Author Archives: Guest Post

Significant Natural Gas Resources Remain to Be Discovered in Cook Inlet, Alaska

The Cook Inlet Region of Alaska contains an estimated mean of 19 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, about 600 million barrels of oil, and 46 million barrels of natural gas liquids, according to a new assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). This estimate is of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources, and includes both unconventional and conventional resources.

These gas estimates are significantly more than the last USGS assessment of southern Alaska in 1995, in which a mean of 2.14 trillion cubic feet of gas was estimated. This increase in the undiscovered resource is attributed to new geologic information and data. (more…)

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Caltech-led Researchers Measure Body Temperatures of Dinosaurs for the First Time

Some Dinosaurs Were as Warm as Most Modern Mammals

PASADENA, Calif.—Were dinosaurs slow and lumbering, or quick and agile? It depends largely on whether they were cold or warm blooded. When dinosaurs were first discovered in the mid-19th century, paleontologists thought the y were plodding beasts that had to rely on their environments to keep warm, like modern-day reptiles. But research during the last few decades suggests that they were faster creatures, nimble like the velociraptors or T. rex depicted in the movie Jurassic Park, requiring warmer, regulated body temperatures like in mammals. (more…)

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Google Android Leads Acceleration in Smartphone Adoption in Japan

*iPhones Still Account for 3 of Top 5 Smartphone Models*

*comScore Releases Latest Mobile Industry Insights from its MobiLens Product*

Tokyo, Japan, June 30, 2011 – comScore Japan KK, a wholly owned subsidiary of comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the latest insights into mobile usage in Japan from its comScore MobiLens product. The report found that Google Android led as the top smartphone platform in March 2011 with 4.6 million users, more than doubling its subscriber base from December 2010. Apple ranked second with 3.9 million mobile subscribers in Japan. (more…)

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Clocking Neptune’s Spin

By tracking atmospheric features on Neptune, a UA planetary scientist has accurately determined the planet’s rotation, a feat that had not been previously achieved for any of the gas planets in our solar system except Jupiter.

A day on Neptune lasts precisely 15 hours, 57 minutes and 59 seconds, according to the first accurate measurement of its rotational period made by University of Arizona planetary scientist Erich Karkoschka. (more…)

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Genetic Analysis Splits Desert Tortoise into Two Species

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A new study shows that the desert tortoise, thought to be one species for the past 150 years, now includes two separate and distinct species, based on DNA evidence and biological and geographical distinctions.

This genetic evidence confirms previous suspicions, based on life history analysis, that tortoises west and east of the Colorado River are two separate species. (more…)

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Death Rate From Heart Attack Higher in U.S. Territories Than on Mainland

There is a 17% greater risk of dying after a heart attack if you are treated in a hospital located in a U.S. territory-i.e. the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands-rather than in a hospital in the mainland United States, according to new findings published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The study by Yale School of Medicine researchers shows that many U.S. citizens who call the U.S. territories home, are at a major healthcare disadvantage. (more…)

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