Talk about a precious stone — the largest piece of the only known meteorite from the planet Mercury has found its way to Yale, where it is now on display at the Peabody Museum of Natural History.
Known as NWA 7325, the fist-size, greenish space rock is a rarity among rarities: there just aren’t many verified planetary meteorites. Scientists know of about 70 from Mars and, until now, none from any of the other planets in Earth’s solar system. There are about 180 known meteorites from the moon. NWA 7325 is the first believed to be from Mercury. (more…)
System to drive analytics curriculum, research and development
MARKHAM, ON & HALIFAX NS – 27 Nov 2013: IBM today announced it is contributing a multi-million dollar private cloud to a consortium of post-secondary institutions in Nova Scotia. The system, the first of its kind in Atlantic Canada, will form a shared computing platform enabling the schools to together create new curriculum and conduct research, all aimed at better equipping graduates with high-demand analytics skills to drive Nova Scotia’s economy.
The system, operational in early 2014, is being hosted at Dalhousie University but will also be accessible through a simple, single log-on process to faculty and students at Acadia University, Cape Breton University, Mount Saint Vincent University, Nova Scotia Community College, Saint Mary’s University and St. Francis Xavier University. (more…)
North Carolina State University researchers have a developed a technique for efficiently producing nanoscale gold rods in large quantities while simultaneously controlling the dimensions of the nanorods and their optical properties. The optical properties of gold nanorods make them desirable for use in biomedical applications ranging from imaging technologies to cancer treatment.(more…)
Koalitionsvertrag ohne Strategie für die ökologische Modernisierung Deutschlands
27. November 2013 – Der große Wurf in der Umweltpolitik bleibt aus: Anlässlich der heute zwischen CDU, CSU und SPD erzielten Einigung über einen Koalitionsvertrag kritisiert der NABU die fehlende Strategie für eine ökologische Modernisierung in Deutschland und Europa.
„Die sogenannten Volksparteien haben dem Klima- und Umweltschutz nicht den notwendigen Stellenwert eingeräumt. Im Vergleich zu den milliardenschweren Plänen im sozialen Bereich kostet der Naturschutz nicht viel Geld. Dennoch fehlt der Großen Koalition eine klare Programmatik für mehr Nachhaltigkeit, die umweltschädliche Subventionen für Landwirtschaft, Energie oder Verkehr reduziert und neue Impulse setzt“, sagte NABU-Präsident Olaf Tschimpke. Auf nur drei von 185 Seiten werden im Koalitionsvertrag viele relevante Umweltthemen abgehandelt. (more…)
UD faculty use Twitter to enhance classroom experience
The University of Delaware’s Alexander Brown, instructor of business administration, and Anuradha Sivaraman, assistant professor of business administration, believe that using Twitter for their courses helps keep the classroom discussions contemporary and increases class participation.
“It’s a good way to source material for classroom discussions,” Brown explains. “If you run a class where you want to engage students with current content and keep things contemporary, Twitter is the way to go.” (more…)
Bad Hersfeld/Berlin: Bei ihrer Jahresversammlung im hessischen Bad Hersfeld haben die Delegierten des Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND) die Spitzen von Union und SPD aufgefordert, den Koalitionsvertrag zugunsten von mehr Umwelt- und Naturschutz zu verbessern. In seiner derzeitigen Form sichere der Vertrag nicht die natürlichen Lebensgrundlagen, sondern drohe sogar zum Gegenteil zu führen, sagte der wiedergewählte BUND-Vorsitzende Hubert Weiger. Die Energiewende werde blockiert statt engagiert fortgeführt, in der Agrarpolitik gehe es keinen Schritt voran und auch in der Verkehrspolitik drohten hoffnungsvolle Schritte zunichte gemacht zu werden. In einem Appell an die Vorsitzenden von CDU/CSU und SPD, Angela Merkel, Horst Seehofer und Sigmar Gabriel, forderten die rund 130 Delegierten der Umweltorganisation unter anderem die Steigerung des Anteils erneuerbarer Energien an der Stromerzeugung auf mindestens 45 Prozent bis 2020 und 75 Prozent bis 2030. (more…)
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Studies have shown that resveratrol, a natural compound found in colored vegetables, fruits and especially grapes, may minimize the impact of Parkinson’s disease, stroke and Alzheimer’s disease in those who maintain healthy diets or who regularly take resveratrol supplements. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that resveratrol may also block the effects of the highly addictive drug, methamphetamine.
Dennis Miller, associate professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences in the College of Arts & Science and an investigator with the Bond Life Sciences Center, and researchers in the Center for Translational Neuroscience at MU, study therapies for drug addiction and neurodegenerative disorders. Their research targets treatments for methamphetamine abuse and has focused on the role of the neurotransmitter dopamine in drug addiction. Dopamine levels in the brain surge after methamphetamine use; this increase is associated with the motivation to continue using the drug, despite its adverse consequences. However, with repeated methamphetamine use, dopamine neurons may degenerate causing neurological and behavioral impairments, similar to those observed in people with Parkinson’s disease. (more…)
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity resumed full science operations on Saturday, Nov. 23.
Activities over the weekend included use of Curiosity’s robotic arm to deliver portions of powdered rock to a laboratory inside the rover. The powder has been stored in the arm since the rover collected it by drilling into the target rock “Cumberland” six months ago. Several portions of the powder have already been analyzed. The laboratory has flexibility for examining duplicate samples in different ways. (more…)
