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…)
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…)
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…)
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…)
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…)
A new study reports that the small intestine uses more cells than scientists had realized to absorb microspheres large enough to contain therapeutic protein drugs, such as insulin. The finding in rats, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is potentially good news for developing a means for oral delivery of such drugs.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The small intestine employs more cells and mechanisms than scientists previously thought to absorb relatively large particles, such as those that could encapsulate protein-based therapeutics like insulin, according to a new study. The findings, published the week of Aug. 5, 2013, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, open another window for drug makers to increase absorption of medicines taken by mouth. (more…)
ANN ARBOR — Facebook helps people feel connected, but it doesn’t necessarily make them happier, a new study shows. Facebook use actually predicts declines in a user’s well-being, according to a University of Michigan study that is the first known published research examining Facebook influence on happiness and satisfaction. (more…)
Gruppen von hundert Vögeln und mehr sind bereits jetzt zu beobachten
Bis zum Abreisebeginn der Kraniche nach Süden sind noch rund zwei Monate Zeit. Doch die Brutzeit ist beendet und so verlassen die Vögel nun ihre Reviere und beginnen sich zu sammeln. An den Sammelplätzen gesellen sich zu den unverpaarten Kranichen und den Paaren ohne Bruterfolg also auch die Brutpaare mit ihrem Nachwuchs. Die Jungkraniche sind bereits im Alter von zehn Wochen flugfähig, so dass sie ihren Eltern jetzt gut folgen können.
Während sich die Vögel nachts an flache Seen und Teiche zurückziehen, wo sie stehend schlafen, halten sie sich tagsüber zur Nahrungssuche bevorzugt auf abgeernteten Getreideäckern auf, um dort nach am Boden liegenden Körnern zu suchen. Dadurch lassen sich momentan schon Ansammlungen von hundert und mehr Kranichen beobachten. (more…)
