http://www.redorbit.com Science http://www.redorbit.com/modules/news/images/tools/rss_logo.gif http://www.redorbit.com Image Caption: A thick plume of brownish smoke billowed from the Western Australia coast and over the Great Australian Bight on November 19, 2009, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite passed overhead and captured this natural-color image. The area where MODIS detected actively burning fire is outlined in red. This stretch of the southern Western Australia coastline is remote, and much of it is protected as the Nuytsland Nature Reserve. According to the state Department of Environment and Conservation, the fire was triggered by lightning in the second week of November, and it had burned about 30,000 hectares (74,130 acres) as of November 20. NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1789815/australia_issues_catastrophic_fire_warning/index.html?source=r_science Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:52:19 -0500 Science The mysterious Monarch butterfly, which migrates annually between Canada and Mexico, is now facing a new peril: another insect thriving in Western Mexican forests.Some 8,000 oyamel fir trees were cut down in July to remove beetles that threaten the Monarch's ages-old migration.But now http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1789814/treeeating_beetles_threaten_the_monarch_butterfly/index.html?source=r_science Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:37:04 -0500 Science Tons of private emails and papers supposedly sent between several of the world's top climate scientists in the last 13 years were stolen by hackers and posted online.The files were taken from the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit, a famous center that focuses on the investigation of natural and anthropogenic global warming.Climate change disbelievers who have sifted through the emails insist that they offer "smoking gun" proof that several of the climatologists agreed to warp statistics to sustain the opinion that climate change is authentic and a product of humanity.The authenticity of the emails has not been established and those connected to the documents have no comment so far.The emails were first pulled from the Internet onto a Russian server, and then sent to several websites. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1789812/documents_raise_questions_about_climate_change_validity/index.html?source=r_science Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0500 Science The tooth, thumb and finger of the much celebrated Italian scientist Galileo Galilei have been discovered by an art collector, Italy’s History of Science Museum announced on Friday.Scientists and historians took these parts, along with another finger and a vertebrae, during a burial ceremony in 1642, nearly a century after his death, reported Reuters.For those 95 years after his death, church authorities refused to allow Galileo to be buried in consecrated ground because his findings contradicted the traditional teachings of the Catholic church.The science historian responsible for removing the parts, Giovanni Targioni Tozzetti, wrote about the ceremony and “confessed he had found it hard to resist the temptation to take away the skull which had housed such extraordinary genius," the museum said.The relics resurfaced after being passed from one collector to another before finally being lost in 1905, while the other finger and the vertebrae have been kept mummified in museums in Florence and Padue since 1737."All the organic material extracted from the corpse has therefore now been identified and is conserved in responsible hands," the museum said in a statement."On the basis of considerable historical documentation, there are no doubts about the authenticity of the items," it added.The museum will be showcasing the newly-found parts in 2010, after the museum finishes renovation work and changes its name to the Galileo museum.Galileo was born in Pisa in 1564, and played a key role in the 17th century Scientific Revolution. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1789779/galileos_lost_tooth_and_fingers_found/index.html?source=r_science Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:20:00 -0500 Science The LArge Hadron Collider, which was shut down after its inauguration in September 2008 amid technical faults, restarted on Friday, a spokesman for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) said.The CERN spokesman said they hope to have beams circulating by early Saturday in the huge tunnels beneath the French-Swiss border. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1789778/big_bang_collider_restarts_after_14month_hiatus/index.html?source=r_science Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:50:00 -0500 Science Deep sea teeming with species that have never known sunlightCensus of Marine Life scientists have inventoried an astonishing abundance, diversity and distribution of deep sea species that have never known sunlight - creatures that somehow manage a living in a frigid black world down to 5,000 meters (~3 miles) below the ocean waves.Revealed via deep-towed cameras, sonar and other vanguard technologies, animals known to thrive in an eternal watery darkness now number 17,650, a diverse collection of species ranging from crabs to shrimp to worms. Most have adapted to diets based on meager droppings from the sunlit layer above, others to diets of bacteria that break down oil, sulfur and methane, the sunken bones of dead whales and other implausible foods.Five of the Census' 14 field projects plumb the ocean beyond light, each dedicated to the study of life in progressively deeper realms - from the continental margins (COMARGE: Continental Margins Ecosystems) to the spine-like ridge running down the mid-Atlantic (MAR-ECO: Mid-Atlantic Ridge Ecosystem Project), the submerged mountains rising from the seafloor (CenSeam: Global Census of Marine Life on Seamounts), the muddy floor of ocean plains (CeDAMar: Census of Diversity of Abyssal Marine Life), and the vents, seeps, whale falls and chemically-driven ecosystems found on the margins of mid-ocean ridges and in the deepest ocean trenches (ChEss: Biogeography of Deep-Water Chemosynthetic Systems).Edward Vanden Berghe, who manages OBIS (Ocean Biogeographic Information System), the Census' inventory of marine life observations, notes that, unsurprisingly, the number of records in the database falls off dramatically at deeper depths - a function of the dearth of sampling done in the deep sea.However, Dr. Vanden Berghe reports that OBIS today records 5,722 species for which all recorded observations are deeper than 1,000 meters (~.62 miles) and 17,650 species for which all recorded observations are deeper than 200 meters, the depth where darkness stops photosynthesis.Scientists working on the deep-sea Census number 344 and span 34 nations.By the time the 10-year Census concludes in October, 2010, the five deep-sea projects will have collectively fielded more than 210 expeditions, including the first ever MAR-ECO voyage in October-November this year, to explore the Mid-Atlantic Ridge south of the Equator, a scientific collaboration between Russia, Brazil, South Africa and Uruguay.Each voyage is hugely expensive and challenged by often extreme ocean conditions and requirements that have kept the remotest reaches of Neptune's realm impenetrable until recently.While the collective findings are still being analyzed for release as part of the final Census report to be released in London on October 4, 2010, scientists say patterns of the abundance, distribution and diversity of deep-sea life around the world are already apparent."Abundance is mostly a function of available food and decreases rapidly with depth," says Robert S. Carney of Louisiana State University, co-leader (with Myriam Sibuet of France) of the Census project COMARGE, studying life along the world's continental margins."The continental margins are where we find the transition from abundant food made by photosynthesis to darkened poverty. The transitions display the intriguing adaptations and survival strategies of amazing species," says Dr. Carney.Abundance in the deep sea requires one or more of the following:* Swift current, which increases an animal's chance of encountering food;* Long-lived animals, populations of which grow numerous even on a meager diet;* Abundant food in higher layers that either settles to the depths or to which deep animals can migrate;* An alternative to photosynthesis of food, such as chemosynthetic production. "In the bathy- and mesopelagic zones - the largest 3D deep-sea living space - animals either have to cope somehow with food scarcity or migrate long distances up to find food," says MAR-ECO project leader Odd Aksel Bergstad of University of Bergen. "Because it provides an oasis of topographical relief in the center of the ocean, we found a high concentration of animals on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.""Distribution is pretty straightforward for animals in the deep sea," says Dr. Carney. "The composition of faunal populations changes with depth, likely a consequence of physiology, ecology and the suitability of seafloor habitat condition for certain animals.""Diversity is harder to understand. Although the mud on the deep sea floor appears monotonous and poor in food, that monotonous mud has a maximum of species diversity on the lower continental margin. To survive in the deep, animals must find and exploit meager or novel resources, and their great diversity in the deep reflects how many ways there are to adapt."Meeting an unfamiliar Dumbo, and other tales from the deepSpecific discoveries, some beautiful and all pushing back the frontiers of the unknown, illustrate the results of voyages by the five Census projects exploring the dark deep sea.On two 2009 voyages to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge by MAR-ECO explorers:* At 2,000 to 2,500 meters (~1.25-1.5 miles): A bizarre, elongated orange animal identified as Neocyema -- only the fifth specimen of the fish ever caught and never before on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge;* At 1,700 to 4,300 meters (~1-1.9 miles): Coryphaenoides brevibarbis, with tiny bones in its ear, known as otoliths, that have growth bands countable like tree rings to reveal the fish's age. Comparison of age with size shows its growth rate and thus the amount of food in the neighborhood. Called the rat-tail, the fish lives on crustaceans it catches just above the seafloor.* At 1,000 to 3,000 meters (~.6-1.9 miles): NOAA researchers led by Mike Vecchione of the Smithsonian Institution collected a very large specimen of a rare, primitive animal known as cirrate or finned octopod, commonly called "Dumbos" because they flap a pair of large ear-like fins to swim, akin to the cartoon flying elephant. The jumbo Dumbo netted by Census explorers was estimated to be nearly two meters (~6 feet) long and, at 6 kg (~13 pounds), the largest of only a few specimens of the species ever obtained. Altogether, nine species of gelatinous "Dumbos" were collected on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, including one that may be new to science. Scientists were surprised to find such a plentiful and diverse assemblage of these animals, which rank among the largest in the deep sea. On the October-November 2009 voyage to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge by Russian, Brazilian, South African and Uruguayan MAR-ECO explorers:* At 1,000 meters (~.6 miles): an "indescribable" catch of "invertebrates of all colors, including corals, sea cucumbers and sea urchins. It's hard to believe that such exuberance of life exists a kilometer deep into the ocean."On a 2007 voyage in the Gulf of Mexico by COMARGE explorers:* At 990 meters (~.6 miles): A solitary tubeworm (formally known as Lamellibrachia), in what looked like ordinary surroundings. After a robotic arm lifted the worm from a hole in the Gulf floor, however, crude oil streamed from both the animal and the open hole. The "wildcat" tubeworm had hit a gusher and was dining on chemicals from decomposing oil. * At 2,750 meters (~1.7 miles) in the Northern Gulf of Mexico: an odd transparent sea cucumber, Enypniastes, was videorecorded creeping forward on its many tentacles at about 2 cm (~.8 inches) per minute while sweeping detritus-rich sediment into its mouth. At the end, it blooms into a startling curved shape and swims away to find another mealOn a just-ended 36-day voyage to the Cayman Trough in the Caribbean, the setting of the 1989, fictional film The Abyss, ChEss explorers were poised to explore the deepest hot-springs on Earth: only to be thwarted by the arrival of tropical storm Ida. Neverthless:* Working at depths of greater than 4,000 meters (~2.5 miles): Chris German of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, ChEss co-chair, and colleagues from the US, UK and Japan found evidence for chemically enriched plumes in the water column signaling the presence of seafloor hot vents hundreds of meters deeper still. Funded by NASA's Astrobiology program, the team used WHOI's new hybrid robotic vehicle, Nereus, first as a free-swimming autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and then as a tethered, battery powered remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to track the plume to its source and begin to investigate the seafloor. Bad weather forced the team to break off only hundreds of meters from their target - a search that will now be resumed by ChEss using the UK's AUV Autosub 6000 and ROV Isis in 2010. On a 2009 voyage to a range of New Zealand seamounts, a CenSeam team found:* At 1,000 meters (~.6 miles) and below: abundant vibrant coral gardens in an area of seamounts eerily nicknamed "the Graveyard," where the speed of currents provides ideal habitat for these animals that feed on suspended food. The scientists, who also explored the nearby Andes seamounts, discovered diverse communities living amid the cold water corals, including invertebrates like sponges and seastars and a species of worm that lives within the branches of bamboo corals (Family Isididae), modifying how the corals grow. On a 2009 voyage to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean a CeDAMar team trapped deep-sea life:* At about 500 meters (~.3 miles): the Antarctic's first recorded whalebone-eating worm, Osedax. Seventeen species had been reported on other fallen whales in such places as the shallow northeast Atlantic off Sweden, the northeast Pacific off California and the northwest Pacific off Japan. CeDAMar scientists attached whalebone snacks to two vehicles and parked them 550 and 630 meters (~.34-.39 meters) deep near Smith Island near the West Antarctic Peninsula. When they raised the parked vehicles after 14 months, they found the same creatures in the Southern and Antarctic Oceans. Analyzing the populations crowded onto the parked vehicles they found new species of the whalebone-eating genus Osedax. A mat of chemosynthetic microbial fauna and the small marine worm Ophryotrocha that eats bacterial mats covered the raised vehicles. Diversity and abundance in mud: the living skin of the abyssOn the abyssal floor, the deep mud contains biodiversity that escapes detection by video and photography since most of the animals are only a few millimeters in size and hide among the sediment particles."Some scientists have likened deep mud's biodiversity to that of tropical forests. In college I was taught that high biodiversity is a function of habitat diversity - many nooks and crannies. It is, however, hard to imagine anything as monotonous, nook-less and cranny-less as deep-sea mud," says Dr. Carney.Sometimes, the vast majority of creatures collected in mud from the abyssal plains are new to science, says CeDAMar expert David Billett of UK's National Oceanography Centre.Of some 680 specimens of copepods collected on a recent CeDAMar cruise (DIVA 2) to the southeastern Atlantic, for example, only seven could be identified; 99 percent were new to science. And among hundreds of species of macrofauna (animals about the size of an earthworm) collected in different areas, 50 to 85 percent were unrecognized."The abyssal fauna is so rich in species diversity and so poorly described that collecting a known species is an anomaly," says Dr. Billett. "Describing for the first time all the different species in any coffee cup-sized sample of deep-sea sediment is a daunting challenge."Far rarer than new species in the mud is the capture of a new species of sea cucumber, and rarer still a new genus. However, Dr. Billett and colleagues from the National Oceanography Centre and the Shirshov Institute, Moscow, accomplished this feat this year around the Crozet Islands after steaming for a grueling six days south from South Africa.One of the new sea cucumbers was yellowish-green, a rare find as virtually all others found in the global seas are whitish grey or purple.However, what startled researchers most was finding that the most abundant sea cucumber around the Crozet Islands - thousands of specimens at abyssal depths - was a species never seen anywhere else before, now dubbed Peniagone crozeti."The distribution of species in the deep sea is full of mysteries," says Dr. Billett. "In addition to the boundaries caused by underwater topography, ridges and seamounts, there are unseen, and as yet unexplained, walls and barriers that determine supplies of food and define the provinces of species in the deep sea.""There is both a great lack of information about the 'abyss' and substantial misinformation," says Dr. Carney."Many species live there. However, the abyss has long been viewed as a desert. Worse, it was viewed as a wasteland where few to no environmental impacts could be of any concern. 'Mine it, drill it, dispose into it, or fish it - what could possibly be impacted? And, if there is an impact, the abyss is vast and best yet, hidden from sight.'"Census of Marine Life deep realm scientists see and are concerned."Expensive, dangerous work"The deep sea is the Earth's largest continuous ecosystem and largest habitat for life. It is also the least studied," says Dr. German.Sampling at great depths depends on high tech instruments (such as remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and submarines) or "traditional" equipment (trawls, cores, dredges) that need several kilometers of cable to reach the seabed. For example, 12 km (~7.5 miles) of cable was needed to trawl recently down to 4,800 meters (~ 3 miles) depth on the Porcupine Abyssal Plain in the Northeast Atlantic.Earlier this year, CenSeam scientists aboard New Zealand-based Research Vessel Tangaroa underlined the grueling nature of the challenge of obtaining samples, maps and unprecedented underwater footage of the Graveyard and the Andes seamounts in the South Pacific.The work was performed with a Deep-Towed Imaging System (DTIS), a technology developed and refined by growing experience over rugged, unfamiliar seamounts and ridges, yielding steadily better results.Says Mireille Consalvey of the New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, CenSeam project manager, "Every deployment is a trip into the unknown, with often seasick scientists struggling to work amid high winds and 10 meter swells.""It can be a tough environment down there. I recall once the abject fear when our video imaging system snagged for 40 minutes on a rock face -- the slow, scary process of recovering it, and the shared worry that our valued recording equipment would arrive at the surface battered and bent. Thankfully, the recorder survived the ordeal better than many of us and yielded brilliant new footage of this remote realm."One final note about life in the abyss: not all intruders from the lighted world are ROVs or submarines. A southern elephant seal tagged by Census project TOPP recently dove down 2,388 meters (~1.5 miles) from the surface. At that depth, water pressure is roughly equal to 240 times the air pressure at sea level. The human eardrum can rupture at 10 meters.---Image 1: This unfamiliar Dumbo species collected by Census of Marine Life scientists on a 2009 MAR-ECO voyage to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge may prove new to science. Credit: David Shale, MAR-ECO, Census of Marine LifeImage 2: The nine known species of rare, primitive finned octopods are commonly called “Dumbos” because they flap a pair of large ear-like fins to swim, akin to the cartoon flying elephant. One of the deep sea's largest animals, this specimen was collected at about 3500 meters on a 2009 Census of Marine Life MAR-ECO cruise to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Credit: Michael Vecchione, Census of Marine Life http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1790094/deep_ocean_harbors_strange_creatures/index.html?source=r_science Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:25:00 -0500 Science The East Antarctic ice sheet, once unaltered by global warming, has swiftly melted since 2006 and could increase sea levels, says a new study.Available in a recent issue of Nature Geoscience, the same research indicates that the West Antarctic ice sheet is also melting rapidly.Scientists are concerned that higher global temperatures could cause a quick collapse of West Antarctica, which has enough frozen water to raise the global ocean watermark by 16 feet.In 2007 the UN Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) calculated that the sea levels would increase 7.2 to 23.2 inches by 2100, but the approximation did not take into account the possible influence of melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica.190 nations are meeting in Copenhagen in December to arrange a global climate plan to fight greenhouse gases.University of Texas professor Jianli Chen and colleagues reviewed seven years of information over ocean-ice sheet interaction in Antarctica. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1789880/east_antarctic_ice_sheet_melting_at_alarming_rate/index.html?source=r_science Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:15:00 -0500 Science Theory also says energy conservation doesn't helpIn a provocative new study, a University of Utah scientist argues that rising carbon dioxide emissions – the major cause of global warming – cannot be stabilized unless the world's economy collapses or society builds the equivalent of one new nuclear power plant each day."It looks unlikely that there will be any substantial near-term departure from recently observed acceleration in carbon dioxide emission rates," says the new paper by Tim Garrett, an associate professor of atmospheric sciences.Garrett's study was panned by some economists and rejected by several journals before acceptance by Climatic Change, a journal edited by renowned Stanford University climate scientist Stephen Schneider. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1790096/is_global_warming_unstoppable/index.html?source=r_science Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:53:44 -0500 Science Since the 1997 international agreement to address global warming, climate change has seen its ups and downs, including extremely bleak warnings.So far, the world’s oceans have raised an inch and a half, serious droughts have plagued parts of the world, temperatures everywhere are warmer, and several endangered species continue to be threatened."The latest science is telling us we are in more trouble than we thought," said Janos Pasztor, climate adviser to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, to AP News.It is suspected that since the original agreement signed in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997, is that the amount of carbon dioxide in the air has grown 6.5%. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1789881/staggering_global_warming_statistics_emerge_as_un_meeting_looms/index.html?source=r_science Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:20:00 -0500 Science A new species of chameleon has been discovered in Tanzania by a team of scientists.Dr Andrew Marshall, from the Environment Department at the University of York, first spotted the animal while surveying monkeys in the Magombera Forest when he disturbed a twig snake eating one.The specimen was collected, tested and compared to two others found by scientists in the same area and has now been named Kinyongia magomberae (the Magombera chameleon) in research published in the African Journal of Herpetology.Dr Marshall is co-author of the study alongside researchers from the Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali, the South African National Biodiversity Institute, Anglia Ruskin University and the University of Stellenbosch.He said: “Discovering a new species is a rare event so to be involved in the identification and naming of this animal is very exciting.“Chameleon species tend to be focused in small areas and, unfortunately, the habitat this one depends on, the Magombera Forest, is under threat. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1790107/new_chameleon_species_discovered_in_east_africa/index.html?source=r_science Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:51:26 -0500 Science Researchers reconstruct the evolution of bat migration with the aid of a mathematical modelNot just birds, but also a few species of bats face a long journey every year. Researchers at Princeton University in the U.S. and at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell, Germany studied the migratory behavior of the largest extant family of bats, the so-called "Vespertilionidae" with the help of mathematical models. They discovered that the migration over short as well as long distances of various kinds of bats evolved independently within the family (PLoS One, October 21st, 2009).Most people know the term of "migrating bird" but "migrating bat" is not well established. However, some bat species migrate every year long or short distances. Whereas birds migrate to exploit seasonal food resources, the majority of bats migrate with the intention to find better hibernating conditions.In Europe about 30 percent and in North America around 45 percent of bird species migrate; the migration of bats however is a rather rare phenomenon. Only about three percent of the approximately 1,000 bat species migrate, of those less than 0.016 percent migrate further than 1,000 kilometers. The vast majority of bats living in temperate zones hibernate during the winter as a result of food shortage at this time.Together, researchers of the University of Princeton in the U.S. and the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology analyzed the genealogical tree of bats on the basis of their migratory behavior. They are confining themselves to only the family of the "Vespertilionidae", also called the vespertilionid bats, which includes 316 species or about a third of all bat species. Of about 32 migrating bat species, 23 are part of this family. Eleven of those migrate over long distances greater than 1,000 kilometers. The remaining twelve species only fly short distances that vary between 100 to 1,000 kilometers.The researchers discovered that the migratory behavior over long and short distances evolved repeatedly and for the most part independently within the family of vespertilionid bats. Kamran Safi, one of the authors of the study says: "according to the model, the probability for the vespertilionid bats to loose or gain their residential habitat is the same as becoming a short or long distance migrant". The migratory behavior of bats could be more complex than previously assumed. The evolution as well as the loss of the migratory behavior is probably based on the fast evolutionary adaptation that is caused by climate change or changes in the social life of the bat.The scientist of the Max Planck Institute says: "We assume that the evolution of migratory behavior in the vespertilionid bats is an answer to sinking temperatures in their habitats, which made a temporary migration into warmer areas necessary". In contrast, for the migratory behavior of birds it is generally hypothesized that tropical species expand to different areas. The evolution of migratory behavior in bats enabled access to new resources and as a result, the density of the bats increased rapidly.Most of the verspertilionidae were originally from the temperate zone and not from the tropics. In addition, researchers discovered that there is a correlation between migration and roost use as well as between migration and geographic distribution. Furthermore tree roosting bats are more likely to migrate than cave roosting species. A possible reason for this behavior is the difficulty for bats to find suitable hibernating conditions in trees. Isabelle-Anne Bisson, Kamran Safi, Richard A. Holland. Evidence for Repeated Independent Evolution of Migration in the Largest Family of Bats. PLoS ONE 4(10): e7504. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0007504. October 21st, 2009---Image Caption: Evening or vesper bat (Vespertillo murinus). Credit: Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Radolfzell http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1790102/the_evolution_of_bat_migration/index.html?source=r_science Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:22:59 -0500 Science A research team led by the University of Colorado at Boulder has found a clever way to use traditional GPS satellite signals to measure snow depth as well as soil and vegetation moisture, a technique expected to benefit meteorologists, water resource managers, climate modelers and farmers.The researchers have developed a technique that uses interference patterns created when GPS signals that reflect off of the ground -- called "multipath" signals -- are combined with signals that arrive at the antenna directly from the satellite, said CU-Boulder aerospace engineering sciences Professor Kristine Larson, who is leading the study. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1789793/new_method_to_measure_snow_benefits_farmers/index.html?source=r_science Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:30:00 -0500 Science Image 1: NRL's Marine Biogeochemistry section organized and led an international research expedition aboard the USCG Polar Sea in the Beaufort Sea during Sept. 15-26, 2009. Credit: US Coast GuardImage 2: NRL Chief Scientist, Richard Coffin (Marine Biogeochemistry) and Co-Chief Scientists Warren Wood (NRL Geology and Geophysics) with Jens Greinert (The Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research) and Kelly Rose (Department of Energy-National Energy Technology Laboratory), led a team of 32 university and government scientists from the United States, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Other NRL scientists included Leila Hamdan and Joseph Smith, Allen Reed, Rebecca Plummer and Curt Millholland (Science Applications International Corp.). Credit: US Naval Research LaboratoryImage 3: Having the potential to provide a clean and abundant fuel alternative, deposits of methane hydrates -- frozen mixtures of hydrocarbon gas (mostly methane) and water -- occur over large areas of the ocean floor. Credit: US Geological Society http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1789792/expedition_investigates_climate_change_alternative_fuels_in_arctic/index.html?source=r_science Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:16:44 -0500 Science Winners of AAAS Kavli Awards include television and radio stories supported by NSFA television feature about growing diamonds in the lab, and a radio story that dramatizes some strange coincidences in a discussion of randomness and probability won recognition earlier this month in the 2009 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards. Both programs were funded in part by the National Science Foundation."Diamond Factory" was produced by Julia Cort for WGBH's NOVA science NOW, and aired on public television stations in June. It features host Neil deGrasse Tyson showing how materials science offers the means to engineer diamonds with the strength and conductivity of the real thing. Along the way, Tyson variously adopts the persona of Indiana Jones and travels blindfolded to the diamond producers' top-secret location, where he learns that diamonds that can be customized in size and shape offer a valuable resource for future electronics, transportation and communications."Julia Cort is a master of expressing complicated ideas in a way that's easy to understand and compelling in following the story," said Paula Apsell, senior executive producer, NOVA, and director of the WGBH science unit. "The techniques she used are emblematic of the approach we take at NOVA scienceNOW, creating stories that are educational and entertaining and, critically, that appeal to families.""A Very Lucky Wind" was produced by Jad Abumrad, Soren Wheeler and Robert Krulwich at WNYC's Radio Lab and also aired in June. It begins with the story of a girl in England, Laura Buxton, who sends a balloon into the air--but not before attaching a label that said, "Please send back to Laura Buxton." The balloon winds up touching down 140 miles away in the yard of a girl with the same name, of the same age, and sharing many other traits. The producers use this as a departure point for a spirited discussion of randomness versus fate, incorporating the perspectives of University of California, Berkeley statistician Deborah Nolan and Jay Koehler, professor at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.Jad Abumrad said the show was inspired by questions about the true state of randomness."What is a miracle? What is the mathematical threshold for a miracle?" said Abumrad. "These were among our questions. And we learned that given enough time, strange things will happen."The 2009 awards are the first to be given under a new endowment by The Kavli Foundation. In recognition of that endowment, the awards--first given in 1945--are now called the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards. The Foundation, based in Oxnard, California, is dedicated to advancing science for the benefit of humanity.Independent panels of science journalists select the winners of the awards. The winners for each category will receive $3000 and a plaque at the 2010 AAAS Annual Meeting in San Diego in February.---Image 1: A polycrystalline diamond disc, made with chemical vapor deposition, is shown. Credit: WGBHImage 2: Neil deGrasse Tyson examines an unpolished man-made diamond, fresh out of the grower, while Apollo Diamond's Robert Linares looks on. As host of WGBH's NOVA scienceNOW, Tyson, astrophysicist, and director of the Hayden Planetarium, makes science both educational and entertaining. Credit: WGBH http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1789789/science_journalism_awards_announced/index.html?source=r_science Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:42:54 -0500 Science Which is better: flax or Brassica?The studies developed by the researchers reveal that flax (which is richer in cellulose) can produce up to 0.3 kg of ethanol for every kg of dry biomass, compared with 0.25kg/kg of Brassica. However, when the whole production cycle is analyzed, the yellow-flowered plant offers a greater production of biomass per hectare and has a lesser environmental impact.The biofuel produced from these two plants is "second generation bioethanol", which is obtained from forest or agricultural residues, or from herbaceous crops, and does not enter into direct competition with agricultural crops intended for animal or human consumption.The European Union and the International Monetary Fund are promoting the development of these types of biofuels. Spain is the third largest producer of bioethanol in Europe, after France and Germany, although its use still only represents 0.4% of total energy consumption.References:S. González-García, L. Luo, M.T. Moreira, G. Feijoo y G. Huppes. "Life cycle assessment of flax shives derived second generation ethanol fuelled automobiles in Spain". Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 13(8): 1922-1933, octubre de 2009.S. González-García, C.M. Gasol, X. Gabarrell, J. Rieradevall, M.T. Moreira and G. Feijoo. "Environmental aspects of ethanol-based fuels from Brassica carinata: A case study of second generation ethanol". Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 13(9): 2613-2620, diciembre de 2009.---Image 1: These are the blooms of a flax plant. Credit: Johnathan J. Stegeman and Tom Hilton /SINC.Image 2: These are the flowers of a Brassica plant. Credit: Johnathan J. Stegeman and Tom Hilton/ SINC. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1789787/flax_and_yellow_flowers_can_produce_bioethanol/index.html?source=r_science Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:30:55 -0500 Science Honoring 150 years of "On the Origin of Species;" Noor is recipient of Darwin-Wallace MedalPlease join the National Science Foundation (NSF) on Monday, Nov. 23, at 10 a.m. ET for a live webcast featuring Darwin-Wallace Medal recipient Mohamed Noor of Duke University, who will answer media questions about current evidence for evolution and modern evolution theory. Among the topics:* Does modern genetic evidence favor the existence of a missing link?* What's the single most important evolution discovery in the last 50 years?* Is the current understanding of evolution about to undergo another big change?* Does the process of natural selection evolve?* What will be evolution's next big discovery?Noor was recognized by the Linnean Society of London with the prestigious Darwin-Wallace Medal in February 2009, the third time such awards were made in the last 150 years.The occasion also marks the launch of NSF's anniversary edition of its multimedia Web site Evolution of Evolution: 150 Years of Charles Darwin's 'On the Origin of Species.' You may view the complete anniversary edition here at 8 a.m. on Nov. 23 to read essays and hear audio interviews from top evolution researchers in the fields of anthropology, astronomy, biology, geosciences, polar sciences and science history: http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/darwin/.What: Live webcast with evolutionary biologist Muhamed Noor of Duke University.When: Nov. 23, 2009, 10 a.m. EDT.Where: Media can call 800-857-9718 to participate in the webcast by phone. The verbal passcode for callers is "Darwin." Media can take part in the webcast online by going to http://www.science360.gov/live. A video recording of the press conference will be posted on the NSF Web site after the webcast. Please note: A username and password will not be required to access this page on Nov. 23. All are encouraged to submit questions in advance at webcast@nsf.gov.Who: Mohamed Noor, Duke University, professor and associate chair of biology.---Image Caption: On Nov. 24, 1859, Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species." It became the most significant scientific work in the last two centuries, challenging and changing how the world views nature, the environment and mankind. Credit: Illustrations by Nicolle Rager Fuller, National Science Foundation (background and center); © 2009 JupiterImages Corporation (top right); NASA, ESA, M. Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team (bottom). http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1789791/evolution_of_evolution_an_nsf_webcast/index.html?source=r_science Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:03:03 -0500 Science Amphibians like frogs and toads have existed for 360 million years and survived when the dinosaurs didn’t, but a new aquatic fungus is threatening to make many of them extinct, according to an article in the November issue of Microbiology Today.The fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd),was found to be associated with waves of amphibian extinctions in Central America and north-eastern Australia in the 1990’s. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1790106/killer_fungus_threatening_amphibians/index.html?source=r_science Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:45:59 -0500 Science Using a technique normally used for detecting weak tremors, scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology discovered that the 2004 magnitude 6 earthquake along the Parkfield section of the San Andreas fault exhibited almost 11 times more aftershocks than previously thought.  The research appears online in Nature Geoscience and will appear in print in a forthcoming edition.“We found almost 11 times more events in the first three days after the main event. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1790105/scientists_find_11_times_more_aftershocks_for_2004_quake/index.html?source=r_science Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:43:37 -0500 Science Since 1996, crop plants genetically modified to produce bacterial proteins that are toxic to certain insects, yet safe for people, have been planted on more than 200 million hectares worldwide. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1790104/insect_resistance_to_bt_crops_can_be_predicted_monitored_managed/index.html?source=r_science Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:40:03 -0500 Science A new calculation of Europe’s greenhouse gas balance shows that emissions of methane and nitrous oxide tip the balance and eliminate Europe’s terrestrial sink of greenhouse-gases http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1790101/intensive_landmanagement_leaves_europe_without_carbon_sinks/index.html?source=r_science Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:19:01 -0500 Science Scientists at the Carnegie Institution have found for the first time that high pressure can be used to make a unique hydrogen-storage material. The discovery paves the way for an entirely new way to approach the hydrogen-storage problem. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1789837/new_hydrogenstorage_method_discovered/index.html?source=r_science Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:18:19 -0500 Science Estimates of the extent of swimming on to be presented at Fluid Dynamics Conference in Minneapolis, Nov. 22-24, 2009Understanding mixing in the ocean is of fundamental importance to modeling climate change or predicting the effects of an El Niño on our weather. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1789827/aquatic_creatures_mix_ocean_water/index.html?source=r_science Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:20:00 -0500 Science Nature-inspired probes be presented at Fluid Dynamics Conference next weekA butterfly's proboscis looks like a straw -- long, slender, and used for sipping -- but it works more like a paper towel, according to Konstantin Kornev of Clemson University. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1789825/butterfly_proboscis_to_sip_cells/index.html?source=r_science Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:16:47 -0500 Science New modeling work to be presented at Fluid Dynamics ConferenceIf a nuclear weapon were detonated in a metropolitan area, how large would the affected area be? Where should first responders first go? According to physicist Fernando Grinstein, we have some initial understanding to address these questions, but fundamental issues remain unresolved."The predictive capabilities of today's state-of-the-art models in urban areas need to be improved, validated and tested," says Grinstein. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1789823/nuclear_weapons_predicting_the_unthinkable/index.html?source=r_science Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:20:00 -0500 Science Research published in the journal Genetics shows how a 'genetic symphony' affects plant developmentIn a research report published in the November 2009 issue of the journal GENETICS, scientists show how a family of genes (1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase, or ACS genes) are responsible for production of ethylene. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1789818/new_discovery_may_lead_to_heartier_highyielding_plants/index.html?source=r_science Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:02:08 -0500 Science