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Scientists review the ecological effects of sea ice loss

By Guest PostAugust 15, 2013Environmentarctic fox, arctic ocean, biological productivity, caribou, cecilia bitz, donald walker, ecological effects, eric post, ice microbes, jedediah brodie, jeffrey kerby, kristin laidre, microorganisms, mountainous tundra, pennsylvania state university, polar bears, ringed seals, sea ice decline, sea ice loss, tundra, uma bhatt, university of alaska, university of washington, west greenland

The Arctic Ocean has more open water each summer, a trend most scientists predict will continue in coming years. September 2012 set the record for the most open water since satellite observations began.

A University of Washington researcher is co-author on a review paper published (Aug. 2) in the journal Science looking at the ecological consequences of sea ice decline.

Led by corresponding author Eric Post, a biologist at Pennsylvania State University, the international team looked at effects on animals ranging from microorganisms to polar bears. As well as obvious changes for organisms that live in or on the ice, there also are trickle-down effects for food webs, animal behavior, species ranges, interbreeding and disease dynamics. (more…)

How Neurons Get Wired

By Guest PostAugust 15, 2013Health, Sciencealzheimers, apkc, asymmetric shape, atypical protein, cognitive functions, developing nerve cells, kinase c, mechanism, multiple axons, neurodegenerative diseases, neuronal polarity, neurons, newborn nerve cell, par3, protein, sara parker, signaling enzyme, sophie hapak, sourav ghosh, spinal injuries, university of arizona

Two different versions of the same signaling protein tell a nerve cell which end is which, UA researchers have discovered. The findings could help improve therapies for spinal injuries and neurodegenerative diseases.

University of Arizona scientists have discovered an unknown mechanism that establishes polarity in developing nerve cells. Understanding how nerve cells make connections is an important step in developing cures for nerve damage resulting from spinal cord injuries or neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

In a study published on Aug. 12 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, UA doctoral studentSara Parker and her adviser, assistant professor of cellular and molecular medicine Sourav Ghosh, report that the decision which will be the “plus” and the “minus” end in a newborn nerve cell is made by a long and a short version of the same signaling molecule. (more…)

IBM Narrows Big Data Skills Gap By Partnering With More Than 1,000 Global Universities

By Guest PostAugust 14, 2013Technologyalexander rasin, analytics, astron, big data, big data curricula, big data skills, business intelligence, curriculum materials, george washington university, global academic programs, global universities, ibm, ibm big data, janet smart, jeff pittges, rfid networks, richard rodts, software

From Washington D.C. to the Philippines, IBM Creates Big Data and Analytics Curriculum for Universities Across the Globe; Announces Winners of 2013 Big Data and Analytics Faculty Awards

ARMONK, N.Y. – 14 Aug 2013: IBM today announced that it has added nine new academic collaborations to its more than 1,000 partnerships with universities across the globe, focusing on Big Data and analytics — all of which are designed to prepare students for the 4.4 million jobs that will be created worldwide to support Big Data by 2015. The company also announced more than $100,000 in awards for Big Data curricula.

As part of IBM’s Academic Initiative, the company is launching new curricula focusing on Big Data and analytics with Georgetown University, George Washington University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Missouri, as well as a new addition to IBM’s partnership with Northwestern University. Internationally, IBM is partnering with Dublin City University, Mother Teresa Women’s University in India, the National University of Singapore, and the Philippines’ Commission on Higher Education to offer data-driven degree programs, coursework and specialization tracks. (more…)

Illegales Tropenholz – erster Verdachtsfall in Deutschland

By Guest PostAugust 14, 2013Environmentandrea cederquist, bakri bois corporation, bbc, belgien, ble, demokratischen republik kongo, deutsche holzhandels sicherungsgesetz, deutschland, eu holzverordnung, europäische markt, eutr, firma, Greenpeace, hafen von antwerpen, holzlieferung in deutschland, holzmafia, holzsig massnahmen, illegales tropenholz, nanna zimmerma, provinz equateur, rem, verdachtsfall, waldexpertin

Zum ersten Mal seit die neue EU-Holzverordnung (März 2013) gültig ist, hat Greenpeace eine anscheinend illegale Holzlieferung in Deutschland ausfindig gemacht. Aktivisten haben das tropische Wenge-Holz aus der Demokratischen Republik Kongo am 1. August in einem Sägewerk in Gütersloh entdeckt. Greenpeace informierte die zuständige Behörde für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung (BLE), legte Beschwerde ein und erstattet Anzeige gegen Unbekannt mit der Aufforderung entsprechend des HolzSiG Maßnahmen einzuleiten.

Der aktuelle Fall könnte wegweisend für die weitere Umsetzung des Gesetzes in Deutschland sein. „Wir haben hier einen Präzedenzfall zur Umsetzung des Holzgesetzes in Deutschland. Die Kontrollbehörde muss diese Lieferung sofort überprüfen und beschlagnahmen und die erforderlichen rechtlichen Schritte einleiten“, sagt Andrea Cederquist, Waldexpertin bei Greenpeace. „Illegaler Holzeinschlag, Korruption und Gewalttaten sind gängige Praxis der internationalen Holzmafia. Es darf deshalb nicht sein, dass illegal vergebene Lizenzen ohne weiteres die Sorgfaltsprüfung der europäischen Behörden bestehen.“ (more…)

Scientist names new fly species after the Professor who has supported his work

By Guest PostAugust 14, 2013Nature, Scienceamber rocks, aspect of biodiversity, bishop museum, caribbean island, dave penney, dominican republic, fly, hawaii, hispaniola, journal zootaxa, keroplatidae family, neal evenhuis, new species, proceroplatus preziosii, richard preziosi, university of manchester

A Professor from The University of Manchester has had his name immortalised as a new species of fly.

Professor Richard Preziosi, from the Faculty of Life Sciences, said he was delighted with the unusual tribute from researcher Dr Dave Penney.

It follows his continued support of Dr Penney’s unfunded research into amber rocks which he has been investigating for around 20 years.

Dr Penney discovered the new species of fly, which he has named Proceroplatus preziosii, on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, after finding a fossil in 16 million-year-old amber from the Dominican Republic. His findings were confirmed by Dr Neal Evenhuis, of the Bishop Museum in Hawaii, who is the leading world expert on this group. The species is a tiny gnat just a few millimetres long belonging to the Keroplatidae family. (more…)

UCLA researcher invents new tools to manage ‘information overload’ threatening neuroscience

By Guest PostAugust 14, 2013Sciencecrowd sourcing strategy, information overload, map creation process, nano publications, pre map era

Before the digital age, neuroscientists got their information in the library like the rest of us. But the explosion of neuroscience research has resulted in the publication of nearly 2 million papers — more data than any researcher can read and absorb in a lifetime.
(more…)

Smart enough to know better: Intelligence is not a remedy for racism

By Guest PostAugust 14, 2013Culture, Generalgeoffrey wodtke, high ability whites, intelligence, intelligent whites, low ability whites, modern america, practice, racial equality, racial inequality, racism, smart enough, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR — Smart people are just as racist as their less intelligent peers—they’re just better at concealing their prejudice, according to a University of Michigan study.

“High-ability whites are less likely to report prejudiced attitudes and more likely to say they support racial integration in principle,” said Geoffrey Wodtke, a doctoral candidate in sociology. “But they are no more likely than lower-ability whites to support open housing laws and are less likely to support school busing and affirmative action programs.” (more…)

‘Small World Initiative’: Engaging young students in critical research

By Guest PostAugust 13, 2013Education, Scienceeric warrick, jean schmidt, kline biology tower, manoa, neil enis, pilot program, research projects, sachie etherington, small world initiative, stem, tiffany tsang, tulsa community college, university of hawaii, university of pittsburgh, yale campus

Twenty-four faculty members from colleges and universities from around the country left the Yale campus on Aug. 1 with a new mission: to inspire their freshman and sophomore students to pursue scientific research, specifically by discovering new antibiotics from soil bacteria.

In a week-long workshop called “The Small World Initiative” and held at Kline Biology Tower, the teachers developed the tools to engage their students in real-life research projects with such life-saving potential. (more…)

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