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Mesquite Trees Displacing Southwestern Grasslands

By Guest PostMarch 21, 2012Environment, Natureatmosphere, biochemical pathway, bouteloua eriopoda, carbon dioxide, catalina mountains, changing climate, climate, climate data, desert, ecohydrology, ecosystems, eddy covariance tower, grama grass, grassland, greg barron gafford, groundwater, groundwater pool, mesquite tree, muhlenbergia porter, muhly, photosynthesis, predictions, prosopis velutina, rainfall, root system, san pedro river riparian area, santa rita mountains, seasonal precipitation, southeastern arizona, southwest, southwestern climate, sugars, temperature, university of arizona, warming climate, water resource, woody shrub

Mesquite trees and woody shrubs are better adapted than grasslands to a Southwestern climate predicted to shift toward higher temperatures and greater variability in rainfall, UA ecologists have discovered.

As the desert Southwest becomes hotter and drier, semi-arid grasslands are slowly being replaced by a landscape dominated by mesquite trees, such as Prosopis velutina, and other woody shrubs, a team of University of Arizona researchers has found.

In a “leaf-to-landscape” approach, the team combined physiological experiments on individual plants and measurements across entire ecosystems to quantify how well grasslands, compared to mesquite trees and woody shrubs, cope with heat and water stress across seasonal precipitation periods. (more…)

Walk of A Lifetime Promotes Organ Donation

By Guest PostMarch 21, 2012General, Health, Mediafirefighter, harry kiernan, kidney, liver, los angeles, new haven, new york, organ donation, sukru emre, united states, vietnam veteran, walk of 2012

Donating part of his liver and a kidney to two different recipients was not enough for Harry Kiernan. The Vietnam veteran and firefighter is now taking his efforts to raise awareness about organ donation many steps further by walking across the United States.

Kiernan’s 3,300-mile journey began on March 19 at Yale-New Haven Hospital, where a kick off ceremony for “Walk of 2012,” took place under the Donate Life flag near the hospital’s entrance. (more…)

To Combat Identity Theft, Protect Computer

By Guest PostMarch 21, 2012Technologyanti adware, anti spyware, antivirus, computer, computer related deviance, identity theft, michael turner, michigan state university, online commerce, pirated music, pornographic images, software, thomas holt, triple threat combination

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Having a triple-threat combination of protective software on your computer greatly reduces your chances of identity theft, according to a study led by a Michigan State University criminologist.

In a survey of more than 600 people, the researchers found that computer users who were running antivirus, anti-adware and anti-spyware software were 50 percent less likely to have their credit card information stolen.

The study appears in the research journal Deviant Behavior. (more…)

Milkweed Loss Hurts Monarchs

By Guest PostMarch 21, 2012Environment, Natureagricultural field, glyphosate herbicides, herbicide, john pleasants, karen oberhauser, Mexico, midwestern farm, milkweed, minnesota, monarch butterfly, monarchs, plant, university of minnesota, wildlife

*Loss of milkweed in Midwestern farm fields harms butterflies, a study shows*

If you’re a gardener, milkweed may not be at the top of your list.

But if you love Minnesota’s state insect—the monarch butterfly—maybe it should be.

Monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed, but the plant is disappearing from what used to be a prime reservoir: Midwestern farm fields. A new study by University of Minnesota monarch expert Karen Oberhauser and her Iowa State colleague John Pleasants ties a decade-long decline in monarch populations to the loss of milkweed from the corn and soybean fields that blanket the region. (more…)

Go Inside ‘The Hunger Games’ Movie with Groundbreaking New IE9 Site

By Guest PostMarch 20, 2012Technologybestselling trilogy, capitol city, css3, david hayes, evan dehaven, film clip, hollywood, hologram tour, html5, hunger games, internet explorer, internet explorer 9, lionsgate, Microsoft, movie trailers, movies, North America, panem, post apocalyptic world, ryan gavin, the hunger games, web

*Fans of the upcoming movie “The Hunger Games” can visit the fictional nation of Panem and immerse themselves into its futuristic Capitol city by visiting a new Internet Explorer 9 website powered by HTML5.*

REDMOND, Wash. – March 20, 2012 – The pages of the bestselling trilogy “The Hunger Games” introduced readers to a captivating set of characters living in a post-apocalyptic world, and on Friday the movie adaptation of the first book will bring that world to life.

Thanks to a partnership between Microsoft’s Internet Explorer team and Lionsgate, fans of The Hunger Games can dive in and experience the world of Panem and its opulent and oppressive Capitol city today. (more…)

Exposed To Phthalates as Fetuses, Female Mice Have Altered Reproductive Lives

By Guest PostMarch 20, 2012Scienceexposure to mehp, female mouse fetuse, health effects, industrial chemical, industrial phthalate

Many environmental and public health officials are concerned about the potential health effects of phthalates, which are common chemicals used to make plastics softer and more pliable. In the first study to examine what effect in utero doses of phthalates have on the reproductive system of mice, Brown University toxicologists found that extremely high doses were associated with significant changes, such as a shortened reproductive lifespan and abnormal cell growth in mammary glands.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Female mouse fetuses exposed to very high doses of a common industrial chemical that makes plastics more pliable develop significant reproductive alterations and precancerous lesions as they grow up, according to a new toxicology study conducted at Brown University. (more…)

IBM Introduces New Predictive Analytics Services and Software to Reduce Fraud, Manage Financial Performance and Deliver Next Best Action

By Guest PostMarch 20, 2012Technologyfinancial performance, ibm business partners, infinity insurance, predictive analytics, tax fraud

NEW YORK and LONDON – 20 Mar 2012: IBM today announced new consulting services and software that take the power of predictive analytics to new levels of impact for the highest-priority issues of C-suite decision makers. The new analytic offerings address the emerging opportunities of big data to manage financial operations, decrease fraud and nurture next-generation customer relationships. (more…)

Ultracold Experiments Heat Up Quantum Research

By Guest PostMarch 20, 2012Scienceabsolute zero, atomic realm, atoms, birth of universe, black hole, ccd camera, chen lung hung, cheng chin, cosmology, crystals, diverse phenomena, early universe, electron, gravitational dynamics, magnetic materials, nano kelvin, physicist, quantum criticality, quantum phase transition, subatomic particle, subir sachdev, superconductors, thomas rosenbaum, ultracold atom, ultracold state, ultracold temperature, university of chicago, xibo zhang

University of Chicago physicists have experimentally demonstrated, for the first time, that atoms chilled to temperatures near absolute zero may behave like seemingly unrelated natural systems of vastly different scales, offering potential insights into links between the atomic realm and deep questions of cosmology.

This ultracold state, called “quantum criticality,” hints at similarities between such diverse phenomena as the gravitational dynamics of black holes or the exotic conditions that prevailed at the birth of the universe, said Cheng Chin, associate professor in physics at UChicago. The results could even point to ways of simulating cosmological phenomena of the early universe by studying systems of atoms in states of quantum criticality. (more…)

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