Author Archives: Guest Post

NASA’s Spitzer Detects Comet Storm in Nearby Solar System

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has detected signs of icy bodies raining down in an alien solar system. The downpour resembles our own solar system several billion years ago during a period known as the “Late Heavy Bombardment,” which may have brought water and other life-forming ingredients to Earth.

During this epoch, comets and other frosty objects that were flung from the outer solar system pummeled the inner planets. The barrage scarred our moon and produced large amounts of dust. (more…)

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Poll: Americans Believe U.S. Headed in Wrong Direction on Energy

AUSTIN, Texas — A poll released today by The University of Texas at Austin found less than 14 percent of Americans think the country is headed in the right direction on energy. Of more than 3,400 consumers surveyed, 84 percent were worried about U.S. consumption of oil from foreign sources and 76 percent about a lack of progress in developing better ways to use energy efficiently and develop renewable sources. (more…)

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New Research Links Common RNA Modification to Obesity

An international research team has discovered that a pervasive human RNA modification provides the physiological underpinning of the genetic regulatory process that contributes to obesity and type II diabetes.

European researchers showed in 2007 that the FTO gene was the major gene associated with obesity and type II diabetes, but the details of its physiological and cellular functioning remained unknown. (more…)

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U.S. Rivers and Streams Saturated With Carbon

*Significant amount of carbon in land is leaking into streams and rivers, then to the atmosphere*

Rivers and streams in the United States are releasing substantially more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than previously thought.

This according to researchers publishing their results in the current issue of the journal Nature Geoscience. (more…)

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Links in the Chain: Global Carbon Emissions and Consumption

Washington, D.C. — It is difficult to measure accurately each nation’s contribution of carbon dioxide to the Earth’s atmosphere. Carbon is extracted out of the ground as coal, gas, and oil, and these fuels are often exported to other countries where they are burned to generate the energy that is used to make products. In turn, these products may be traded to still other countries where they are consumed. A team led by Carnegie’s Steven Davis, and including Ken Caldeira, tracked and quantified this supply chain of global carbon dioxide emissions. Their work will be published online by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week of October 17. (more…)

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Turkey Has Third Most Engaged Online Audience in Europe

*Mike Read to Speak at Webrazzi on 19 October About ‘Turkey in the Global Internet and the Future of Online Measurement’*

LONDON, UK, 18 October 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released an overview of internet usage in Europe and Turkey, showing that of Europe’s 372 million unique visitors, Turkey accounts for 23.1 million unique visitors during August 2011. The United Kingdom showed the highest engagement with users spending an average of nearly 35 hours online in the past month, up 1.5 hours from the previous month. The Netherlands ranked second (32.8 hours per month), closely followed by Turkey, where the average internet user spent 32.7 hours online consuming 3,706 pages per month, the highest consumption amongst all countries reported. (more…)

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Native Americans Stuck in a Political Irony

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Domestic violence against Native American women and pollution of American Indian land – mostly at the hands of non-Native Americans – are just two of many issues that could destroy the American Indian way of life, according to a Michigan State University law professor. (more…)

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Clustered Hurricanes Reduce Impact on Ecosystems

New research has found that hurricane activity is ‘clustered’ rather than random, which has important long-term implications for coastal ecosystems and human population

The research was carried out by Professor Peter Mumby from The University of Queensland Global Change Institute and School of Biological Sciences, Professor David Stephenson and Dr Renato Vitolo (Willis Research Fellow) at the University of Exeter’s Exeter Climate Systems research centre. (more…)

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