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Earth Sciences RSS FeedsNC State researcher finds El Niņo may have been factor in Magellan's Pacific voyage - (North Carolina State University) A new paper by North Carolina State University archaeologist Dr. Scott Fitzpatrick and University of Calgary researcher Dr. Richard Callaghan shows that Ferdinand Magellan's historic circumnavigation of the globe was likely influenced in large part by unusual weather conditions -- including what we now know as El Niņo -- which eased his passage across the Pacific Ocean, but ultimately led him over a thousand miles from his intended destination....Feed Source: www.eurekalert.org Long lost sisters - (American Friends of Tel Aviv University) A Tel Aviv University mathematician finds humanity was genetically divided for as much as 100,000 years... Marian Koshland Science Museum forms partnership with Science Center Singapore - (The National Academies) In a new collaboration, the Marian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences is licensing several components of its global warming and infectious diseases exhibits to the Science Center Singapore. The partnership marks an expansion of the Koshland Science Museum's efforts to bring its work to international audiences by teaming up with other museums and science centers around the world.... Jaguar upgrade brings ORNL closer to petascale computing - (DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory) Upgrades to Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Jaguar supercomputer have more than doubled its performance, increasing the system's ability to deliver far-reaching advances in climate studies, energy research and a wide range of sciences.... MIT creates new material for fuel cells - (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) MIT engineers have improved the power output of one type of fuel cell by more than 50 percent through technology that could help these environmentally friendly energy storage devices find a much broader market, particularly in portable electronics.... Atmosphere threatened by pollutants entering ocean, prof says - (Texas A&M University) A large quantity of nitrogen compounds emitted into the atmosphere by humans through the burning of fossil fuels and the use of nitrogen fertilizers enters the oceans and may lead to the removal of some carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, concluded a team of international scientists led by Texas A&M University Distinguished Professor of Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences Robert Duce.... Argonne-SRNL agreement supports critical DOE, national priorities - (DOE/Argonne National Laboratory) Argonne National Laboratory has signed a memorandum of understanding with Savannah River National Laboratory to collaborate on nuclear energy and environmental management research projects in support of critical US Energy Department needs and other important national priorities.... Crystal (eye) ball: Study says visual system equipped with 'future seeing powers' - (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) Catching a football. Maneuvering through a room full of people. Jumping out of the way when a golfer yells "fore." Most would agree these seemingly simple actions require us to perceive and quickly respond to a situation. Assistant professor of cognitive science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Mark Changizi argues they require something more -- our ability to foresee the future.... University of Miami's CSTARS to host valuable hurricane, typhoon satellite image library - (University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science) The University of Miami's Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing announced that it will house a library of data collected via spaceborne C-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar. The initiative, led by the Canadian Space Agency, in cooperation with UM/CSTARS, NOAA and NASA will provide qualified scientists with free access to more than 150 images that will help them to better understand the dynamics of hurricane and typhoon genesis, morphology and movement.... Geneticists at the American Museum of Natural History trace the evolution of St. Louis encephalitis - (American Museum of Natural History) Researchers from the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics at the American Museum of Natural History sequenced the entire genetic code of 23 strains of Flavivirus, the virus that causes St. Louis encephalitis, to understand its evolutionary history. This study, published this month in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, found that a single mutation made the virus pathogenic to humans and that the North and South American strains divided about 116 years ago.... New NOAA ocean observing system in Pascagoula aids mariners - (NOAA Headquarters) Mariners can now get free real-time information on water and wind conditions for the Port of Pascagoula, Miss., from a new NOAA ocean observing system at the port.The NOAA Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System provides observations of water levels, currents, salinity, wind speed and direction, and bridge clearance through an easy-to-use Web portal.... Adding up business and energy - (Inderscience Publishers) Could a business practice usually reserved for boosting profits be used to help turn companies green by reducing their energy use? Writing in the International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, researchers in India provide an answer.... Key molecule discovered in Venus's atmosphere - (European Space Agency) Venus Express has detected the molecule hydroxyl on another planet for the first time. This detection gives scientists an important new tool to unlock the workings of Venus's dense atmosphere.... Small primate ancestors had a leg up - (Duke University) Smaller primates expend no more energy climbing than they do walking. This surprising discovery may explain the evolutionary edge that encouraged the tiny ancestors of modern humans, apes and monkeys to climb into the trees about 65 million years ago and stay there. ... New study reveals hidden neotropical diversity - (Cornell College) Evidence of physically similar species hidden within plant tissues suggest that diversity of neotropical herbivorous insects may not simply be a function of plant architecture, but may also reflect the great age and area of the neotropics.... Carnegie Mellon scientists unveil new tool to understand evolution of multi-domain genes - (Carnegie Mellon University) Carnegie Mellon computational biologist Dannie Durand and colleagues have for the first time tackled the dilemma of how to study the ancestry of multidomain genes, which encode an important class of proteins called multidomain proteins that are crucial to human health. They found that standard methods for analyzing gene evolution, are critically flawed when applied to multidomain genes, mutations of which often are associated with cancers.... Researchers document rapid, dramatic 'reverse evolution' in the threespine stickleback fish - (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center) Evolution is supposed to inch forward over eons, but sometimes, at least in the case of a little fish called the threespine stickleback, the process can go in relative warp-speed reverse, according to a study led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.... New findings on ocean nitrogen - (University of East Anglia) As much as a third of the nitrogen entering the world's oceans from the atmosphere is man-made, according to new findings by an international team of scientists.... Addressing the 'nitrogen cascade' - (University of Virginia) The problem of excessive reactive nitrogen in the environment is little-known beyond a growing circle of environmental scientists who study how the element cycles through the environment and negatively alters local and global ecosystems and potentially harms human health. Two new papers by leading environmental scientists bring the problem to the forefront in the May 16 issue of the journal Science. ... Larger horns a gamble for young Soay sheep - (Cell Press) When it comes to winning mates, larger horns are an asset for male Soay sheep. But those that grow them may be putting their young lives on the line.... AGU Journal Highlights -- May 14, 2008 - (American Geophysical Union) In this issue: Did global sea level rise start centuries ago" Clues suggest U.S. east coast subsided, Wind-launched ocean eddies, Ancient Antarctic dust reveals past wind patterns, Lab tests show plate-slip progression, Atlantic surface temperatures linked to south Asian monsoons, Investigating Andean stress patterns, Climate models overheat Antarctica, Ozone-hole recovery may spur Antarctic warming.... New efficiency record for solar cells - (Eindhoven University of Technology) Physicist Bram Hoex and colleagues at Eindhoven University of Technology, together with the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, have improved the efficiency of an important type of solar cell from 21.9 to 23.2 percent (a relative improvement of 6 per cent). This new world record is being presented on Wednesday May 14 at a major solar energy conference in San Diego.... Estimated 3.2 million Burmese potentially affected by cyclone - (Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health) Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Lehman College, CUNY have developed geographic risk models, which indicate that as many as 3.2 million Burmese are estimated to be affected by the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis. Using Geographic Information Systems, the researchers calculated the likely distribution of the population of Burma (also known as Myanmar) and developed maps of the regions at greatest risk from the storms effects. ... Undergraduates develop 'dirt-powered' microbial fuel cells to light Africa - (Harvard University) A team composed of Harvard students and alumni was among the winners of the World Bank's Lighting Africa 2008 Development Marketplace competition, held in Accra, Ghana from May 6-8, 2008. The innovation, microbial fuel cell-based lighting systems suitable for Sub-Saharan Africa, netted the group a $200,000 prize.... University of Minnesota to host world's largest conference on evolution - (University of Minnesota) More than 1,400 of the world's top experts on evolution will gather in Minnesota June 20 through 24 for Evolution 2008, the world's largest annual gathering of evolutionary biologists. ... Copyright © 2008, Magic Maldives. All Rights Reserved. |