Author Archives: Guest Post

Decline in Species Shows Climate Change Warnings Not Exaggerated

By Guest PostJuly 15, 2011EnvironmentAntarctica, bering sea, birds, bivalve mollusks, boreal forests, climate change, effects of climate change on plant and animal species, Europe, extinction, extinction risk, fenno scandia, global biodiversity, global warming, human induced climate change, ilya maclean, Madagascar, marine mammals, nematode worm, pine grosbeak, population declines, robert wilson, species, spectacled eider, tenerife, tiger salamander populations, two barred crossbill, types of habitat, united states of america, university of exeter, yellowstone national park

One in 10 species could face extinction by the year 2100 if current climate change impacts continue.

This is the result of University of Exeter research, examining studies on the effects of recent climate change on plant and animal species and comparing this with predictions of future declines.

Published in leading journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study uses the well-established IUCN Red List for linking population declines to extinction risk. The research examines nearly 200 predictions of the future effects of climate change from studies conducted around the world, as well as 130 reports of changes which have already occurred. (more…)

Optimizing Eyesight: R&D Collaboration Focuses on New System for Measuring and Improving Human Vision

By Guest PostJuly 14, 2011Scienceatlanta based company, chief technology officer, computer controlled lens fabrication technology, david roberts, digitalvision, disruptive technology, eye chart, fda, food and drug administration, georgia research alliance, georgia tech research institute, gra, gtri, humphrey system, humphrey vision analyzer, jose garcia, keith thompson, leanne west, lee herron, ophthalmologists, optical system, optometrists, phoropter, vision, visionoptimizer

With research and development assistance from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and seed funding from the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA), an Atlanta-based company is developing what it hopes will be the next-generation instrument for optimizing eyesight for the hundreds of millions of people who wear glasses or contacts – or who are candidates for corrective surgery.

To be used by optometrists and ophthalmologists, the instrument – known as the VisionOptimizer – is intended to provide more accurate vision measurements, along with a more patient-friendly and engaging vision test. The company believes its system will facilitate the custom-manufacturing of spectacles and contact lenses that provide better eyesight and improved wearing comfort compared to conventional prescriptions. (more…)

Astronomer Tom Gehrels, 1925-2011

By Guest PostJuly 14, 2011Scienceasteroids and comets, astronomer, astronomy, Britain, Chicago, dutch resistance, earth, England, gerard p kuiper, haarlemmermeer, harold masursky award, imaging photopolarimetry, jupiter, kitt peak, leiden university, nobel astrophysicist, saturn, saturn mysterious f ring, special operations executive, study of wavelength dependence of polarization of stars and planets, subrahmanyan chandrasekhar, the netherlands, tom gehrels, universal evolution, university of arizona, university of chicago

*In a career that spanned more than half a century, Gehrels fostered new research on asteroids and comets, including those that pose a threat to Earth.*

Tom Gehrels, an internationally noted planetary scientist and astronomer at the University of Arizona, as well as a hero of the Dutch Resistance during WWII, died Monday. He was 86.

Gehrels was among the first members of the fledgling Lunar and Planetary Laboratory when he joined the UA in 1961. During a long and distinguished career Gehrels pioneered new research on asteroids and comets, especially those that pose a collision threat to Earth. He also developed and taught introductory astronomy courses that were popular with non-science undergraduates. (more…)

Dream Chasers: Winners of 2011 Imagine Cup Announced in New York City

By Guest PostJuly 13, 2011Technology9th annual imagine cup, aine conaghan, azure, Bangladesh, bill and melinda gates, brazil, calum cawley, denmark, dream chasers, embedded development contest, eva longoria, fernanda fonteles, france, game design, geekologic, Greece, imagine cup, ireland, james mcnamara, jean sebastien duchene, korea, lincoln center, Microsoft, microsoft technologies, mike bloomberg, new york, new york city, new york city mayor, newkrean, northwestern irish city, nthucs, onebeep, poland, romania, silverlight, sligo, sql server, taiwan, team hermes, team rapture, thirdeye, winners of 2011 imagine cup, xbox category

*Teams from Ireland, Taiwan, France, Poland, Brazil, Greece, Korea, Denmark and Romania today took home the nine top awards at Microsoft’s 9th annual Imagine Cup. Microsoft also announced a $3 million grant program to help Imagine Cup participants solve the world’s toughest challenges.*

NEW YORK CITY – July 13, 2011 – Student projects that tackle global problems such as improving road and fire safety, eradicating poverty, and creating a more sustainable environment took top honors at the Imagine Cup 2011 Worldwide Finals in New York on Wednesday.

Ireland’s Team Hermes won the competition’s premier Software Design category and $25,000 (U.S.) with their project that combined embedded technology, mobile devices and cloud computing technology to change driving habits and reduce road deaths. (more…)

US West Coast Erosion Spiked In Winter 2009-10, Previewing Likely Future As Climate Changes

By Guest PostJuly 13, 2011Environmentamerican geophysical union, california, climate change scenarios, climatic pattern, el niño, el nino modoki, equatorial pacific, global warming, ocean beach, oregon state university, pacific coast, pacific northwest, patrick barnard, san diego, san francisco, scripps institution of oceanography, us west coast, willapa bay

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Knowing that the U.S. west coast was battered during the winter before last by a climatic pattern expected more often in the future, scientists have now pieced together a San Diego-to-Seattle assessment of the damage wrought by that winter’s extreme waves and higher-than-usual water levels. Getting a better understanding of how the 2009-10 conditions tore away and reshaped shorelines will help coastal experts better predict future changes that may be in store for the Pacific coast, the researchers say.

“The stormy conditions of the 2009-10 El Niño winter eroded the beaches to often unprecedented levels at sites throughout California and vulnerable sites in the Pacific Northwest,” said Patrick Barnard, USGS coastal geologist. In California, for example, winter wave energy was 20 percent above average for the years dating back to 1997, resulting in shoreline erosion that exceeded the average by 36 percent, he and his colleagues found. (more…)

comScore Releases June 2011 U.S. Search Engine Rankings

By Guest PostJuly 13, 2011Technologyaol, ask network, Comscore, google and bing, google sites, Microsoft, organic core explicit searches, search marketplace, US, Yahoo

RESTON, VA, July 13, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the U.S. search marketplace. Google Sites led the explicit core search market in June with 65.5 percent of search queries conducted.

U.S. Explicit Core Search

Google Sites led the U.S. explicit core search market in June with 65.5 percent market share, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 15.9 percent and Microsoft Sites with 14.4 percent (up 0.3 percentage points). Ask Network accounted for 2.9 percent of explicit core searches, followed by AOL, Inc. with 1.4 percent. (more…)

Last Dinosaur Before Mass Extinction Discovered

By Guest PostJuly 13, 2011Sciencedinosaurs, duckbilled dinosaurs, fossil record before the catastrophic meteor impact 65 million years ago, fossilized horn of a ceratopsian, hell creek formation in montana, k t boundary, last dinosaurs, marmarth research foundation, stephen chester, the youngest dinosaur preserved, torosaurus, triceratops, triceratops skeleton, tyrannosaurus rex, university of tübingen, yale university

A team of scientists has discovered the youngest dinosaur preserved in the fossil record before the catastrophic meteor impact 65 million years ago. The finding indicates that dinosaurs did not go extinct prior to the impact and provides further evidence as to whether the impact was in fact the cause of their extinction.

Researchers from Yale University discovered the fossilized horn of a ceratopsian — likely a Triceratops, which are common to the area — in the Hell Creek formation in Montana last year. They found the fossil buried just five inches below the K-T boundary, the geological layer that marks the transition from the Cretaceous period to the Tertiary period at the time of the mass extinction that took place 65 million years ago. (more…)

MU Study Identifies Protective Factors that Help Women Recover from Childhood Violence

By Guest PostJuly 13, 2011Healthabusive intimate relationships, children, domestic violence, economic stability, economic sustainability, kim anderson, mental health problems, model, police involvement, positive adult role models, post traumatic stress disorder, psychological problems, ptsd, risk factors for ptsd, school of social work, university of missouri, women

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Children who witness domestic violence are more likely to be in abusive intimate relationships and experience psychological problems such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adulthood, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A University of Missouri researcher has found that certain protective factors foster resilience and increase the likelihood that the cycle of violence will end for women who, as children, were exposed to their mothers’ battering.

Kim Anderson, associate professor in the MU School of Social Work, found that women are less likely to suffer from PTSD if they are more resilient, or better able to overcome adversity. In regard to childhood protective factors that increase adult resilience, Anderson found that mothers who were employed full-time had a positive influence on their children’s recovery from witnessing domestic violence. (more…)