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Climate change: fast out of the gate, slow to the finish

By Guest PostOctober 4, 2013Environmentatmospheric co2 concentration, climate change, climate model, climate scientist, global warming, greenhouse gas concentration, intellectual ventures llc, ken caldeira, least sensitive model, marina shemesh, maximum warming, nathan myhrvold, technology corporation

Washington, D.C.— A great deal of research has focused on the amount of global warming resulting from increased greenhouse gas concentrations. But there has been relatively little study of the pace of the change following these increases. A new study by Carnegie’s Ken Caldeira and Nathan Myhrvold of Intellectual Ventures concludes that about half of the warming occurs within the first 10 years after an instantaneous step increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration, but about one-quarter of the warming occurs more than a century after the step increase. Their work is published in Environmental Research Letters.

The study was the result of an unusual collaboration of a climate scientist, Ken Caldeira, who contributed to the recently published Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, and Nathan Myhrvold, the founder and CEO of a technology corporation, Intellectual Ventures LLC. It is the third paper on which they have collaborated. (more…)

Greenpeace-Aktivisten protestieren bundesweit für Freiheit ihrer inhaftierten Kollegen in Russland

By Guest PostOctober 4, 2013Environmentarctic sunrise, arktis, berlin, christoph von lieven, der konzern, deutschland, freiheit, gazproms plattform, gericht in murmansk, Greenpeace, greenpeace aktionsschiff, greenpeace aktivisten, hamburg, istanbul, mexiko stadt, nanna zimmermann, nordpol, oelkonzern gazprom, oelunfall, russische botschaft, russland, russland inhaftierten kollegen, schutzgebiet, stockholm, taipeh, tokyo, umweltkatastrophe

30 Umweltschützern drohen bis zu 15 Jahre Haft

Hamburg, 4. 10. 2013 – In 30 Städten protestieren am morgigen Samstag Greenpeace-Aktivisten für die Freilassung ihrer in Russland inhaftierten Kollegen. Die 28 Aktivisten und zwei Journalisten befinden sich in russischer Untersuchungshaft und sind von einem Gericht in Murmansk wegen bandenmäßiger Piraterie angeklagt. Bei einer Verurteilung drohen ihnen bis zu 15 Jahre Haft.

Die Umweltschützer hatten gegen Ölbohrungen des russischen Ölkonzerns Gazprom in der Arktis protestiert. Einen Tag danach war das Greenpeace-Aktionsschiff „Arctic Sunrise“ von der Küstenwache in internationalen Gewässern geentert und nach Murmansk geschleppt worden. (more…)

A symbiosis

By Guest PostOctober 3, 2013Scienceelderly population, health policy, people in china, symbiotic relationship

Partnership study helps China examine safety for elderly

An unexpected partnership between the University of Delaware and the Beijing Academy of Science and Technology (BJAST) is proving to be a symbiotic relationship. (more…)

UT Austin Anthropologists Confirm Link Between Cranial Anatomy and Two-Legged Walking

By Guest PostOctober 3, 2013Scienceafrican apes, anatomist raymond dart, anthropology researcher, austin, australopithecus africanus, bipedal, bipedal fossil species, bipedal mammals, bipedal postures, brain size, characteristic, chimpanzees, chris kirk, difference, direct link, eastern gray kangaroo, egyptian jerboa, foramen magnum, four legged postures, gabrielle russo, human ancestor, human evolution, sahelanthropus tchadensis, skull, spinal cord, university of texas

AUSTIN, Texas — Anthropology researchers from The University of Texas at Austin have confirmed a direct link between upright two-legged (bipedal) walking and the position of the foramen magnum, a hole in the base of the skull that transmits the spinal cord.

The study, published in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Human Evolution, confirms a controversial finding made by anatomist Raymond Dart, who discovered the first known two-legged walking (bipedal) human ancestor, Australopithecus africanus. Since Dart’s discovery in 1925, physical anthropologists have continued to debate whether this feature of the cranial base can serve as a direct link to bipedal fossil species. (more…)

Legacy Soil Pollution: Higher lead levels may lie just below surface

By Guest PostOctober 3, 2013Environmentanalysis of data, andrea burdon, childhood lead poisoning, concentration, environmental contamination, higher lead concentration, kim boekelheide, lead contamination, lead exposure, lead hazard, lead level, legacy soil pollution, marcella thompson, neurobehavioral, neurodevelopmental consequence, old water tower, ridoh, site, site 19, southern rhode island, surface, westerly

A study of data from hundreds of soil samples taken around six old water tower sites in southern Rhode Island finds that even when lead levels on the surface are low, concentrations can sometimes be greater at depths down to a foot. The findings inform efforts to assess the effect of lead paint from old water towers on surrounding properties.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A newly published analysis of data from hundreds of soil samples from 31 properties around southern Rhode Island finds that the lead concentration in soil at the surface is not always a reliable indicator of the contamination a foot deeper. The study, led by Brown University Superfund Research Program researchers at the request of the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH), informs ongoing efforts to assess the impact of the state’s legacy of lead-painted water towers. (more…)

Weltklimarat IPCC – Report zum Zustand des Weltklimas

By Guest PostOctober 2, 2013Environmentar5, arktis, botschaft, climate change, deutschland, energiepolitik, klima, klimaforscher, klimawandel, kohlenstoffdioxid, matthias meissner, meeresschutzexperte, regine guenther, stephan lutter, stockholm, weltklimarat ipcc, weltklimas, wwf

Rekordtemperaturen und Überschwemmungen – Superlative in immer kürzeren Intervallen. Und der Mensch hat das zum größten Teil selbst zu verantworten.

Die Fakten sprechen eine deutliche Sprache: Die Erde erwärmt sich weiterhin in einem rasanten Tempo und die Meeresspiegel steigen stärker an als bisher prognostiziert. Das besagt der jüngste Report des sogenannten Zwischenstaatlichen Ausschusses für Klimaänderungen (IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), der am Freitag, dem 27. September in Stockholm veröffentlicht wurde. (more…)

Scaling Up Personalized Query Results for Next Generation of Search Engines

By Guest PostOctober 2, 2013Technology8gb machine, ambient query context, frequent click pattern, haizhou fu, hyeongsik kim, jaguar speed, jaguar supercomputer, kemafor anyanwu, north Carolina, personalized search results, search engine, state university

North Carolina State University researchers have developed a way for search engines to provide users with more accurate, personalized search results. The challenge in the past has been how to scale this approach up so that it doesn’t consume massive computer resources. Now the researchers have devised a technique for implementing personalized searches that is more than 100 times more efficient than previous approaches.

At issue is how search engines handle complex or confusing queries. For example, if a user is searching for faculty members who do research on financial informatics, that user wants a list of relevant webpages from faculty, not the pages of graduate students mentioning faculty or news stories that use those terms. That’s a complex search. (more…)

Researcher controls colleague’s motions in 1st human brain-to-brain interface

By Guest PostOctober 2, 2013Sciencealex dadgar, andrea stocco, brain computer interface, brain interfacing, bryan djunaedi, chantel prat, dev sarma, duke university, eeg, electrodes, electroencephalography, electroencephalography machine, harvard researchers, joseph wu, magnetic stimulation, matthew bryan, rajesh rao, skype connection, Technology, transcranial magnetic stimulation, university of washington, video game, vulcan mind meld

University of Washington researchers have performed what they believe is the first noninvasive human-to-human brain interface, with one researcher able to send a brain signal via the Internet to control the hand motions of a fellow researcher.

Using electrical brain recordings and a form of magnetic stimulation, Rajesh Rao sent a brain signal to Andrea Stocco on the other side of the UW campus, causing Stocco’s finger to move on a keyboard. (more…)

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