Blog – Page 541 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Angelina Jolie Effect: Breast Cancer Awareness vs. Knowledge

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Angelina Jolie heightened awareness about breast cancer when she announced in a New York Times op-ed that she had undergone a preventive double mastectomy. But a new study led by researchers in the University of Maryland School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health reveals that widespread awareness of Jolie’s story did not translate into increased understanding of breast cancer risk. (more…)

The Virus That Makes a Disposable Syringe

Science

For decades, no one knew how a virus that preys on bacteria transfers its DNA into the host cells because it appeared to lack the structures other viruses use for that process. Now researchers have discovered how the virus does it – using a structure that might hold applications for nanotechnology. (more…)

Umfrage: Kraftstoffverbrauch ist wichtigstes Kriterium beim Autokauf

Environment

Pkw-Label bietet alle Energiedaten auf einen Blick. Bekanntheit soll über Handel gesteigert werden

Wer sich in Deutschland ein Auto kaufen möchte, der will vor allem wissen, wie hoch der Kraftstoffverbrauch und die Kraftstoffkosten sind. Nach einer Umfrage im Auftrag der Deutschen Energie-Agentur (dena) geben rund zwei Drittel der Kaufinteressierten an, dass diese beiden Kriterien ihnen bei der Fahrzeugwahl sehr wichtig sind. Andere Kriterien wie Antriebsart, Größe, Leistung oder Marke kommen dagegen nicht über vierzig Prozent. Die dena empfiehlt deshalb Autokäufern, sich nach dem Pkw-Label zu erkundigen. Die Kennzeichnung ist seit Dezember 2011 Pflicht für Neuwagen und informiert über Kraftstoffverbrauch, Kraftstoffkosten und CO₂-Emissionen eines Fahrzeugs. (more…)

Scientists solve a decades-old mystery in the Earth’s upper atmosphere

Science

New research published in the journal Nature resolves decades of scientific controversy over the origin of the extremely energetic particles known as ultra-relativistic electrons in the Earth’s near-space environment and is likely to influence our understanding of planetary magnetospheres throughout the universe.

Discovering the processes that control the formation and ultimate loss of these electrons in the Van Allen radiation belts — the rings of highly charged particles that encircle the Earth at a range of about 1,000 to 50,000 kilometers above the planet’s surface — is a primary science objective of the recently launched NASA Van Allen Probes mission. Understanding these mechanisms has important practical applications, because the enormous amounts of radiation trapped within the belts can pose a significant hazard to satellites and spacecraft, as well astronauts performing activities outside a craft. (more…)

Big data and how to use it

Economy, Technology

UD Consumer Analytics and Industry Applications conference discusses big data

In the era of big data come big questions about how to use it. These questions and more were the backdrop of the recent Consumer Analytics and Industry Applications conference, put on by the University of Delaware’s Institute for Financial Services Analytics (IFSA).

“We are living in a big data world,” said IFSA director and professor of business administration, Bintong Chen. The institute is a collaboration between UD’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, the College of Engineering and JPMorgan Chase. (more…)

An Inside Look at a MOF in Action

Science

Berkeley Lab Researchers Probe Into Electronic Structure of MOF May Lead to Improved Capturing of Greenhouse Gases

A unique inside look at the electronic structure of a highly touted metal-organic framework (MOF) as it is adsorbing carbon dioxide gas should help in the design of new and improved MOFs for carbon capture and storage. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have recorded the first in situ electronic structure observations of the adsorption of carbon dioxide inside Mg-MOF-74, an open metal site MOF that has emerged as one of the most promising strategies for capturing and storing greenhouse gases. (more…)

Slippery bark protects trees from pine beetle attack, according to CU-Boulder study

Nature

Trees with smoother bark are better at repelling attacks by mountain pine beetles, which have difficulty gripping the slippery surface, according to a new study by the University of Colorado Boulder. (more…)

Hard rock life

Science

Scientists are digging deep into the Earth’s surface collecting census data on the microbial denizens of the hardened rocks. What they’re finding is that, even miles deep and halfway across the globe, many of these communities are somehow quite similar.

The results, which were presented at the American Geophysical Union conference Dec. 8, suggest that these communities may be connected, said Matthew Schrenk, Michigan State University geomicrobiologist. (more…)