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Earth’s Highest Coastal Mountain on the Move

By Guest PostSeptember 20, 20101 commentScienceagustin cardona, camilo montes, caribbean sea, coastal mountain, Colombia, earth, ecopetrol energy company, geological basin, geological evolution, german ojeda, paleomagnetic, panama, peru, santa marta, sierra nevada de santa marta, smithsonian scientists, smithsonian tropical research institute, stri, volcanoes

The rocks of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta—the highest coastal mountain on Earth—tell a fascinating tale: The mountain collides and then separates from former super-continents. Volcanoes are born and die. The mountain travels from Peru to northern Colombia and finally rotates in a clockwise direction to open up an entirely new geological basin. Smithsonian scientists were part of a four-year project to study Santa Marta’s geological evolution. Their findings are published in the October 2010 special issue of the Journal of South American Earth Sciences.

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American Institute of Physics Reveals Us More Efficient Selenium Photovoltaic Cells

By Guest PostSeptember 20, 2010Environment, Scienceapplied physics letters, carbon-free electricity, less energy, light-catching elements, marie mayer, oxide elements, photo voltaic, photo-electrochemical water splitting, photovoltaic electricity, photovoltaic units, Rosalind, rosalind sanders, sanders, selenium, solar cover, solar power, sun energy, zinc oxide

Did you know that many analysts would like to identify light-catching elements in order to transform more of the sun’s energy into carbon-free electricity?

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Why “Scientific Consensus” Fails to Persuade

By Guest PostSeptember 18, 2010Culture, Scienceamerican public, climate change, dan kahan, donald bramand, egalitarian values, Environment, environmental risks, fictional author, hank, jenkins-smith, nuclear waste disposal, scientific consensus, university of oklahoma, yale university

Suppose a close friend who is trying to figure out the facts about climate change asks whether you think a scientist who has written a book on the topic is a knowledgeable and trustworthy expert. You see from the dust jacket that the author received a Ph.D. in a pertinent field from a major university, is on the faculty at another one, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Would you advise your friend that the scientist seems like an “expert”? (more…)

Do Children Understand Irony?

By Guest PostSeptember 16, 2010Sciencechildren, hyperbole, interaction, irony, sarcasm

A new study reveals 4-year-old children understand and can even use certain types of irony.

The study was published in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology by Stephanie Alexander, a PhD student at the Université de Montréal Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, under the supervision of Professor Katherine Frohlich and in collaboration with Holly Recchia of Concordia University. (more…)

‘Why Our Brains Get Tripped Up When We’re Anxious’

By Guest PostSeptember 15, 2010Scienceanxiety disorder, brain mechanism, neural inhibition, neural inhibitor

A new University of Colorado at Boulder study sheds light on the brain mechanisms that allow us to make choices and ultimately could be helpful in improving treatments for the millions of people who suffer from the effects of anxiety disorders. (more…)

“Stocky Dragon” Dinosaur Terrorized Late Cretaceous Europe

By Guest PostSeptember 14, 2010Sciencebalaur bondoc, Europe, fused bones, late cretaceous, paleontologist, theropod, velociraptor

Paleontologists have discovered that a close relative of Velociraptor hunted the dwarfed inhabitants of Late Cretaceous Europe, an island landscape largely isolated from nearby continents.

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Making Cookies that are Good for Your Heart

By Guest PostSeptember 13, 2010Scienceclogged arteries, oleic acid, saturated fat, soybean oil, trans fats

University of Missouri scientists create a vegetable oil from soybeans that is much healthier than others

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Years of research has proven that saturated and trans fats clog arteries, make it tough for the heart to pump and are not valuable components of any diet. Unfortunately, they are contained in many foods. Now, a University of Missouri research team has developed a soybean which produces oil that is naturally low in saturated and trans fats. (more…)

Ancient “Terror Bird” Used Powerful Beak to Jab Like Boxer

By Guest PostSeptember 13, 20102 commentsScienceancient terror bird, andalgalornis, Argentina, boxer, christmas tree, federico degrange, flightless birds, karen moreno, muhammad ali, phorusrhacids, south america, stephen wroe, titanis

The ancient “terror bird” Andalgalornis couldn’t fly, but it used its unusually large, rigid skull–coupled with a hawk-like hooked beak–in a fighting strategy reminiscent of boxer Muhammad Ali.

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