ANN ARBOR — New findings from NASA’s Curiosity rover provide clues to how Mars lost its original atmosphere, which scientists believe was much thicker than the one left today.
“The beauty of these measurements lies in the fact that these are the first really high-precision measurements of the composition of Mars’ atmosphere,” said Sushil Atreya, professor of atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences at the University of Michigan. (more…)
UCLA-led study shows that many countries have it, but not the U.S.
Uruguay has it. So does Latvia, and Senegal. In fact, more than half of the world’s countries have some degree of a guaranteed, specific right to public health and medical care for their citizens written into their national constitutions.
The United States is one of 86 countries whose constitutions do not guarantee their citizens any kind of health protection. That’s the finding of a new study from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health that examined the level and scope of constitutional protection of specific rights to public health and medical care, as well as the broad right to health. (more…)
PASADENA, Calf. — The true identity of centaurs, the small celestial bodies orbiting the sun between Jupiter and Neptune, is one of the enduring mysteries of astrophysics. Are they asteroids or comets? A new study of observations from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) finds most centaurs are comets. (more…)
Oceanography graduate student lands scholarship supporting wetland research
Growing up along Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, Brandon Boyd spent a lot of time hunting for waterfowl and fishing for speckled trout in marshes and swamps. There, wetlands are a way of life.
Millions of people in low-income countries still depend on public computer and Internet access venues despite the global proliferation of mobile phones and home computers. However, interest in providing such public access has waned in recent years, especially among development agencies, as new technologies become available.
But a five-year, eight-country study recently concluded by the Technology & Social Change Group at the University of Washington Information School has found that community access to computer and Internet technology remains a crucial resource for connecting people to the information and skills they need in an increasingly digital world. (more…)
“Interaction of Color” — Josef Albers’ iconic book that taught legions of students and professionals alike how to think creatively about color — has been given a modern makeover as an iPad app, just in time for the 50th anniversary of its publication by Yale University Press.(more…)
Years ago the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, changed its policy on dealing with the emerald ash borer (EAB), a pretty but deadly insect that has killed many of the state’s ash trees.
Instead of cutting down all ash trees, they allowed residents to treat high-value trees with insecticides at their own expense, says Kathy Quick, an assistant professor in the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs who was working in Grand Rapids at the time.(more…)
