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Coastal Antarctic Permafrost Melting Faster Than Expected

By Guest PostJuly 25, 2013Environmentandrew fountain, antarctic peninsula, Arctic, arctic like slump, austin, boston university, brown university, coastal antarctic, coastal arctic, david marchant, dry valleys contain, frozen water, garwood valley, ground ice, ice free islands, institute for geophysics, jaclyn watters, james dickson, james head, joseph levy, layers of sediment, lidar, marianne okal, mass, mcmurdo dry valleys, permafrost melting, phenomenon, present geologic epoch, retrogressive thaw slumps, ross sea, scientific reports, section of antarctica, tibet, university of texas, warming antarctic continent, weather station data

AUSTIN, Texas — For the first time, scientists have documented an acceleration in the melt rate of permafrost, or ground ice, in a section of Antarctica where the ice had been considered stable. The melt rates are comparable with the Arctic, where accelerated melting of permafrost has become a regularly recurring phenomenon, and the change could offer a preview of melting permafrost in other parts of a warming Antarctic continent.

Tracking data from Garwood Valley in the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica, Joseph Levy, a research associate at The University of Texas at Austin’s Institute for Geophysics, shows that melt rates accelerated consistently from 2001 to 2012, rising to about 10 times the valley’s historical average for the present geologic epoch, as documented in the July 24 edition of Scientific Reports. (more…)

NASA Releases Images of Earth by Distant Spacecraft

By Guest PostJuly 24, 2013Sciencecarolyn porco, cassini images earth, cassini spacecraft, columbia university, coming of age, distant spacecraft, images of earth, linda spilker, mercury, messenger, moon, NASA, nasa interplanetary spacecraft, photo of earth, planetary explorers, saturns rings, sean solomon, wide angle image

PASADENA, Calif. — Color and black-and-white images of Earth taken by two NASA interplanetary spacecraft on July 19 show our planet and its moon as bright beacons from millions of miles away in space.

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft captured the color images of Earth and the moon from its perch in the Saturn system nearly 900 million miles (1.5 billion kilometers) away. MESSENGER, the first probe to orbit Mercury, took a black-and-white image from a distance of 61 million miles (98 million kilometers) as part of a campaign to search for natural satellites of the planet. (more…)

New book by UCLA historian traces role of gender in 1992 Los Angeles riots

By Guest PostJuly 24, 2013Culture, Politics1992, 19th century, american history, american society, asian immigrants, black and white, black male rioters, black man, brenda stevenson, charlotte forten grimke, economic hardship, empire liquor market, free black woman, hot potato case, jewish american judge, joyce karlin, korean black conflict, korean shopkeeper, lapd beating, latasha harlins, life in black, los angeles riots, new book, philadelphia, policemen, rodney king, role of gender, russia, soon ja du, south korea, southern history, total property damage, ucla historian, united states, us race riots, westchester high school

White policemen pulling a black man from a car and viciously beating him. Black male rioters erupting after the officers are acquitted of assault and excessive force charges. Black male rioters pulling a white man from his truck and viciously beating him. Men of color looting stores. Gun-toting male shopkeepers poised on rooftops to protect their businesses.

So many of the indelible images of the 1992 Los Angeles riots feature men, especially black and white men. But there was also a women’s story behind the so-called Rodney King riots, and it is considerably more important and ethnically nuanced than the one that lingers in the public imagination, a UCLA historian argues in a new book. (more…)

Ship noise impairs feeding and heightens predation risk for crabs

By Guest PostJuly 23, 2013Environment, Natureandy radford, animal behaviour, behavior, bristol, crabs, ecologically critical effects, ecosystems, feeding, marine invertebrates, metabolic rate, play dead behavior, potential predators, predation risk, ship noise, shore crab, steve simpson, university of exeter

A study published in the journal Animal Behaviour found that the noise of passing ships disrupts feeding for the common shore crab.

Perhaps worse, the team from the Universities of Exeter and Bristol also found that when threatened, crabs took longer to retreat to shelter and lost their natural ‘play dead’ behaviour.

In coastal seas around the world noise caused by humans is a dominant feature, with construction and transportation fundamentally modifying ocean soundscapes.

Working with the same common shore crabs that children delight in catching on crablines in UK harbours, the team found ecologically-critical effects of ship noise-playback on behaviour. (more…)

Computer models figure out sickle cell crisis

By Guest PostJuly 23, 2013Scienceafrican, blood blockages, brown university, computer models, figure out, george karniadakis, hispanic descent, huan lei, karniadakis lab, red blood cells, sickle cell crisis, ss2 cells, united states

A sickle cell crisis isn’t just about sickle-shaped red blood cells that block capillaries. A second, stickier kind of red blood cell starts the obstruction, making it difficult for sickle cells to flow past.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Using powerful computer models, researchers from Brown University have shown for the first time how different types of red blood cells interact to cause sickle cell crisis, a dangerous blockage of blood flow in capillaries that causes searing pain and tissue damage in people with sickle cell disease.

The models showed that the rigid, crescent-shaped red blood cells that are the hallmark of sickle cell disease don’t cause these blockages on their own. Instead, softer, deformable red blood cells known as SS2 cells start the process by sticking to capillary walls. The rigid sickle-shaped cells then stack up behind the SS2s, like traffic behind a car wreck. (more…)

Navigate America’s Major Rivers Without Getting Wet

By Guest PostJuly 23, 2013Environmentdigital hydrographic data, mississippi river, navigate rivers, navigate upstream, streamer, united states, water bodies

Have you ever dropped a stick into a river and wondered where it might go if it floated all the way downstream? Now you can trace its journey using Streamer – a new on-line service from the National Atlas of the United States^®. (more…)

Dr. Mark Michalski is ready to print a 3-D brain (maybe yours)

By Guest PostJuly 22, 2013Health3d anatomical printouts, 3d printer, model anatomical organs, print 3d brain, theoretical cancer patients

In a year’s time, the 3-D printers at Yale’s Center for Engineering Innovation and Design (CEID) have churned out countless parts, prototypes, and curiosity-driven experiments in plastic — rotorheads and racecar uprights, cardiac pump pieces and thermostats, snowmen, keychains, and fantastical geometric shapes. (more…)

Black Bears Return to Missouri Indicates Healthy Forests, say MU Biologists

By Guest PostJuly 22, 2013Naturearkansas, bear population, black bears, genetic diversity, genetic fingerprints, genetic signatures, healthy forests, interior highlands, kaitlyn faires, lori eggert, minnesota, mississippi state university, missouri, missouri bears, North America, oklahoma, ozark forest, university of missouri

Outdoor recreationists should take precautions to avoid problems with bears in southern Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. — For nearly a century, the only bears known to reside in Missouri were on the state flag or in captivity. Unregulated hunting and habitat loss had wiped out most black bears in Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma by the 1920s. Now, thanks to a reintroduction program in Arkansas during the 50s and 60s, hundreds of bears amble through the forests of southern Missouri, according to a joint study by University of Missouri, Mississippi State University, and Missouri Department of Conservation biologists, who warn that although the bear population is still small, outdoor recreationists and homeowners should take precautions in the Ozark forest to avoid attracting bears.

“Black bears normally do not attack humans, but they will ransack picnic baskets, tear through garbage bags or even enter buildings looking for food,” said Lori Eggert, associate professor of biological sciences in MU’s College of Arts and Science. “Although some Missourians may be concerned, the return of black bears to Missouri is actually a good sign. It means parts of the state’s forests are returning to a healthy biological balance after nearly two centuries of intensive logging and exploitation.” (more…)

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