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Earth Sciences RSS FeedsPNNL researchers earn top honors at Supercomputing conference - (DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) The amount of DNA sequence data to be analyzed is piling up. Now, genome sequence analysis can be made interactive and intuitive, helping researchers find hidden relationships in massive amounts of data. This award-winning program combined multiple databases, analysis software and a "visualization technology" that presents data in unique visual patterns and allows users to interactively explore them. It won "Best Overall" at the recent Supercomputing '08 High Performance Computing Analytics Challenge in Austin, Texas....Feed Source: www.eurekalert.org Why the 'perfect' body isn't always perfect - (University of Chicago Press Journals) The hormones that make women physically stronger, more competitive and better able to deal with stress also tend to redistribute fat from the hips to the waist, according to Elizabeth Cashdan, an anthropologist at the University of Utah. So in societies and situations where women are under pressure to procure resources, they may be less likely to have the classic hourglass figure.... Using the other guy's toolkit: Similarities of pumping blood, oil examined - (University of Houston) Scientists and engineers from two of the nation's largest industries -- medicine and energy -- will come together Dec. 8, along with academicians, to explore synergies in moving oil and pumping blood. The Pumps & Pipes II conference will stimulate discussion, spark ideas and share new technologies among experts in the petroleum, medical and imaging industries that face similar challenges, even if on a very different scale. ... ESA satellites focusing on the Arctic - (European Space Agency) The Arctic is undergoing rapid transformation due to climate change, pollution and human activity. ESA's ERS and Envisat satellites have been providing satellite data of the region for the last 17 years. These long term data sets in combination with ESA's future missions will be key in implementing the newly adopted European Commission policy called 'the European Union and the Arctic Region'.... From sheet metal elements to host cells: DFG launches 10 new collaborative research centers - (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) On Jan. 1, 2009, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft will launch 10 new collaborative research centers. They will be initially funded for the next four years with a total of approximately 90 million euros (US$114 million).... New publishing partnership for Energy for Sustainable Development - (Elsevier) Starting in January 2009 Elsevier will be the official publisher of Energy for Sustainable Development.... Ecological impact of African cities - (Wiley-Blackwell) African cities are growing faster than anywhere else in the world. This is having a major impact, but few ecologists are studying the urban environment and effect of cities on rural areas. One of the most important ecological changes in Africa's history is being overlooked.... Invasive garden ants as new pest insects in Europe - (Public Library of Science) A new study, published in the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE, illuminates where Lasius neglectus, a new ant that was discovered in 1990, comes from, how it organizes its supercolonies, and how it attained its pest status. The study provides a wake-up call for closer monitoring of urban ecosystems to eliminate infestations before they become problematic.... Iowa State, Ames Laboratory chemist looks for cleaner, cheaper rocket fuel - (Iowa State University) Mark Gordon of Iowa State University and the US Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory is part of a US Air Force research collaboration looking for new and better rocket fuels. The researchers have turned their attention to ionic liquids -- salts that can melt down to liquids at room temperature -- as a potential fuel. ... Foretelling a major meltdown - (Binghamton University) By discovering the meaning of a rare mineral that can be used to track ancient climates, Binghamton University geologist Tim Lowenstein is helping climatologists and others better understand what we're probably in for over the next century or two as global warming begins to crank up the heat and, ultimately, to change life as we know it. ... Natural Capital Project to develop conservation software - (Stanford University) The Natural Capital Project -- a collaboration of Stanford University's Woods Institute for the Environment, the Nature Conservancy and the World Wildlife Fund -- has been awarded a two-year, $1.97 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to develop a software program for mapping and evaluating the economic benefits provided by temperate marine ecosystems.... Self-powered devices possible, says Texas A&M researcher - (Texas A&M University) Imagine a self-powering cell phone that never needs to be charged because it converts sound waves produced by the user into the energy it needs to keep running. It's not as far-fetched as it may seem thanks to the recent work of Tahir Cagin, a professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University.... December Geosphere media highlights - (Geological Society of America) The December Geosphere, the Geological Society of America's e-journal, is now online. Topics include detailed data integration from multiple fields, including tectonics, oceanography, sedimentology and paleontology, to study the southwestern US climate 17 million years ago to 6 million years ago, sedimentation in a piggyback basin, Angel Lake orthogneiss in the East Humboldt Range, Nev., and a study of the South Balkan extensional system within southern Bulgaria, Macedonia, eastern Albania, northern Greece, and northwestern Turkey.... Rivers are carbon processors, not inert pipelines - (European Science Foundation) Microorganisms in rivers and streams play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle that has not previously been considered. Freshwater ecologist Dr. Tom Battin, of the University of Vienna, told a COST ESF Frontiers of Science conference in October that our understanding of how rivers and streams deal with organic carbon has changed radically.... New model predicts hot spots for mercury in fish - (North Carolina State University) Mercury levels in fish are prompting widespread consumption advisories and uncertainty among consumers over which species are safe to eat. Now researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a model that will help scientists and regulators around the country predict which areas are likely to have fish with high mercury levels -- a breakthrough that should help officials address public uncertainty by developing health advisories for specific water bodies and fish species.... New uses for imidazolium salts in medicine and alternative energy - (Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore) Commonly used as solvents for various organic reactions, imidazolium salts are room-temperature ionic liquids that are chemically stable and have low vapor pressure. While their physical properties have been widely studied, the Singapore study is one of the few scientific reports about the salts' biochemical properties and medical applications.... New movement models tested at the Smithsonian in Panama - (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute) New, movement models for organisms as diverse as gut bacteria, ants, marine larvae and cheetahs include tree seed dispersal model and animal tracking systems tested in Panama.... Biofuel plantations on tropical forestlands are bad for the climate and biodiversity, study finds - (World Wildlife Fund) Keeping tropical rain forests intact is a better way to combat climate change than replacing them with biofuel plantations, a study in the journal Conservation Biology finds. ... Evidence from dirty teeth: Ancient Peruvians ate well - (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute) Starch grains preserved on human teeth reveal that ancient Peruvians ate a variety of cultivated crops including squash, beans, peanuts and pacay. Starch grain analysis of human dental remains should prove to be a powerful means to directly study ancient diets.... Study on wildlife corridors shows how they work over time - (Washington University in St. Louis) At the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, there are five strange looking "patches" cleared out of the surrounding forest. No, they're not crop circles carved by aliens. They're actually budding longleaf pine forest ecosystems. Biologists at Washington University in St. Louis and collaborators at three other American universities have created these ecological patches with the help of the United States Forest Service-Savannah River to understand whether "corridors" help plants and animals survive habitat fragmentation. ... BioScience tip sheet, December 2008 - (American Institute of Biological Sciences) A listing and short description of the peer-reviewed articles in the December 2008 issue of BioScience.... Modern day scourge helped ancient Earth escape a deathly deep freeze - (Imperial College London) The planet's present day greenhouse scourge, carbon dioxide, may have played a vital role in helping ancient Earth to escape from complete glaciation, say scientists in a paper published online today.... AGU journal highlights: Nov. 28, 2008 - (American Geophysical Union) Featured in this release are research papers on the following topics: "Reduced Saharan dust due to rain boosts ocean heating", "Coastal Southern Ocean acts as powerful carbon sink","Ionosphere fluctuations linked to sudden stratospheric warming", "Earthquake probability models tested against 2000-year record", "Melting ice likely formed Martian gullies", "Topography tweaks solar tides", "Clouds stimulate transport of air ", "Using cosmic-ray neutrons to measure soil moisture", "Isotopes illuminate atmospheric convection", "Explaining isotope composition of tropical rains."... Exposure to organochlorate pollutants and lead weakens animals bones, according to a study - (Universidad de Granada) A work carried out at the UGR has studied for the first time in Spain the toxicological effects of such substances in living creatures through a study of the bone tissue in bird populations.The results of this research work have been published in the journal 'Environmental Science and Technology', and will be published shortly in 'Environmental Pollution' and 'Toxicology Letters' ... A carbon-neutral way to power your home - (Newcastle University) Newcastle scientists lead the way with a biofuel-driven, zero-carbon home energy system.... Copyright © 2008, Blurbosphere.com. All Rights Reserved. |