Rate is greater now than at any time during past 2,100 years
The rate of sea level rise along the U.S. Atlantic coast is greater now than at any time in the past 2,000 years–and has shown a consistent link between changes in global mean surface temperature and sea level. (more…)
*Voting opens for Microsoft Imagine Cup 2011 People’s Choice Award.*
NEW YORK — June 20, 2011 — Today, activist, actor, author and philanthropist Eva Longoria asked people around the world to celebrate the amazing work of student humanitarians by voting for the Imagine Cup 2011 People’s Choice Award at https://www.imaginecup.com/pca. Imagine Cup by Microsoft Corp. is the world’s premier student technology competition, challenging students from around the globe to use technology to tackle social issues, such as helping with disaster recovery, improving access to clean water, and expanding rural education and health care.
In an online video, Longoria spoke about how students can make a difference by using technology to address the world’s toughest problems, and she encouraged people to vote for the People’s Choice Award, in which the public chooses their favorite projects from this year’s Imagine Cup. Voting begins today and runs through July 12. (more…)
*Evaluation of numerous automated traffic studies indicate safety benefits outweigh drawbacks*
COLUMBIA, Mo. — As automated traffic monitoring systems such as red light cameras keep a law enforcement “eye” on the streets across the country, many drivers accuse city governments of installing the monitors as a way to generate revenue. New research from the University of Missouri says the safety benefits of automated traffic monitoring systems far outweigh the potential for abuse. (more…)
The prevailing narrative of the financial crisis revolves around banks’ reduced ability to issue loans, but a new paper by University of Arizona associate professor of finance Kathy Kahle reveals that the credit supply shock did not affect publicly traded firms as much as expected.
Bank losses from toxic assets were responsible for the credit contraction, but those toxic assets – mostly mortgage-backed securities – are not directly related to the performance of industrial firms. (more…)
This glowing emerald nebula seen by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope is reminiscent of the glowing ring wielded by the superhero Green Lantern. In the comic books, the diminutive Guardians of the Planet “Oa” forged his power ring, but astronomers believe rings like this are actually sculpted by the powerful light of giant “O” stars. O stars are the most massive type of star known to exist.
Named RCW 120 by astronomers, this region of hot gas and glowing dust can be found in the murky clouds encircled by the tail of the constellation Scorpius. The green ring of dust is actually glowing in infrared colors that our eyes cannot see, but show up brightly when viewed by Spitzer’s infrared detectors. At the center of this ring are a couple of giant stars whose intense ultraviolet light carved out the bubble, though they blend in with the other stars when viewed in infrared. (more…)
*A University of Exeter biologist has discovered a ‘lost’ species of bat breeding on the Isles of Scilly.*
*A pregnant female brown long-eared bat is the first of its species to be found on the islands for at least 40 years.*
It was discovered by Dr Fiona Mathews, Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter, a postgraduate student and a team from the Wiltshire Bat Group.
The Scilly Isles Bat Group called in Dr Mathews and her team to help them find out more about bats on the islands. The researchers set up a radiotracking study, with funding from the Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, to monitor the islands’ bat activity. (more…)
*High-mountain wildflower season reduced, affecting pollinators like bees, hummingbirds*
It’s summer wildflower season in the Rocky Mountains, a time when high-peaks meadows are dotted with riotous color.
But for how long?
Once, wildflower season in montane meadow ecosystems extended throughout the summer months. But now scientists have found a fall-off in wildflowers at mid-season. (more…)
Washington, D.C.— Glasses differ from crystals. Crystals are organized in repeating patterns that extend in every direction. Glasses lack this strict organization, but do sometimes demonstrate order among neighboring atoms. New research from Carnegie’s Geophysical Laboratory reveals the possibility of creating a metallic glass that is organized on a larger scale. Their results are published June 17 in Science.
Scientists have discovered glasses that demonstrate order among the nearest neighboring atoms, called short-range order, and a slightly wider range of atoms, called medium-range order. Most research about finding or creating a glass with a long-range, nearly crystalline, level of order—referred to as the perfect glass state—has been conducted on ice and the minerals silica and zeolite. But no research into long-range order glass has been successful until now. (more…)
