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World’s melting glaciers making large contribution to sea rise

By Guest PostMay 29, 2013Environmentalaska, alex gardner, antarctic ice sheets, arctic canada, clark university, climate experiment, coastal greenland, columbia glacier, contribution, glacier mass changes, grace, gravity recovery, greenland, icesat, john wahr, melting glaciers, NASA, sea rise, sea-level rise, tad pfeffer, the himalayas, the southern andes, university colorado boulder, university of michigan, world

While 99 percent of Earth’s land ice is locked up in the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, the remaining ice in the world’s glaciers contributed just as much to sea rise as the two ice sheets combined from 2003 to 2009, says a new study led by Clark University and involving the University Colorado Boulder.

The new research found that all glacial regions lost mass from 2003 to 2009, with the biggest ice losses occurring in Arctic Canada, Alaska, coastal Greenland, the southern Andes and the Himalayas. The glaciers outside of the Greenland and Antarctic sheets lost an average of roughly 260 billion metric tons of ice annually during the study period, causing the oceans to rise 0.03 inches, or about 0.7 millimeters per year. (more…)

Grassroots women’s groups could halve maternal death rate

By Guest PostMay 29, 2013General, Healthadult learning techniques, anthony costello, audrey prost, Bangladesh, child death rates, cost effective, grassroots womens groups, India, local women, malawi, maternal death rate, money, nepal, newborn deaths, participatory games, pregnancy, problem in pregnancy, related health problems, role play, story telling, sustainable, the lancet, ucl

Women’s groups can dramatically reduce the number of maternal and newborn deaths in some of the world’s poorest communities, according to a new meta-analysis published in The Lancet.

The research incorporated seven trials in Bangladesh, India, Malawi and Nepal and looked at 119,428 births.

It assessed whether groups facilitated by local women, who received a short training course of around 7 – 11 days, but were not health workers, affected rates of maternal and newborn mortality. The groups use a range of methods – including discussion, voting and role-playing – to identify common pregnancy-related health problems and work out locally appropriate ways to address them. (more…)

Journalist describes how food companies ‘hook’ consumers

By Guest PostMay 29, 2013Healthfood companies, food contamination, food giants, food optimization, junk food

In 2009, while investigating a sudden influx of illnesses caused by food contamination, journalist Michael Moss learned that there was another, and arguably more severe, public health crisis at hand: the disproportionate use of salt, sugar, and fat in a variety of everyday foods. (more…)

The New Face of Mining: Women Carving Out a Place in Surging Industry

By Guest PostMay 28, 2013Economy, Generalalabama, Antarctica, assessment, barb filas, barrick in nevada, bree mcmaster, brute force image, Chile, coal mines, earth, Economy, environmental impact, exploration, female engineers, female mine manager, geological engineering, girl scouts, global mining firm, illinois, job, knight piesold, mary poulton, metallurgy, mine sites, mining, new face, rita riggs, ruby barickman, san xavier, skilled workers, society for mining, student mine, underground, us schools, vicki seppala, women, work environment, x chromosomes

The UA department of mining and geological engineering, one of only 14 U.S. schools offering mining engineering degrees and only a handful with its own student mine, is dedicated to helping fill the industry pipeline, and that includes ensuring female engineers continue to gain ground in a surging industry.

They roam the remotest corners of the world, scale the highest mountains and descend deep into the Earth.

They go places few women have ever gone. They are not afraid of getting dirty, or of much else for that matter, certainly not adversity or a good challenge. And they know, better than most, how and when to take a joke. (more…)

Diamond in the rough

By Guest PostMay 28, 2013Scienceatoms, chaoying ni, conductivity for oxygen, conductor of oxygen, costume jewelry, cubic zirconia, Diamond, electrolyte, joshua hertz, jun jiang, oxide fuel cells, university of delaware, weida shen, xiaocao hu, yttria stabilized zirconia

UD researchers manipulate cubic zirconia to improve conductivity in fuel cells

Cubic zirconia has long been favored for its use in costume jewelry.

Known scientifically as yttria-stabilized zirconia, it is also a known conductor of oxygen, making it useful as an electrolyte in solid oxide fuel cells.

Researchers at the University of Delaware recently fabricated the material into very thin films on the surface of sapphire crystals using a technique called sputtering to determine whether the conductivity for oxygen could be improved, enabling solid oxide fuel cells to become a more economical and efficient electrical power source. (more…)

The Black Sea is a Goldmine of Ancient Genetic Data

By Guest PostMay 28, 2013Environmentblack sea, brackish black sea, dna sequencing, genetic data, genetic makeup, plankton paleome, pyrosequencing, sediment record

New Study Reconstructs the Past Ocean ‘Paleome’

When Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) marine paleoecologist Marco Coolen was mining through vast amounts of genetic data from the Black Sea sediment record, he was amazed about the variety of past plankton species that left behind their genetic makeup (i.e., the plankton paleome). (more…)

Bring your own service: Employees want social tools at work, despite company restrictions and hesitation, reports new Microsoft survey

By Guest PostMay 28, 2013Culture, Technologyaltimeter group, analyst, asia-pacific, at work, better teamwork, charlene li, chris laping, employees, Europe, global survey, global workplace, infographic, information workers, ipsos, kurt delbene, latin america, microsoft corp., microsoft office division, microsoft survey, organizational policy, productivity loss, red robin, research firm, security concerns, social media, social tools, Technology, Twitter, water cooler, workplace, worldwide, yammer

Global survey across 32 countries shows worker appetite for social tools is increasing, even if it means spending their own money and defying organizational policy to use the technology.

REDMOND, Wash. — May 27, 2013 — Nearly half of employees report that social tools at work help increase their productivity, but more than 30 percent of companies underestimate the value of these tools and often restrict their use, according to new Microsoft research released today.

The survey, conducted for Microsoft Corp. by research firm Ipsos among 9,908 information workers in 32 countries, also found that 39 percent of employees feel there isn’t enough collaboration in their workplaces, and 40 percent believe social tools help foster better teamwork. More surprisingly, 31 percent said they are willing to spend their own money to buy social tools. (more…)

Grocery delivery service is greener than driving to the store

By Guest PostMay 27, 2013Environmentdelivery service, delivery service customer, delivery service trucks, grocery delivery service, grocery shopping, grocery store

At the end of a long day, it can be more convenient to order your groceries online while sitting on the living room couch instead of making a late-night run to the store. New research shows it’s also much more environmentally friendly to leave the car parked and opt for groceries delivered to your doorstep. (more…)

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