*Monitoring volcanoes helps researchers understand the processes that drive them to erupt*
Months of volcanic restlessness preceded the eruptions this spring of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull, providing insight into what roused it from its centuries of slumber.
An international team of researchers analyzed geophysical changes in the long-dormant volcano leading up to its eruptions in March and April 2010. In a study published in the Nov. 18 issue of the journal Nature, the scientists suggest that magma flowing beneath the volcano may have triggered its reawakening. (more…)
Professor Joseph Walther led an MSU research project that found that comments accompanying YouTube public service announcements were more persuasive to viewers than the videos themselves. Image credit: Michigan State University
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University researchers, studying public service announcements placed on YouTube about marijuana use, have found that the comments accompanying the PSAs are more influential among viewers than the videos themselves.
The researchers showed four anti-marijuana PSAs, and the accompanying comments, to college students and asked for their evaluations of the PSAs and their attitudes about marijuana.
What was found was that negative, derisive comments about the video led the students to perceive the video as worse than when the comments were positive, even though they watched the videos individually. And when students identified with the anonymous commenters, the comments affected their perceptions of marijuana’s harmful effects.
“Generally, the comments changed people’s attitudes more than the variations of the videos,” said Joseph Walther, a professor in the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media, and the Department of Communication, who led the research.(more…)
Next Generation Blue Gene prototype judged most efficient by Green500.org
ARMONK, N.Y., – 19 Nov 2010: IBM supercomputers are the most energy efficient supercomputers in the world, according to the latest Supercomputing ‘Green500 List’ announced by Green500.org. A prototype of IBM’s next generation Blue Gene supercomputer is #1 on the list.
The list shows that 15 of the top 25 most energy efficient supercomputers in the world are built on IBM high-performance computing technology. The list includes supercomputers from China to Germany and the United States that are being used for a variety of applications such as astronomy, climate prediction and pharmaceutical research. IBM also holds over half of the top 100 positions on this list.(more…)
*Amazon customers can now refine search results by using new shape picker technology*
SEATTLE, Nov 19, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon.com, Inc. today announced a new search capability available to all customers in Amazon’s men’s and women’s shoe stores. This new capability allows customers to search and browse for shoes based on how they look, allowing them to find the styles they want easily and quickly.
“With the launch of this new search feature, finding the right pair of shoes becomes even easier for customers,” said Bill Stasior, president of A9. “The customer is presented with a palette of shapes, representing different styles of shoes and that palette is constantly changing to match the customer’s context. Because the styles are shown graphically as silhouettes, customers don’t even need to know the name of the styles they are exploring.”(more…)
Although the La Loma tree frog, Hyloscirtus colymba, is notoriously difficult to care for in captivity, the rescue project is the first to successfully breed this species. Image credit: Brian Gratwice, Smithsonian's National Zoo
As frogs around the world continue to disappear—many killed by a rapidly spreading disease called chytridiomycosis, which attacks the skin cells of amphibians—one critically endangered species has received an encouraging boost. Although the La Loma tree frog, Hyloscirtus colymba, is notoriously difficult to care for in captivity, the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project is the first to successfully breed this species.
“We are some of the first researchers to attempt to breed these animals into captivity and we have very little information about how to care for them,” said Brian Gratwicke, international coordinator for the project and a research biologist at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, one of nine project partners. “We were warned that we might not be able to keep these frogs alive, but through a little bit of guesswork, attention to detail and collaboration with other husbandry experts—we’ve managed to breed them. The lessons we’re learning have put us on target to save this incredible species and our other priority species in Panama.”(more…)
Palo Alto, CA — Scientists have known for some time how important plant steroids called brassinosteroids are for regulating plant growth and development. But until now, they did not know how extensive their reach is.
Now researchers, including Yu Sun and Zhi-Yong Wang at Carnegie’s Department of Plant Biology, have identified about a thousand brassinosteroid target genes, which reveal molecular links between the steroid and numerous cellular functions and other hormonal and light-activated chain reactions. The study, published in the November 16, 2010, issue of Developmental Cell, provides the first comprehensive action map for a plant hormone. The research will help accelerate basic plant science and crop research.(more…)
RESTON, VA, November 18, 2010 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly comScore qSearchanalysis of the U.S. search marketplace. Google Sites led the explicit core search market in October with 66.3 percent of searches conducted, an increase of 0.2 share points from September 2010.
The October 2010 qSearch figures represent the second month of results including the impact of Google Instant Search, a Google search feature that delivers results in real-time while users type their query. To learn more about how comScore is measuring search activity as users engage with Google Instant Search, please read our blog post on the subject: https://blog.comscore.com/2010/10/comscore_september_qsearch.html(more…)
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—While the nation’s economy will gain some momentum in the second half of next year, it will take until 2012 before unemployment finally begins to subside, say economists at the University of Michigan.(more…)
