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comScore Introduces Mobile Metrix 2.0, Revealing that Social Media Brands Experience Heavy Engagement on Smartphones

By Guest PostMay 7, 2012Technologycomscore media metrix, comscore mobile metrix, comscore svp, mobile metrix, twitter mobile users

comScore’s Revamped Mobile Measurement Service Provides Browser and App Audience Insights Across Smartphone Operating Systems

Facebook Ranks as Most Engaging Media Property among U.S. Smartphone Users

RESTON, VA, May 7, 2012 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today announced the U.S. launch of Mobile Metrix® 2.0, its next generation mobile behavioral measurement service. Mobile Metrix 2.0 brings comScore’s Unified Digital Measurement™ to smartphone devices, combining passive on-device measurement with census-level data to provide one of the most accurate and detailed views into actual U.S. mobile media usage across apps and mobile browsing. (more…)

Researchers Find Potential ‘Dark Side’ To Diets High In Beta-Carotene

By Guest PostMay 7, 2012Healthabdulkerim eroglu, africa, antioxidant, asia, beta-carotene, carlo dela sena, carotenoids, carrots, dark side, diet, earl harrison, gene, golden maize, health hazard, immune function, metabolism, molecule, ohio state university, robert curley, shockwave, south america, steven schwartz, sureshbabu narayanasamy, sweet potatoes, synthetic molecule, vitamin A

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research suggests that there could be health hazards associated with consuming excessive amounts of beta-carotene.

This antioxidant is a naturally occurring pigment that gives color to foods such as carrots, sweet potatoes and certain greens. It also converts to vitamin A, and foods and supplements are the only sources for this essential nutrient.

But scientists at Ohio State University have found that certain molecules that derive from beta-carotene have an opposite effect in the body: They actually block some actions of vitamin A, which is critical to human vision, bone and skin health, metabolism and immune function. (more…)

First-of-its-Kind Study Reveals Surprising Ecological Effects of 2010 Chile Earthquake

By Guest PostMay 7, 2012Environment2010 chile earthquake, arroyo quemado, california, cataclysmic occurrence, central chile, Chile, coastal ecosystem, coastal zone, earthquake, ecological effects, eduardo jaramillo, fondecyt, jenny dugan, lter, magnitude, national science foundation, natural disaster, sand crabs, sandy beach, tectonically active, tsunami, ucsb

Long-forgotten coastal habitats reappeared, species unseen for years returned

The reappearance of long-forgotten habitats and the resurgence of species unseen for years may not be among the expected effects of a natural disaster.

Yet that’s exactly what researchers found in a study of the sandy beaches of south central Chile, after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake and devastating tsunami in 2010.

Their study also revealed a preview of the problems wrought by sea level rise–a major symptom of climate change. (more…)

A NASA Weather ‘Eye in the Sky’ Marks 10 Years

By Guest PostMay 7, 2012Environment, Scienceairs, amsu a, atmosphere, atmospheric infrared sounder, bae systems, boston, carbon dioxide, climate change, climate research, earth, energy cycle, eric fetzer, eye, global water, greenhouse gases, hyperspectral sounding, instrument, jet propulsion laboratory, model, monster, moustafa chahine, NASA, sky, tom pagano, water vapor, weather forecasting, weather satellites

For 10 years, it has silently swooped through space in its orbital perch 438 miles (705 kilometers) above Earth, its nearly 2,400 spectral “eyes” peering into Earth’s atmosphere, watching. But there’s nothing alien about NASA’s Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, or AIRS, instrument, a “monster” of weather and climate research that celebrates its 10th birthday in orbit May 4.

AIRS, built by BAE Systems, Boston, under the direction of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., is one of six instruments flying on NASA’s Aqua spacecraft as part of NASA’s Earth Observing System. AIRS, along with its partner microwave instrument, the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU-A), has faithfully measured our planet’s atmospheric temperature, water vapor, clouds and greenhouse gases with unprecedented accuracy and stability. Over the past decade, AIRS and AMSU-A have improved our understanding of Earth’s global water and energy cycles, climate change and trends and how Earth’s climate system is responding to increased greenhouse gases. (more…)

Human Brain Evolution Tied to Partial Gene Copy That Blocks Original

By Guest PostMay 7, 2012Scienceafrican, brain development gene, chromosome, cortex, denisovans, embryology, evan eichler, evolutionary history, franck polleux, gene duplication, genus homo, homo sapiens, humans, hydatidiform mole, mammalian species, megan dennis, neanderthals, parent gene, peter sudmant, prehistoric human genome, primate, srgap2 gene family, university of washington, xander nuttle

A brain-development gene found exclusively in humans has an unusual evolutionary history and could contribute to what makes us distinctly human. Equally surprising, this is a partial gene created from an incomplete duplication of its “parent” gene in the prehistoric human genome.

Gene duplication is an important driving force in creating physical changes in living things during evolution, explained the researchers studying the SRGAP2 gene family. Drs. Megan Dennis and Xander Nuttle, in the Howard Hughes Medicine Institute research lab of Dr. Evan Eichler, University of Washington professor of genome sciences, co-authored the report on the findings. (more…)

New UF Study Shows Early North Americans Lived With Extinct Giant Beasts

By Guest PostMay 6, 2012Sciencecollagen in bones, early north americans, extinct mammals, human skeletons, last ice age, rare earth elements, vero beach site, vero site

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A new University of Florida study that determined the age of skeletal remains provides evidence humans reached the Western Hemisphere during the last ice age and lived alongside giant extinct mammals. (more…)

Increasing Speed of Greenland Glaciers Gives New Insight for Rising Sea Level

By Guest PostMay 6, 2012EnvironmentAntarctica, benjamin smith, climate change, Germany, glaciologist, greenland glaciers, ian howat, ian joughin, ice, icebergs, Japan, meltwater, ocean, rising sea level, scenario, sea-level rise, terrasar x satellite, twila moon, university of washington

Changes in the speed that ice travels in more than 200 outlet glaciers indicates that Greenland’s contribution to rising sea level in the 21^st century might be significantly less than the upper limits some scientists thought possible, a new study shows.

“So far, on average we’re seeing about a 30 percent speedup in 10 years,” said Twila Moon, a University of Washington doctoral student in Earth and space sciences and lead author of a paper documenting the observations published May 4 in Science. (more…)

Daniel Block and The ‘Feel of Not to Feel It’

By Guest PostMay 6, 2012Culturebaby boomers, british romantic era, british romantic writers, daniel block, emotion, emotional energy, evocative history, feel, french revolution, generation x, historical feeling, history channel, keats, melancholia, millennial generation, napoleonic wars, past, political life, pragmatic, romantic poets, romanticism, wordsworth

The History Channel and other outlets insist that knowing about the past is not enough: It must come alive and we must feel it. But are our emotions and sentiments a reliable guide to historical understanding? Daniel Block finds that Wordsworth, Keats, and other British Romantic writers may have something new to offer about the use and value of our affective experience.

It is certainly familiar turf for Baby Boomers, this persistent effort to figure out the ’60s or ’70s. Can history be parsed — actual occurrences considered apart from emotion-laden memories? And can a reliable picture of the whole be teased out, something that might be enriching, informative, or useful?

Daniel Block has been studying writers of the British Romantic era — the poets Keats and Wordsworth, the historical novelist Walter Scott and others. It’s a great, rich body of writing that speaks to the formation of historical feeling. (more…)

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