Guest Post – Page 615 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

New analysis suggests wind, not water, formed mound on Mars

By Guest PostMay 9, 2013Sciencealaska, california, caltech, claire newman, clay, dawn sumner, dusty atmosphere, dynamic, earth like, edwin kite, evidence, gale crater, geology, habitability, hirise camera, institute of technology, kevin lewis, lakebed silt, layer, mars rover curiosity, mars science laboratory, martian climate, martian climate history, martian mound, martian surface, models, mount sharp, mt mckinley, NASA, organic compounds, princeton university, red planet, sediment, sedimentary mounds, sedimentary records, slope winds, soil analyses, steep topographic slopes, topographical details, understanding mars past, water molecules, wind deposition

A roughly 3.5-mile high Martian mound that scientists suspect preserves evidence of a massive lake might actually have formed as a result of the Red Planet’s famously dusty atmosphere, an analysis of the mound’s features suggests. If correct, the research could dilute expectations that the mound holds evidence of a large body of water, which would have important implications for understanding Mars’ past habitability.

Researchers based at Princeton University and the California Institute of Technology suggest that the mound, known as Mount Sharp, most likely emerged as strong winds carried dust and sand into the 96-mile-wide crater in which the mound sits. They report in the journal Geology that air likely rises out of the massive Gale Crater when the Martian surface warms during the day, then sweeps back down its steep walls at night. Though strong along the Gale Crater walls, these “slope winds” would have died down at the crater’s center where the fine dust in the air settled and accumulated to eventually form Mount Sharp, which is close in size to Alaska’s Mt. McKinley. (more…)

Older Is Wiser: Study Shows Software Developers’ Skills Improve Over Time

By Guest PostMay 9, 2013Technologychanging technology, data, django to silverlight, emerson murphy hill, ios, north Carolina, older is wiser, patrick morrison, programming interests, programming issues, reputation score, skills of programmers, smartphone operating systems, software developer, stackoverflow, state university, windows phone

There is a perception in some tech circles that older programmers aren’t able to keep pace with rapidly changing technology, and that they are discriminated against in the software field. But a new study from North Carolina State University indicates that the knowledge and skills of programmers actually improve over time – and that older programmers know as much (or more) than their younger peers when it comes to recent software platforms.

“We wanted to explore these perceptions of veteran programmers as being out of step with emerging technologies and see if we could determine whether older programmers are actually keeping up with changes in the field,” says Dr. Emerson Murphy-Hill, an assistant professor of computer science at NC State and co-author of a paper on the research. “And we found that, in some cases, veteran programmers even have a slight edge.” (more…)

An Ancient Biosonar Sheds New Light on the Evolution of Echolocation in Toothed Whales

By Guest PostMay 9, 2013Natureaarhus university, acoustic monitoring, ancient biosonar, aquatic mammals, Bangladesh, biosonar signals, bottlenose dolphin, denmark, earth, evolution of echolocation, evolutionary process, frants havmand jensen, freshwater, freshwater cetaceans, freshwater dolphins, ganges river dolphins, hole, low frequent click, mangrove forest, marine dolphins, marine environments, oceanographic institution, oldest species, peter teglberg madsen, platanistidae family, river habitats, river systems, toothed whales, woods

Some thirty million years ago, Ganges river dolphins diverged from other toothed whales, making them one of the oldest species of aquatic mammals that use echolocation, or biosonar, to navigate and find food. This also makes them ideal subjects for scientists working to understand the evolution of echolocation among toothed whales.

New research, led by Frants Havmand Jensen, a Danish Council for Independent Research | Natural Sciences postdoctoral fellow at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, shows that freshwater dolphins produce echolocation signals at very low sound intensities compared to marine dolphins, and that Ganges river dolphins echolocate at surprisingly low sound frequencies. The study, “Clicking in shallow rivers,” was published in the journal PLOS ONE. (more…)

Science Xplained: Ice cream chemistry

By Guest PostMay 8, 2013Scienceainissa ramirez, avalanches, how ice freezes, ice cream, ice cream chemistry, knowledge, liquid nitrogen, mechanical engineering, science xplained, surface of neptune

Ainissa Ramirez, associate professor of mechanical engineering, describes the science behind a tasty bit of chemistry — ice cream. She shows how to make ice cream using liquid nitrogen, which is as cold as the surface of Neptune, and describes why these cold temperatures makes ice cream, creamier. She demonstrates how our knowledge of how […]

New book explores Harry Truman’s record on civil liberties

By Guest PostMay 8, 2013Politicsalger hiss, american freedoms, american government, american people, american political system, american politics, american principles, americans, anti communists, civil liberties, cold war, constitution, democrat controlled senate, fbi, george w. bush, global peace, harry truman, house, internal security subcommittee, issue, j edgar hoover, japanese americans, john s service, joseph mccarthy, justice department, key west, liberty and security, loyalty program, marshall plan, national security system, nato, new book, Obama, policy, president eisenhower, red scare, richard kirkendall, richard nixon, senator joe mccarthy, smith act case, unamerican activities committee, university of washington, uw today, violation, war in korea, world war

Richard Kirkendall is a University of Washington professor emeritus of history and editor of the new book “Civil Liberties and the Legacy of Harry S. Truman.” He answered a few questions about the book for UW Today.

Q: What’s the scope of the book?

A: The book surveys the civil liberties issue during the Truman presidency of 1945-1953, an especially important time in the history of this essential feature of the American political system.

The book begins with two chapters on Truman as a civil libertarian, one on his identification of himself, the other on his relations with Japanese-Americans, the victims during World War II of a major violation of American principles. (more…)

Breastfeeding: Not only for young teens

By Guest PostMay 8, 2013Healthbirth control, bottle feeding, breast cancer, breast milk, breastfeeding, ovarian cancer, teen mom

When a teen mom is considering breastfeeding, it may be a tough task for her to break misconceptions, she has about breastfeeding. For example, many teens prefer bottle feeding as a healthier choice over breast feeding. They also believe that their breasts will lose their shape and it is “old school.” Teen moms, just like adults consider many factors when choosing breastfeeding. (more…)

Pride, prejudice and strategic thinking: Jane Austen wrote the book on game theory

By Guest PostMay 8, 2013Sciencegame theorist, game theory, jane austen, strategic maneuvering, strategic thinking, strategically adept characters, theory of games, zero sum game

Quiz: This beautiful mind was promoting game theory long before Cold War think tanks used mathematics to understand strategic maneuvering. Plotting, as a result, has never been the same. (more…)

Reducing arsenic in food chain

By Guest PostMay 8, 2013Environmentarsenic, arsenic contamination, arsenic in rice, arsenic uptake, exposure to arsenic, food chain, iron barrier, rice roots, soil bacterium

Soil may harbor answer to reducing arsenic in rice

Harsh Bais and Janine Sherrier of the University of Delaware’s Department of Plant and Soil Sciences are studying whether a naturally occurring soil bacterium, referred to asUD1023 because it was first characterized at the University, can create an iron barrier in rice roots that reduces arsenic uptake. (more…)

Author Archives: Guest Post