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‘Nuisance’ Data Lead to Surprising Star-Birth Discovery

By Guest PostMarch 15, 2013Sciencealma, Antarctica, atacama, atacama desert, baby picture, Chile, cosmic microwave background, early universe, earth, electromagnetic spectrum, history, joaquin vieira, john carlstrom, large millimeter array, northern hemisphere, nuisance data, population, radio galaxies, sky, south pole telescope, star birth discovery, star forming galaxies, sub millimeter wavelengths, universe, university of chicago

When a batch of bright cosmic objects first appeared in maps in 2008 made with data from the South Pole Telescope, astronomers at the University of Chicago’s Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics regarded it only as an unavoidable nuisance.

The light sources interfered with efforts to measure more precisely the cosmic microwave background—the afterglow of the big bang. But the astronomers soon realized that they had made a rare find in South Pole Telescope’s large survey of the sky. The spectra of some of the bright objects, which is the rainbow of light they emit, were inconsistent with what astronomers expected from the well-known population of radio galaxies. (more…)

A Better Walk to a Brighter Future for Tanzania’s Youngest

By Guest PostMarch 15, 2013Education, Generalaga khan foundation, brighter future, dar es salaam, diane ruonavaara, gabrielle kleber, jeff riedinger, michigan state university, milola, milola children, new york, ngwenya, own vision, project, sub village, tag philanthropic foundation, Tanzania, tanzanian children, university

In January, 60 young Tanzanian children began attending school for the first time, thanks to a project led by Michigan State University.

MSU and its partners in the Tanzanian Partnership Program built a new school on 100 acres donated by two village elders in a sub-village of Milola known as Ngwenya. Construction funds were provided by the TAG Philanthropic Foundation, based in New York. (more…)

comScore Releases the “2013 Future in Focus – Digitales Deutschland” Report

By Guest PostMarch 14, 2013Technologyaccess, Comscore, consumer behaviour, digitales deutschland, future in focus, german mobile users, german smartphone users, Germany, internet, laptop, pc, spil games

One in Five iPhone Users Made a Purchase With Their Smartphone in December 2012

Frankfurt, Germany, March 14, 2013 – comScore, Inc., a global leader in digital measurement and analytics, today released the “2013 Future in Focus – Digitales Deutschland” report on the latest digital trends in Germany. The report is written in German and outlines prevailing trends in digital behaviour, mobile, online video, search, online advertising, including a special review of social, retail and women on the web.

To view the full press release in German and to download a complimentary copy of the “2013 Future in Focus – Digitales Deutschland” report, please visit: https://www.comscore.com/ger/Insights/Press_Releases/2013/3/Future_in_Focus_Digitales_Deutschland (more…)

Female Lemurs Play It Safe, Live Longer, Study Suggests

By Guest PostMarch 14, 2013Natureadipose tissue, brian gerber, colorado state university, endangered lemur species, escape from predators, females, hormone level, lifestyle, male testes, masculinized genitalia, milne edwards sifaka, mortality risk factors, mystery, patricia wright, primate, rainforest dweller, rainforests of madagascar, ranomafana national park, safer sex, shu fahk, southeastern madagascar, stacey tecot, stephen king, stony brook university, ua anthropologist, university of massachusetts

Females of a little-known primate from the rainforests of Madagascar have been known to outlive their male peers by many years, despite no obvious differences in hormone levels or lifestyle. A team led by a UA anthropologist has found the likely answer to the mystery.

Researchers studying aging in an endangered lemur species report that in old age, females are the safer sex: They live much longer than their male peers.

Females tend to outlive males in many animals, including humans. But in the Milne-Edwards’ sifaka – a rainforest-dweller with orange-red eyes, a black face and woolly dark brown fur – the sexes didn’t seem to differ in any of the ways thought to give females a survival advantage in other animals. (more…)

More Power Leads to More Dehumanization, Says CU-Boulder Study

By Guest PostMarch 14, 2013Politicsdehumanization, dehumanizing the prisoners, higher power role, powerful people, powerful position

People assigned to positions of power tend to dehumanize those in less powerful positions even when the roles are randomly assigned, according to a new study by the University of Colorado Boulder. (more…)

Remote Clouds Responsible for Climate Models’ Glitch in Tropical Rainfall

By Guest PostMarch 14, 2013EnvironmentAntarctica, atmospheric scientists, clouds, dargan frierson, equatorial africa, future pattern, global climate models, global climate predictions, Java, modern climate models, prediction, rain in zambia, rainfall, rainfall forecasts, rainfall patterns, shift, simulation of cloud, southern hemisphere, Southern Ocean, tropical island, tropical rainfall, university of washington, warmer ocean temperatures, yen ting hwang

It seems counterintuitive that clouds over the Southern Ocean, which circles Antarctica, would cause rain in Zambia or the tropical island of Java. But new research finds that one of the most persistent biases in global climate models – a phantom band of rainfall just south of the equator that does not occur in reality – is caused by poor simulation of the cloud cover thousands of miles farther to the south.

University of Washington atmospheric scientists hope their results help explain why global climate models mistakenly duplicate the inter-tropical convergence zone, a band of heavy rainfall in the northern tropics, on the other side of the equator. The study appears this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (more…)

Yale Researchers Identify Salt as a Trigger of Autoimmune Diseases

By Guest PostMarch 14, 2013Healthautoimmune diseases, autoimmune encephalomyelitis, aviv regev, david hafler, destructive immune system, dietary salt, disease, dominik mueller, Environment, function, gene, Germany, hallmark of autoimmunity, high salt content, hypertension, immune cell, low fat diet, low salt, molecular circuitry, ms, multiple sclerosis, mystery, Nature, pathogenic th17 cells, prime suspect, sub-saharan africa, t helper 17, th17 cell, vijay kuchroo

For the past few decades, health officials have been reporting increases in the incidence of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Now researchers at Yale Medical School, Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute have identified a prime suspect in the mystery — dietary salt.

In the March 6 issue of the journal Nature, Yale researchers showed that salt can induce and worsen pathogenic immune system responses in mice and that the response is regulated by genes already implicated in a variety of autoimmune diseases. (more…)

Antarctic and Arctic Insects Use Different Genetic Mechanisms to Cope With Lack of Water

By Guest PostMarch 13, 2013Environment, NatureAntarctic, antarctic midge, antarctic midge larvae, antarctic peninsula, anvers island, arctic circle, arctic insects, arctic springtail, belgica antarctica, coastal margins, collembola, cope, david denlinger, dry conditions, ecological niche, entomology, environmental ice, extreme ecosystems, folsomia candida, genetic mechanisms, genetics, genomic era, genomic revolution, genomic techniques, lack of water, liquid water, megaphorura arctica, national science foundation, nsf, oceans, ohio state university, peninsula region, polar arthropods, polar desert, polar environments, polar regions, risk of dehydration, sterile environments

Genomic techniques facilitate discovery that gene expression causes disparity

Although they live in similarly extreme ecosystems at opposite ends of the world, Antarctic insects appear to employ entirely different methods at the genetic level to cope with extremely dry conditions than their counterparts that live north of the Arctic Circle, according to National Science Foundation- (NSF) funded researchers.

Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers concluded, “Polar arthropods have developed distinct… mechanisms to cope with similar desiccating conditions.” (more…)

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