Author Archives: Guest Post

New Results from Daya Bay – Tracking the Disappearance of Ghostlike Neutrinos

By Guest PostOctober 7, 2013Scienceacrylic vessel, antineutrinos, Beijing, berkeley lab, beta beams, China, daya bay, daya bay collaboration, disappearance, electron, electron neutrinos, evolution of universe, ghostlike neutrinos, hong kong, jim siegrist, kam biu luk, kamland, ling ao, liquid holding, mass hierarchy, mass splitting, millions of quadrillions, minos, muon, neutrino energy, neutrino oscillations, south dakota, steve kettell, super beams, tau, universe

Daya Bay neutrino experiment releases high-precision measurement of subatomic shape shifting and new result on differences among neutrino masses

The international Daya Bay Collaboration has announced new results about the transformations of neutrinos – elusive, ghostlike particles that carry invaluable clues about the makeup of the early universe. The latest findings include the collaboration’s first data on how neutrino oscillation – in which neutrinos mix and change into other “flavors,” or types, as they travel – varies with neutrino energy, allowing the measurement of a key difference in neutrino masses known as mass splitting.

“Understanding the subtle details of neutrino oscillations and other properties of these shape-shifting particles may help resolve some of the deepest mysteries of our universe,” said Jim Siegrist, Associate Director of Science for High Energy Physics at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the primary funder of U.S. participation in Daya Bay. (more…)

Tropical forest carbon absorption may hinge on an odd couple

By Guest PostOctober 7, 2013Environmentabsorb, atmosphere, carbo loading bacteria, carbon absorption, carbon dioxide, carbon sink, component of biodiversity, david medvigy, dylan craven, Europe, excess nitrogen, human activities, infectious bacteria, jefferson hall, journal nature, lars hedin, legume family, michiel van breugel, models, nitrogen, nitrogen fixation, nitrogen fixing trees, non legume trees, North America, photosynthesis, princeton university, rhizobia, root nodules, sarah batterman, stri, tropical forest, united states

A unique housing arrangement between a specific group of tree species and a carbo-loading bacteria may determine how well tropical forests can absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to a Princeton University-based study. The findings suggest that the role of tropical forests in offsetting the atmospheric buildup of carbon from fossil fuels depends on tree diversity, particularly in forests recovering from exploitation.

Tropical forests thrive on natural nitrogen fertilizer pumped into the soil by trees in the legume family, a diverse group that includes beans and peas, the researchers report in the journal Nature. The researchers studied second-growth forests in Panama that had been used for agriculture five to 300 years ago. The presence of legume trees ensured rapid forest growth in the first 12 years of recovery and thus a substantial carbon “sink,” or carbon-storage capacity. Tracts of land that were pasture only 12 years before had already accumulated as much as 40 percent of the carbon found in fully mature forests. Legumes contributed more than half of the nitrogen needed to make that happen, the researchers reported. (more…)

Credit lessons

By Guest PostOctober 6, 2013Economycredit card payment, credit lessons, financial future, managing credit, money management, personal finance

Bank of America volunteer speaks to FYE students on ins and outs of credit

As an attendance sheet floated around the room, one by one the students in a University of Delaware First Year Experience (FYE) class signed their names, wrote down their home states (New York, Pennsylvania and beyond), and were quick to mark a check in the “Did not have high school personal finance class” column. (more…)

Hustenmittel vom Wegesrand

By Guest PostOctober 6, 2013Health, Naturearzneipflanze, arzneipflanzenkunde, aucubin, blaetter, catalpol, der schleimhaut, flavonoide, gunnar bartsch, haut, heilpflanze, hustenmittel vom wegesrand, iridoidglykoside, johannes mayer, kaffeesaeurederivate, kalium, kieselsaeure, mineralstoffe, plantagao major, plantago lanceolata, saponin, studienkreisleiter, universitaet wuerzburg, wissenschaftlichem namen, zink

Der Spitzwegerich ist „Arzneipflanze des Jahres“ 2014

Er stillt den Hustenreiz und hilft bei Entzündungen der Haut und der Schleimhaut. Der Spitzwegerich ist deshalb vom „Studienkreis Entwicklungsgeschichte der Arzneipflanzenkunde“ an der Universität Würzburg zur Arzneipflanze des Jahres 2014 gekürt worden.

Verschiedene Wegerich-Arten werden schon seit Jahrtausenden in der Heilkunde genutzt, ganz besonders der Breit- und der Spitzwegerich. „Heute wissen wir, dass der Spitzwegerich die stärkste Wirkung besitzt“, sagt Studienkreisleiter Johannes Mayer. Seine zahlreichen Inhaltsstoffe ließen positive Effekte bei Katarrhen der Atemwege und Entzündungen von Mund und Rachenschleimhaut sowie bei Wunden erwarten. Pharmakologische Laboruntersuchungen würden diese Effekte belegen. (more…)

New CU-Boulder-led study finds ‘microbial clock’ may help determine time of death

By Guest PostOctober 6, 2013Scienceaaron linne, active decay, bacterial change, biochemical change, body farm, boulder, chaminade university, crime scene investigation, david carter, determine, elife, eukaryotic expert, forensic scientist, forensic tool, grave soil, human decomposition facility, human microbiome, jessica metcalf, laura parfrey, max planck society, microbial clock, noah fierer, postmortem, rob knight, sibyl bucheli, time of death, university of colorado, wellcome trust fund

An intriguing study led by the University of Colorado Boulder may provide a powerful new tool in the quiver of forensic scientists attempting to determine the time of death in cases involving human corpses: a microbial clock.

The clock is essentially the lock-step succession of bacterial changes that occur postmortem as bodies move through the decay process. And while the researchers used mice for the new study, previous studies on the human microbiome – the estimated 100 trillion or so microbes that live on and in each of us – indicate there is good reason to believe similar microbial clocks are ticking away on human corpses, said Jessica Metcalf, a CU-Boulder postdoctoral researcher and first author on the study. (more…)

Berkeley Lab Releases Most Comprehensive Databook on China’s Energy and Environment

By Guest PostOctober 6, 2013Environmentberkeley lab, chemical oxygen demand, China, china energy databook, china energy group, CO2 emissions, comprehensive databook, david fridley, energy, energy consumption data, Environment, hongyou lu, john romankiewicz, level, lynn price, organic pollution, pollutant, power plants, solar power generation, sulfur dioxide, united states, water, world energy markets

In the five years since the China Energy Group of the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) released its last edition of the China Energy Databook, China has achieved two dubious distinctions: it surpassed the United States in energy consumption and it surpassed the United States in energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide, becoming the world leader on both scores.

With these important shifts in the global energy landscape, the eighth edition of the China Energy Databook is being released this week. The Databook is the most comprehensive publicly available resource known to exist covering China’s energy and environmental statistics. The China Energy Group researchers have amassed an enormous trove of data from firsthand sources and organized much of it into a relational database, making it far more useful for research and analytical purposes. (more…)

MU Researchers Identify Risk-Factors for Addictive Video-Game Use among Adults

By Guest PostOctober 6, 2013Scienceaddictive video game, adults, bruce bartholow, christopher engelhardt, diablo, fantasy worlds, farmville, games, joe hilgard, mmorpgs, play games, playing video game, problematic video game, risk factors, social interaction, university of missouri, use, world of warcraft

Escapism, social interaction and rewards fuel problematic gaming behaviors

COLUMBIA, Mo. – New research from the University of Missouri indicates escapism, social interaction and rewards fuel problematic video-game use among “very casual” to “hardcore” adult gamers. Understanding individual motives that contribute to unhealthy game play could help counselors identify and treat individuals addicted to video games.

“The biggest risk factor for pathological video game use seems to be playing games to escape from daily life,” said Joe Hilgard, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Psychological Sciences in the MU College of Arts and Science. “Individuals who play games to get away from their lives or to pretend to be other people seem to be those most at-risk for becoming part of a vicious cycle. These gamers avoid their problems by playing games, which in turn interferes with their lives because they’re so busy playing games.” (more…)

Importance of sex conversation before sex

By Guest PostOctober 5, 2013Culture, General, Health, Media, Sexbrianne walter, enjoyable, freelance journalist, importance, partner, punchh, sex, sex conversation, sex session, sexual attitude, sexual encounter, sexual ritual, short time engagement

The importance of sex conversation before sex is a very much delicate issue. The reason is that sex is a short time engagement. Therefore, you have to take some serious elements for consideration. The reason is that sex is the mental and physical engagement. Therefore, you will require the understanding of these elements well. Before doing sex, you should always converse with your partner. The reason is that it will clear any doubt about the courtship and it will make sexual ritual more serene. Actually, you should remember that once you are get into the sexual relationship, then you will have no opportunity to get away from it. Therefore, it is better to clear any doubt through the sex conversion before starting the sexual ritual as well. (more…)