Testing nuclear weapons is banned by treaty, so the only way to ensure our stockpile’s safety and readiness is virtual weapons testing using the world’s fastest supercomputers to crunch lab data.
In 2010 the Pentagon revealed it had a total of 5,113 warheads in its nuclear stockpile, down from a peak of 31,225 at the height of the Cold War in 1967. (more…)
A new species of carnivorous dinosaur – one of the three largest ever discovered in North America – lived alongside and competed with small-bodied tyrannosaurs 98 million years ago. This newly discovered species, Siats meekerorum, (pronounced see-atch) was the apex predator of its time, and kept tyrannosaurs from assuming top predator roles for millions of years.
Named after a cannibalistic man-eating monster from Ute tribal legend, Siats is a species of carcharodontosaur, a group of giant meat-eaters that includes some of the largest predatory dinosaurs ever discovered. The only other carcharodontosaur known from North America is Acrocanthosaurus, which roamed eastern North America more than 10 million years earlier. Siats is only the second carcharodontosaur ever discovered in North America; Acrocanthosaurus, discovered in 1950, was the first. (more…)
Clinical trial evaluates treatment for patients who haven’t responded to other FDA–approved procedures
Marty Greenfield lives with crushing pain every day due to angina, a condition that is caused by an inadequate supply of blood to the heart. He has suffered a heart attack, and a coronary bypass procedure and angioplasty have provided little relief. His doctor referred him to UCLA to be considered for a heart transplant.
Dr. Jonathan Tobis, a UCLA clinical professor of cardiology, performed an angiogram and angioplasty on Greenfield, 64, but found that the patient was not a candidate for a heart transplant because his heart muscle function was still good. (more…)
Kennen Sie das schmutzige Geheimnis Ihrer Kleidung? Egal ob billig oder teuer – Kleidung wird mit viel Chemie traktiert, bevor sie auf dem Bügel hängt. Der neue Textilratgeber von Greenpeace zeigt, welche Label dem Verbraucher wirklich schadstofffreie Kleidung bieten – und welche nur Feigenblättchen sind.
In unserer Kleidung sind etliche Substanzen, die selbst in kleinsten Mengen Umwelt und Gesundheit schädigen. Vor allem die kostbare und rare Ressource Wasser wird mit den giftigen Stoffen aus den Kleiderfabriken verschmutzt. Die Textilindustrie – so zeigen Greenpeace-Tests – ist eine Industrie, die dringend entgiften muss. (more…)
It’s a foggy fall morning, and University of Washington researcher Susan Dickerson-Lange pokes her index finger into the damp soil beneath a canopy of second-growth conifers. The tree cover is dense here, and little light seeps in among the understory of the Cedar River Municipal Watershed about 30 miles east of Seattle.
She digs a small hole in the leaf-litter soil, then pushes a thumb-sized device, called an iButton, about an inch beneath the surface. If all goes well, this tiny, battery-powered instrument will collect a temperature reading every hour for 11 months. Researchers hope this tool and a handful of other instruments will help them map winter temperatures throughout the watershed as they track snow accumulation and melt. (more…)
Social scientists are to examine whether action figure dolls help form children’s opinions on war and have a role to play in shaping the future of our armed forces.
It is the first time research has examined the role of toys in the making of young citizens. The £492,508 project is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.
The researchers, Dr Sean Carter, from Geography at the University of Exeter, Dr Tara Woodyer, of the University of Portsmouth and Professor Klaus Dodds, of Royal Holloway University of London, have expertise in human geography, children’s play, childhood studies, geopolitics and the culture of war. (more…)
Twitter clips human thoughts to a mere 140 characters. Animals’ scent posts may be equally as short, relatively speaking, yet they convey an encyclopedia of information about the animals that left them. (more…)
Eine Kampagne strickt ein raffiniertes Lügengeflecht und behauptet, der subventionierte Solar- und Windstrom sei der Preistreiber
upg. In Deutschland blasen Lobbys zum Angriff auf das Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz EEG. Solar- und Windstrom seien schuld daran, dass der Strompreis ab 2014 bereits wieder um einen Cent pro Kilowattstunde teurer wird. Doch die erneuerbare Energie sei nicht die Hauptschuldige an den steigenden Strompreisen, erklärt Franz Alt, der frühere ARD-Journalist und Verfechter alternativer Energien. Er wehrt sich gegen ein «raffiniertes Lügengeflecht». Die deutsche Zeitung «Welt» gibt ihm recht: «Der erneute Anstieg der Ökostrom-Umlage ist nur zu einem geringen Teil auf den Bau neuer Solar- und Windparks zurück zu führen. Die wahren Kosten der Energiewende verstecken sich woanders.»
Die drei Lügen
Erste Lüge: Die erneuerbaren Energien sind die Preistreiber. (more…)
