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Newly unearthed ruins challenge views of early Romans

By Guest PostAugust 24, 2013Culture, Scienceancient stereotype, andrew johnston, archaeologists, architectural style, bce, classical art, coliseum, colosseum, digging in italy, early romans, east of rome, gabii, geometrically patterned floors, historians, lego construction, lego like fashion, marcello mogetta, museum of archaeology, nicola terrenato, roman empire, roman republican history, ruins, site known, university of michigan, yale university

ANN ARBOR — In a long-buried Italian city, archaeologists have found a massive monument that dates back 300 years before the Colosseum and 100 years before the invention of mortar, revealing that the Romans had grand architectural ambitions much earlier than previously thought.

The structure, unearthed at the site known as Gabii, just east of Rome, is built with giant stone blocks in a Lego-like fashion. It’s about half the size of a football field and dates back 350-250 years BCE. It’s possibly the earliest public building ever found, said Nicola Terrenato, a University of Michigan classics professor who leads the project—the largest American dig in Italy in the past 50 years. (more…)

Raising the IQ of Smart Windows

By Guest PostAugust 24, 2013Sciencecoating of nanocrystals, electrochromic effect, electrochromic material, energy savings, smart window technology, smart windows, window coating

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have designed a new material to make smart windows even smarter. The material is a thin coating of nanocrystals embedded in glass that can dynamically modify sunlight as it passes through a window. Unlike existing technologies, the coating provides selective control over visible light and heat-producing near-infrared (NIR) light, so windows can maximize both energy savings and occupant comfort in a wide range of climates. (more…)

Risiken von “Fracking” ausschließen!

By Guest PostAugust 24, 2013Environmentanti fracking tag, bedrohung, bulgarien, deutschland, europaeischen parlamentes, fracking, frankreich, grossbritannien, keine stimme, mensch, natur, niedrigere energiepreise, polen, sru, umwelt kritisch, usa

NABU und UVP-Gesellschaft fordern EU-weite Umweltstandards

Am 31. August 2013 findet bundesweit der erste Anti-Fracking-Tag statt. Unter dem Motto „Keine Stimme für Fracking – No Vote for Fracking” werden in zahlreichen Regionen in Deutschland Bürgerinitiativen auf die Straße gehen, um sich gegen die Ausbeutung unkonventioneller Erdgasvorkommen mittels Fracking zur Wehr zu setzen.

Aus Sicht des NABU und der UVP-Gesellschaft (Gesellschaft für die Prüfung der Umweltverträglichkeit) stellt die Methode, Erdgasvorkommen mittels Tiefbohrungen und dem Einsatz von Chemikalien zu gewinnen, eine erhebliche Bedrohung für Mensch und Natur dar. „Fracking ist klima- und energiepolitisch verzichtbar, zu wirtschaftlichen Kosten nicht vertretbar und angesichts der Wissenslücken über die Auswirkungen der Technik für Mensch und Natur ein Roulettespiel“, sagt NABU-Präsident Olaf Tschimpke. Auch der Sachverständigenrat für Umweltfragen (SRU) und das Umweltbundesamt (UBA) sehen diese Methode wegen ungeklärter Risiken für die Umwelt kritisch. (more…)

New book explores evolution of human reproduction

By Guest PostAugust 24, 2013Scienceevolution, frozen embryos, human beings, human reproduction, mammal sperms, pilosals, primate evolution

Human beings would probably be known as pilosals rather than mammals if Carl Linnaeus had not been a proponent of breast-feeding. For social and political reasons, the famed taxonomist labeled the class of animals to which humans belong with a reference to their practice of suckling their young rather than to their evolutionarily older characteristic of having hair. (more…)

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

By Guest PostAugust 23, 2013TechnologyBill Gates, board of directors, chief executive officer, chuck noski, microsoft ceo, retire, steve ballmer, steve luczo

Board of directors initiates succession process; Ballmer remains CEO until successor is named.

REDMOND, Wash. — Aug. 23, 2013 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer has decided to retire as CEO within the next 12 months, upon the completion of a process to choose his successor. In the meantime, Ballmer will continue as CEO and will lead Microsoft through the next steps of its transformation to a devices and services company that empowers people for the activities they value most.

“There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time,” Ballmer said. “We have embarked on a new strategy with a new organization and we have an amazing Senior Leadership Team. My original thoughts on timing would have had my retirement happen in the middle of our company’s transformation to a devices and services company. We need a CEO who will be here longer term for this new direction.” (more…)

Liquid calcium carbonate

By Guest PostAugust 23, 2013Environmentalloys, antacids, atmospheric, calcium carbonate, calcium carbonate mineralization, carbon cycle, carbon dioxide levels, carbon storage reservoirs, concrete, crystallization pathway, dense liquid droplets, dense liquid phase, energy barrier, geologist adam wallace, limestone, liquid calcium carbonate, marine organisms, molecular dynamics simulations, nanoscale phase, nanoscopic clusters, polymers, salt solutions, seashells, seawater chemistry

Geologist Adam Wallace reports in ‘Science’ that calcium carbonate has a dense liquid phase

Computer simulations could help scientists make sense of a recently observed and puzzling wrinkle in one of nature’s most important chemical processes. It turns out that calcium carbonate — the ubiquitous compound that is a major component of seashells, limestone, concrete, antacids and other naturally and industrially produced substances — may momentarily exist in liquid form as it crystallizes from solution.

“Our simulations suggest the existence of a dense liquid form of calcium carbonate,” said co-corresponding author Adam Wallace, an assistant professor of geological sciences in UD’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment who conducted the research while a postdoctoral researcher at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “This is important because it is an as-yet unappreciated component of the carbon cycle.” (more…)

Rettet die Biene: Informationen und Tipps für Verbraucher

By Guest PostAugust 23, 2013Naturebernhard nimtsch, bienenpopulationen, bienenvoelker, brokkoli, deutschland, Greenpeace, gurken, landwirtschaft, oekologische wuesten, paradox, ratgeber, rettet die biene, sojabohnen, sonnenblumen, tipps, verbraucher, wildbienen, zwiebeln

Europaweit kollabieren ganze Bienenvölker. In Deutschland starben in den letzten Jahren jährlich bis zu 30 Prozent der Bienenvölker; und auch weltweit berichten Imkerinnen und Imker von einem plötzlichen Rückgang ihrer Bienenpopulationen. Greenpeace zeigt im neuen Ratgeber „Rettet die Biene“, wie jeder Einzelne zum Bienenschutz beitragen kann.

Das weltweite Bienensterben betrifft uns alle. Ein Drittel unserer Nahrungsmittel gäbe es ohne bestäubende Insekten wie die Bienen nicht. Bienen besuchen viele unterschiedliche Blüten wie Raps, Sojabohnen, Zwiebeln, Gurken, Brokkoli und Sonnenblumen – aber auch Äpfel, Orangen, Blaubeeren, Avocados, Tee und Kaffee. (more…)

Littlest Continent Had Biggest Role in Sea Level Drop

By Guest PostAugust 22, 2013Environmentargo global array, atmospheric patterns, australia, climate experiment, earth, german aerospace center, grace, gravity recovery, john fasullo, la niña, littlest continent, NASA, ncar, poseidon, satellite altimeters, sea level drop, smallest continent, spacecraft, topex

A unique and complex set of circumstances came together over Australia from 2010 to 2011 to cause Earth’s smallest continent to be the biggest contributor to the observed drop in global sea level rise during that time, finds a new study co-authored and co-funded by NASA.

In 2011, scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and the University of Colorado at Boulder reported that between early 2010 and summer 2011, global sea level fell sharply, by about a quarter of an inch, or half a centimeter. Using data from the NASA/German Aerospace Center’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) spacecraft, they showed that the drop was caused by the very strong La Nina that began in late 2010. That La Nina changed rainfall patterns all over our planet, moving huge amounts of Earth’s water from the ocean to the continents. The phenomenon was short-lived, however. (more…)

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