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The Flowing Sands of Mars

By Guest PostMay 13, 2012ScienceAntarctica, caltech, craters, digital terrain model, doug mccuistion, dtm, earth, flowing sands, geological processes, gullies, high speed winds, hirise camera, jean philippe avouac, mars, martian equator, martian landscape, martian surface, mro, NASA, nathan bridges, nili patera, red planet, rocks on mars, sand dunes, sarah mattson, valleys

Sand dunes on Mars move not unlike those on Earth, despite a much thinner atmosphere and weaker winds, as revealed by images taken with the UA-led HiRISE camera.

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, or MRO, has revealed that movement in sand dune fields on the Red Planet occurs on a surprisingly large scale, about the same as in dune fields on Earth.

This is unexpected because Mars has a much thinner atmosphere than Earth is only about 1 percent as dense, and its high-speed winds are less frequent and weaker than Earth’s.

For years, researchers debated whether or not sand dunes observed on Mars were mostly fossil features related to past climate, rather than currently active. In the past two years, researchers using images from MRO’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE, camera have detected and reported sand movement. (more…)

Voice(s) of Comedy

By Guest PostMay 13, 2012Entertainmentfemale comic, voice actress, voice of comedy, voice over actress

U alum Maria Bamford gains fame as a comic, voice actress, and quirky commercial character

Sometimes it’s good to draw the long straw on work assignments. (more…)

Income Inequality Leads to More U.S. Deaths, Study Finds

By Guest PostMay 13, 2012Economycensus bureau, chronic illness, cumulative odds, data structure, death rates, discrete time hazard model, gini coefficient, hui zheng, income inequality, jeff grabmeier, metric, mortality, statistical model, united states, us deaths

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study provides the best evidence to date that higher levels of income inequality in the United States actually lead to more deaths in the country over a period of years.

The findings suggest that income inequality at any one point doesn’t work instantaneously – it begins increasing mortality rates 5 years later, and its influence peaks after 7 years, before fading after 12 years.

“This finding is striking and it supports the argument that income inequality is a public health concern,” said Hui Zheng, author of the study and assistant professor of sociology at Ohio State University. (more…)

Female and Younger Athletes Take Longer to Overcome Concussions

By Guest PostMay 13, 20121 commentSportsathletic, cognitive testing, concussions, female, injury, michigan state university, postural stability, sex differences, symptoms postconcussion, tracey covassin, visual memory, younger athletes

EAST LANSING, Mich. — New research out of Michigan State University reveals female athletes and younger athletes take longer to recover from concussions, findings that call for physicians and athletic trainers to take sex and age into account when dealing with the injury.

The study, led by Tracey Covassin of MSU’s Department of Kinesiology, found females performed worse than males on visual memory tests and reported more symptoms postconcussion.

Additionally, high school athletes performed worse than college athletes on verbal and visual memory tests, and some of the younger athletes still were impaired up to two weeks after their injuries. (more…)

Construction of New Rock Spawning Reefs Will Help Great Lakes Native Fish

By Guest PostMay 13, 2012Environment, Naturebelle isle, boat traffic, boulder, bruce manny, center of excellence, connecting channel, crevices, delta, detroit, detroit river, erie, fighting island, great lakes, huron erie, huron erie corridor, jennifer read, lake sturgeon, lake whitefish, lakes huron, michigan, michigan sea grant, middle channel, middle channel reefs, mooneye, native fish, northern madtom catfish, physical characteristics, reef project, river bottom, river redhorse sucker, rock spawning reefs, rock structure, sport fish, st clair river, U.S. Geological Survey, walleye

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—The first of nine rock reefs is under construction in the St. Clair River delta northeast of Detroit. The goal of the project, which is led by Michigan Sea Grant, is to boost populations of lake sturgeon and other rare native fish by providing river-bottom rock structures where they can spawn.

The rock reefs are designed to assist several native species that are considered threatened or endangered in Michigan, including lake sturgeon, mooneye, the northern madtom catfish and the river redhorse sucker. Walleye, a popular sport fish, and commercially important lake whitefish should also benefit. (more…)

Insect Glands May Illuminate Human Fertilization Process

By Guest PostMay 12, 2012Health, Scienceallan spradling, bee, cellular physiology, egg, fertilization, fruit fly, gene, hr39, human, insect glands, jianjun sun, lrh 1, mammals, receptor protein, reproductive glands, secretion, secretion glands, sperm

Baltimore, MD — Insect glands are responsible for producing a host of secretions that allow bees to sting and ants to lay down trails to and from their nests. New research from Carnegie scientists focuses on secretions from glands in the reproductive tract that help sperm survive and guide the sperm on the trip to fertilize an egg. The gene that controls the development of these glands in fruit flies provides important information about gland development in all insects, as well as potential clues to similar human reproductive glands. Their work is published this month in Current Biology.

When a female fruit fly receives sperm from a male fruit fly, lubricating secretions in her reproductive tract activate the sperm, store it, and guide it to fertilization. Without the aid of these secretions, sperm would not make it to the eggs. Carnegie’s Allan Spradling and Jianjun Sun demonstrated that the gene in charge of regulating the development of fruit fly secretion glands is called Hr39. It encodes a steroid receptor protein. (more…)

Undocumented, Young Immigrants Face Obstacles, Uncertain Futures

By Guest PostMay 12, 2012Politicsamerican youth, citizenship, dream act, ford foundation, immigration status, irvine, latino youth, leo chavez, nightmare, orange county, roberto gonzales, undocumented, united states, university of california, university of chicago, young adults

Undocumented Latino youth who migrate to the United States face futures clouded by limited rights and the constant fear of deportation, according to a new report from the University of Chicago and the University of California, Irvine.

Many don’t fully realize the constraints of their status until they become older teenagers and young adults, the report finds.

“Rites of passage common to American youth — getting a driver’s license, traveling, working and applying to college — are either denied, unattainable or dangerous to pursue for undocumented immigrants,” said Leo Chavez, professor of anthropology at University of California, Irvine. “It’s at this point that many undocumented Latino youth realize society sees them as discardable, as easily castaway. Yet, rather than merely give up, many become involved in campaigns to change the law.” (more…)

Scientists Discover New Site of Potential Instability in West Antarctic Ice Sheet

By Guest PostMay 12, 2012Environmentaircraft, Antarctica, austin, basin, british antarctic survey, computer model, don blankenship, duncan young, filchner ronne ice shelf, ice penetrating radar, ice sheet change, martin siegert, new jersey, pine island glacier, sea level, sub glacial basin, thwaites glacier, university of edinburgh, university of texas, wais, warmer ocean, weddell sea, west antarctic ice sheet

AUSTIN, Texas — Using ice-penetrating radar instruments flown on aircraft, a team of scientists from the U.S. and U.K. have uncovered a previously unknown sub-glacial basin nearly the size of New Jersey beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) near the Weddell Sea. The location, shape and texture of the mile-deep basin suggest that this region of the ice sheet is at a greater risk of collapse than previously thought.

Team members at The University of Texas at Austin compared data about the newly discovered basin to data they previously collected from other parts of the WAIS that also appear highly vulnerable, including Pine Island Glacier and Thwaites Glacier. Although the amount of ice stored in the new basin is less than the ice stored in previously studied areas, it might be closer to a tipping point. (more…)

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