds.
Most ecologists have assumed that common nest predators in urban areas - such as house cats and raccoons - were destroying eggs or killing young birds in greater........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 4/1/2008 8:58:42 PM)
Rich Terrorist, Poor TerroristNew research suggests political freedom and geographic factors contribute significantly to causes of terrorism, challenging the common view that terrorism is rooted in poverty.
"There is no significant relationship between a country's wealth and level of terrorism once other factors like the country's level of political freedom are taken into account," says Alberto Abadie, public policy professor at Harvard University's Kennedy School of........Go to the Media-blog (Added on 4/1/2008 8:39:44 PM)
Are women voters more likely to vote for female candidates?This research, which was conducted by University of Wisconsins Kathleen Dolan, examined the National Election Study (NES) data, which provided information about voters reactions to female candidates and whether gender affinity was correlation to the election booth decision. The findings provided interesting results.
While the research looked at gender affinity, and such other issues as the desire for gender-specific representation on certain........Go to the Media-blog (Added on 3/31/2008 9:17:58 PM)
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