Author Archives: Guest Post

Today’s worst watershed stresses may become the new normal, study finds

Nearly one in 10 U.S. watersheds is “stressed,” with demand for water exceeding natural supply, according to a new analysis of surface water in the United States.  What’s more, the lowest water flow seasons of recent years—times of great stress on rivers, streams, and sectors that use their waters—are likely to become typical as climates continue to warm.

“By midcentury, we expect to see less reliable surface water supplies in several regions of the United States,” said the study’s lead author, Kristen Averyt, associate director for science at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder. “This is likely to create growing challenges for agriculture, electrical suppliers and municipalities, as there may be more demand for water and less to go around.” (more…)

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Study explores complex physical oceanography in East China Sea

Just days before a team of researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and National Taiwan University set out to conduct fieldwork in the East China Sea, Typhoon Morakot—one of the most destructive storms ever to hit Taiwan—made landfall on the island, causing widespread damage and drastically altering the flow of water along the nearby continental shelf. (more…)

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Invention jet prints nanostructures with self-assembling material

A multi-institutional team of engineers has developed a new approach to the fabrication of nanostructures for the semiconductor and magnetic storage industries. This approach combines top-down advanced ink-jet printing technology with a bottom-up approach that involves self-assembling block copolymers, a type of material that can spontaneously form ultrafine structures.

The team, consisting of nine researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Chicago and Hanyang University in Korea, was able to increase the resolution of their intricate structure fabrication from approximately 200 nanometers to approximately 15 nanometers. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter, the width of a double-stranded DNA molecule. (more…)

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The Black tents that defied a nation

A beach umbrella and a tent formed an unlikely Embassy, pitched on the lawns of the Australian Parliament on Australia Day 1972, by four Aboriginal activists. The Aboriginal Embassy was an ingenious response following a poorly-timed policy statement in which a conservative Prime Minister rejected Aboriginal land rights. (more…)

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Der Klimawandel macht keine Pause

Nächste Woche wird der sogenannte IPCC-Bericht in Schweden vorsgestellt. 800 Wissenschaftler haben daran gearbeitet. 1000 Seiten aktuelle Klimafoschung sind das Ergebnis. Alle wichtigen Klimaexperten der Welt werden die Ergebnisse und den Stand der Klimaforschung in Stockholm diskutieren. Greenpeace-Klimaexperte Karsten Smid erklärt, was IPCC bedeutet und was er von dem Gipfeltreffen der Klimaexperten erwartet.

Online-Redaktion: Was ist der IPCC?

Karsten Smid: Im Weltklimarat IPCC (Zwischenstaatlicher Ausschuss für Klimaänderungen) finden sich Wissenschaftler aus der ganzen Welt zusammen, die den aktuellen Wissensstand zur Klimaforschung zusammentragen und bewerten. Er wurde im November 1988 vom Umweltprogramm der Vereinten Nationen (UNEP) und der Weltorganisation für Meteorologie (WMO) als zwischenstaatliche Institution gegründet. Der IPCC betreibt selbst keine Forschung, sondern trägt die Ergebnisse der Forschungen in den verschiedenen Disziplinen zusammen. Er wurde 2007, gemeinsam mit dem ehemaligen US-Vizepräsidenten Al Gore, mit dem Friedensnobelpreis ausgezeichnet. (more…)

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Bing discusses design and technology in NYC

Bing brings together tastemakers and experts to share insight on the intersection of beauty and functionality and how technology plays a role in modern design.

NEW YORK — Earlier this week, Bing gathered together a variety of taste makers and journalists at an intimate and interactive panel to discuss the convergence of design and technology. (more…)

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UCLA doctors successfully ‘vacuum’ 2-foot blood clot out of patient’s heart

First in state to perform minimally invasive alternative to open-heart surgery

Todd Dunlap, 62, arrived at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center’s emergency room on Aug. 8 suffering from shortness of breath, fatigue and extreme cold. When a CT scan revealed a 24-inch clot stretching from his legs into his heart, doctors feared the mass could break loose and lodge in his lungs, blocking oxygen and killing him instantly.
(more…)

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Food Insecurity Continues to Grow

Missouri trends mirror the national picture; MU scientist offers policy suggestions to fight hunger issues

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The 2013 Missouri Hunger Atlas, issued by the University of Missouri’s Interdisciplinary Center for Food Security, shows that more than one in five Missouri households with children are food insecure, meaning they worry about not having enough food. One author of the Hunger Atlas said that patterns in Missouri reflect what is happening at the national level, and offers suggestions for actions from government policy makers and individuals to provide some relief. (more…)

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