Author Archives: Guest Post

Taking Measure of the Greenhouse Effect

WASHINGTON — Scientists have long known that heat-absorbing components of Earth’s atmosphere, such as clouds and certain gases, prevent our planet from being an ice-covered ball. Now a study, for the first time, comprehensively calculates the relative contributions of the components responsible for that heating, known as the greenhouse effect.

Besides clarifying an important aspect of climate science, the study also demonstrates that rising concentrations of one heat-trapping gas — carbon dioxide — leads to much more greenhouse warming than just the heat the gas absorbs directly itself.

Various studies have looked at the contributions of water vapor, CO2, and other greenhouse gases. But none had systematically estimated the contributions of each of the main players, says climate scientist Gavin Schmidt of NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and lead author of the new research. (more…)

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MU Researchers Find Celebrity Journalism May Contribute Positively to Consumer Health Behaviors

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Celebrity journalism is often considered to be without merit, discounted due to its sensational details and lack of news value. MU researchers now say that celebrity journalism may be an underappreciated way to communicate health messages. In a recent award-winning paper, Amanda Hinnant, assistant professor of magazine journalism in the University of Missouri School of Journalism, found some readers of celebrity health stories report that the stories have an impact on their own behavior and how they discuss health issues. (more…)

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NSF Renews Centers for Nanotechnology in Society

*National Science Foundation awards more than $12.5M to study societal impacts of emerging technologies*

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently renewed two important cooperative agreements totaling more than $12.5 million over five years. These awards leverage previous investments for studying the ethical, legal, economic and policy implications of the relatively new, nature-altering science called nanotechnology. (more…)

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Smithsonian Researchers Report that Regional Sea Temperature Rise and Coral Bleaching Event Has Reached Western Caribbean

The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s Bocas del Toro Research Station and Galeta Point Marine Laboratory are reporting an anomalous sea temperature rise and a major coral bleaching event in the western Caribbean. Although the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, issued an advisory in July announcing above-average sea surface temperatures in the wider Caribbean region, there had been no clear indication of increased sea temperatures in Panama and the western Caribbean until late August-early September. (more…)

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Scientists Watch Cell-Shape Process for First Time

Palo Alto, CA — Researchers at the Carnegie Institution for Science, with colleagues at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology, observed for the first time a fundamental process of cellular organization in living plant cells: the birth of microtubules by studying recruitment and activity of individual protein complexes that create the cellular protein network known as the microtubule cytoskeleton—the scaffolding that provides structure and ultimately form and shape to the cell. These fundamental results could be important to agricultural research and are published in the October 10, 2010, early on-line edition of Nature Cell Biology. (more…)

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Microsoft Delivers New Innovations That Reinforce Its Dynamic Business Vision for CRM and ERP Customers and Partners

*Microsoft announces new Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online promotion and global expansion of Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail.*

LONDON — Oct. 14, 2010 — Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: “MSFT”) opens Convergence 2010 Europe today in London with a keynote address from Kirill Tatarinov, corporate vice president, Microsoft Business Solutions. Throughout the three-city event that also includes Prague and The Hague, Oct. 14–21, Tatarinov will share how the company is delivering on its Dynamic Business vision by providing customer-driven innovations. (more…)

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Yahoo! and Ram Truck Partner to Launch “Ram Country,” a Branded Country Music Destination

  • New online hub for country music fans offers exclusive programming and lifestyle-relevant Ram Truck brand Integration
  • Largest online marketing initiative for the Ram Truck Brand

SUNNYVALE, Calif. & AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Oct 14, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) and Ram Truck today unveiled “Ram Country on Yahoo! Music,” the first dedicated country music site on Yahoo! Music, which will serve as the ultimate online hub for country music and its biggest stars. “Ram Country” is designed to help Ram Truck reach country music fans online and marks the largest single online marketing initiative for the Ram Truck brand.

“Ram Country” (https://ramcountry.music.yahoo.com) represents the first time Yahoo! has developed a genre-specific music channel with a single advertiser. The new site will allow the Ram Truck brand to connect with a country music fanbase through an engaging mix of music, blogs, news coverage, and original video programming produced by Yahoo!. “Ram Country” will live on Yahoo! Music and will be promoted across the Yahoo! network. (more…)

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Corals Show Ocean Temperature Boundary Rising with Climate Change

WASHINGTON — Researchers looking at corals in the western tropical Pacific Ocean have found signs of a profound shift in the depth where warm surface water and colder deeper water meet—a shift predicted by computer models of global warming.

The finding is the first physical evidence supporting what climate modelers have been predicting as the effects of global climate change on the subsurface ocean circulation. (more…)

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