Guest Post – Page 993 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Uncertain Future for Joshua Trees Projected with Climate Change

By Guest PostMarch 27, 2011Environment, Naturecalifornia, climate change, climate warming, climatic tolerances, ecologis, ecology, fossil record, jon eischeid, joshua trees, ken cole, kenneth cole, kirsten ironside, models of future climate, mojave desert, nevada, north american yucca, packrats, shasta ground sloth, southwest, squirrels, state of the art climate models, temperature

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Temperature increases resulting from climate change in the Southwest will likely eliminate Joshua trees from 90 percent of their current range in 60 to 90 years, according to a new study led by U.S. Geological Survey ecologist Ken Cole.

The research team used models of future climate, an analysis of the climatic tolerances of the species in its current range, and the fossil record to project the future distribution of Joshua trees. The study concludes that the species could be restricted to the northernmost portion of its current range as early as the end of this century. Additionally, the ability of Joshua trees to migrate via seed dispersal to more suitable climates may be severely limited. (more…)

Measurements of Winter Arctic Sea Ice Show continuing Ice Loss, says CU-Boulder Study

By Guest PostMarch 27, 2011EnvironmentArctic sea ice, climate scientists, greenhouse gas, ice extents measured, long-term record

The 2011 Arctic sea ice extent maximum that marks the beginning of the melt season appears to be tied for the lowest ever measured by satellites, say scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder’s National Snow and Ice Data Center.

The CU-Boulder research team believes the lowest annual maximum ice extent of 5,650,000 square miles occurred on March 7. The maximum ice extent was 463,000 square miles below the 1979-2000 average, an area slightly larger than the states of Texas and California combined. The 2011 measurements were tied with those from 2006 as the lowest maximum sea ice extents measured since satellite record keeping began in 1979. (more…)

Enhancing the Magnetism: Berkeley Researchers Find Enhanced and Controllable Magnetization in Unique Bismuth Ferrite Films

By Guest PostMarch 27, 2011Sciencebfo, bismuth ferrite, dick tracy, domain walls, helen he, information age, john heron, magnetism, magnetoelectronic, multiferroic property, nanoscale, partial relaxation, qing, ramamoorthy ramesh, rhombohedral phases, spintronic devices, spontaneous magnetism, spontaneous magnetization, universe, ying hao chu

“The nation that controls magnetism will control the universe,” famed fictional detective Dick Tracy predicted back in 1935. Probably an overstatement, but there’s little doubt the nation that leads the development of advanced magnetoelectronic or “spintronic” devices is going to have a serious leg-up on its Information Age competition. A smaller, faster and cheaper way to store and transfer information is the spintronic grand prize and a key to winning this prize is understanding and controlling a multiferroic property known as “spontaneous magnetization.”

Now, researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have been able to enhance spontaneous magnetization in special versions of the popular multiferroic material bismuth ferrite. What’s more, they can turn this magnetization “on/off” through the application of an external electric field, a critical ability for the advancement of spintronic technology. (more…)

Public Nuisance? Cell Phone Use Might Actually Spark Conversations with Strangers

By Guest PostMarch 27, 2011Technologycell phone, frequency of cell phone, mobile, mobile communication, mobile phone, nojin kwak, public, relational use, scott campbell, Technology, texting, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Talking or texting on a cell phone in public might seem off-putting to people nearby, but a new study suggests that using mobile devices may actually help spark conversations with strangers.

The University of Michigan study examined how mobile communication influences the extent to which people engage with others in public. The new findings indicate that overall frequency of cell phone use in public does not cause them to shun nearby strangers. In fact, the result may be the opposite. (more…)

Radiation Level in Seawater off Nuclear Plant “Fukushima-1” Exceeded 1250 Times

By Guest PostMarch 26, 2011Environmentfukushima daiichi nuclear plant, Japan, millisievert, radiation levels, radioactive iodine, radioactive water, reactor, seafood, seawater

Levels of radioactive iodine in seawater just offshore of the embattled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant spiked to more than 1,250 times higher than normal, Japan’s nuclear and industrial safety agency said Saturday.

Samples taken Friday morning from a monitoring station 330 meters off the coast were significantly higher than results from the previous morning, when the level was 104 times above normal, according to CNN International. (more…)

MU Researcher Works to Save One of the World’s Most Endangered Birds

By Guest PostMarch 26, 2011Nature, Scienceblue feathers, coconut farmers, dylan kesler, impact of predators, kingfisher, lizards, multicolored, planet, pouncing, radio transmitters, South Pacific, tiny island, tropical bird, tuamotu kingfisher

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Tuamotu Kingfisher is a multicolored, tropical bird with bright blue feathers, a dusty orange head, and a bright green back. The entire population of these birds – less than 125 – lives on one tiny island in the south Pacific, and without serious intervention, they will no longer exist. One University of Missouri researcher is trying to stop the birds’ extinction by working with farmers and residents on the island inhabited by the kingfishers.

“If we lose these birds, we lose 50,000 years of uniqueness and evolution,” said Dylan Kesler, assistant professor in fisheries and wildlife at the University of Missouri’s School of Natural Resources in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. “Because it has lived in isolation for a very long time, it’s unlike any other bird. There is no other bird like this on the planet.” (more…)

On the Sizeable Wings of Albatrosses

By Guest PostMarch 25, 2011Nature, Scienceabove ocean wind shear, air sea friction, airborne sailboat, albatross, albatross flight, albatrosses, colin pennycuick, dynamic soaring, kinetic energy, large bird, lord rayleigh, model, nobel laureate, oceanographer, oceans, philip richardson, physicist, radio controlled gliders, scientist, south atlantic ocean, sustained soaring, wave trough, wings

An oceanographer may be offering the best explanation yet of one of the great mysteries of flight—how albatrosses fly such vast distances, even around the world, almost without flapping their wings. The answer, says Philip L. Richardson of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), lies in a concept called dynamic soaring, in which the large bird utilizes the power of above-ocean wind shear while tacking like an airborne sailboat.

“I have a simple model that explains the basic physics of what albatrosses do,” says Richardson, a scientist emeritus at WHOI, who, in addition to his primary career in studying ocean currents, has also piloted gliders. The key, he says, is the bird’s ability to balance the kinetic energy gained in soaring with the energy lost from drag. (more…)

New Research Suggests Wild Birds May Play a Role in the Spread of Bird Flu

By Guest PostMarch 25, 2011Environmentavian influenza viruses, bird flu, bird flu outbreak, chicken farms, migratory birds, pathogenic avian influenza

LAUREL, Md. — Wild migratory birds may indeed play a role in the spread of bird flu, also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1. (more…)

Author Archives: Guest Post