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New dark matter detector begins search for invisible particles

By Guest PostMay 12, 2013Sciencecanada, cf3i, chicagoland observatory, coupp, coupp 60, dark matter detector, dark matter experiment, dark matter particles, earth from space, fermilab, fire extinguishers, galaxies, hugh lippincott, ingredient, invisible particles, juan collar, massive particles, neutrons, ontario, purified water, rotational velocities, snolab, telescopes, underground particle physics, universe, university of chicago

Scientists heard their first pops last week in an experiment that searches for signs of dark matter in the form of tiny bubbles.

They will need to analyze them further in order to discern whether dark matter caused any of the COUPP-60 experiment’s first bubbles at the SNOLAB underground science laboratory in Ontario, Canada. Dark matter accounts for nearly 90 percent of all matter in the universe, yet it is invisible to telescopes.

“Our goal is to make the most sensitive detector to see signals of particles that we don’t understand,” said Hugh Lippincott, a postdoctoral scientist with Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Lippincott has spent much of the past several months leading the installation of the one-of-a-kind detector at SNOLAB, 1.5 miles underground. (more…)

Sturgeon search

By Guest PostMay 11, 2013Scienceatlantic sturgeon, chlorophyll levels, danielle haulsee, delaware bay, delaware river, delaware state university, Europe, maracoos, matt breece, matthew oliver, megan cimino, mid atlantic coast, ocean currents, ocean temperature, oceanographic, otis, otis glider, overfishing, satellite data, shark locations, sturgeon near chincoteague, telemetry identification sensor, tiger sharks, torpedo shaped robot, university of delaware

Scientists use satellites, underwater robot to study Atlantic sturgeon migrations

More than a century ago, an estimated 180,000 female Atlantic sturgeon arrived from the coast in the spring to spawn in the Delaware River and fishermen sought their caviar as a lucrative export to Europe. Overfishing contributed to steep population declines, however, and today numbers have dwindled to fewer than 300 adults.

Researchers at the University of Delaware and Delaware State University are using satellites, acoustic transmitters, an underwater robot and historical records to pinpoint the ocean conditions that the fish prefer during migrations — and potentially help fishermen avoid spots where they might unintentionally catch this endangered species. (more…)

World’s Longest-Running Plant Monitoring Program Now Digitized

By Guest PostMay 10, 2013Nature, Sciencecarnegie institution, data set, desert laboratory, digital format, dynamics, forrest shreve, gis technology, gps, helen raichle, janice bowers, larry venable, long term data, map, national science foundation, photographs, plant monitoring program, plants on tumamoc, raymond m turner, rhythm, robert h webb, science of ecology, society, sonoran desert, susana rodriguez buritica, tucson, tumamoc hill, U.S. Geological Survey, ua, university of arizona, usgs, volney spalding, Washington

Data from the research plots on Tumamoc Hill reveal changes in the Sonoran Desert and have been important to key advances in the science of ecology.

Researchers at the University of Arizona’s Tumamoc Hill have digitized 106 years of growth data on individual plants, making the information available for study by people all over the world.

Knowing how plants respond to changing conditions over many decades provides new insights into how ecosystems behave. (more…)

New analysis suggests wind, not water, formed mound on Mars

By Guest PostMay 9, 2013Sciencealaska, california, caltech, claire newman, clay, dawn sumner, dusty atmosphere, dynamic, earth like, edwin kite, evidence, gale crater, geology, habitability, hirise camera, institute of technology, kevin lewis, lakebed silt, layer, mars rover curiosity, mars science laboratory, martian climate, martian climate history, martian mound, martian surface, models, mount sharp, mt mckinley, NASA, organic compounds, princeton university, red planet, sediment, sedimentary mounds, sedimentary records, slope winds, soil analyses, steep topographic slopes, topographical details, understanding mars past, water molecules, wind deposition

A roughly 3.5-mile high Martian mound that scientists suspect preserves evidence of a massive lake might actually have formed as a result of the Red Planet’s famously dusty atmosphere, an analysis of the mound’s features suggests. If correct, the research could dilute expectations that the mound holds evidence of a large body of water, which would have important implications for understanding Mars’ past habitability.

Researchers based at Princeton University and the California Institute of Technology suggest that the mound, known as Mount Sharp, most likely emerged as strong winds carried dust and sand into the 96-mile-wide crater in which the mound sits. They report in the journal Geology that air likely rises out of the massive Gale Crater when the Martian surface warms during the day, then sweeps back down its steep walls at night. Though strong along the Gale Crater walls, these “slope winds” would have died down at the crater’s center where the fine dust in the air settled and accumulated to eventually form Mount Sharp, which is close in size to Alaska’s Mt. McKinley. (more…)

Science Xplained: Ice cream chemistry

By Guest PostMay 8, 2013Scienceainissa ramirez, avalanches, how ice freezes, ice cream, ice cream chemistry, knowledge, liquid nitrogen, mechanical engineering, science xplained, surface of neptune

Ainissa Ramirez, associate professor of mechanical engineering, describes the science behind a tasty bit of chemistry — ice cream. She shows how to make ice cream using liquid nitrogen, which is as cold as the surface of Neptune, and describes why these cold temperatures makes ice cream, creamier. She demonstrates how our knowledge of how […]

Pride, prejudice and strategic thinking: Jane Austen wrote the book on game theory

By Guest PostMay 8, 2013Sciencegame theorist, game theory, jane austen, strategic maneuvering, strategic thinking, strategically adept characters, theory of games, zero sum game

Quiz: This beautiful mind was promoting game theory long before Cold War think tanks used mathematics to understand strategic maneuvering. Plotting, as a result, has never been the same. (more…)

Redesigned Material Could Lead to Lighter, Faster Electronics

By Guest PostMay 7, 2013Scienceelectron mobility, future electronics, germanane, germanium crystals, mobility materials, multilayered crystals, sheet of germanium

Thin Layer of Germanium May Replace Silicon in Semiconductors

COLUMBUS, Ohio—The same material that formed the first primitive transistors more than 60 years ago can be modified in a new way to advance future electronics, according to a new study. (more…)

Method makes it easier to separate useful stem cells from ‘problem’ ones for therapies

By Guest PostMay 6, 2013Sciencedangerous cells, pluripotent stem cells, programmed cell suicide, treatment strategies, useful stem cells

UCLA study IDs small molecule that destroys potentially dangerous cells

Pluripotent stem cells can turn, or differentiate, into any cell type in the body, such as nerve, muscle or bone, but inevitably some of these stem cells fail to differentiate and end up mixed in with their newly differentiated daughter cells. (more…)

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