Category Archives: Science

Expedition to Mid-Cayman Rise Identifies Unusual Variety of Deep Sea Vents

*Method included first use of Nereus hybrid vehicle in ‘autonomous’ mode*

The first expedition to search for deep-sea hydrothermal vents along the Mid-Cayman Rise has turned up three distinct types of hydrothermal venting, reports an interdisciplinary team led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

(more…)

Read More

Global Model Confirms: Cool Roofs Can Offset Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Mitigate Global Warming

Can light-colored rooftops and roads really curb carbon emissions and combat global climate change?  

The idea has been around for years, but now, a new study by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that is the first to use a global model to study the question has found that implementing cool roofs and cool pavements in cities around the world can not only help cities stay cooler, they can also cool the world, with the potential of canceling the heating effect of up to two years of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions.

(more…)

Read More

How Do You Feel About Science?

You’re standing at the edge of watery abyss. What comes to your mind first? The beauty? The amount of electricity? How unimportant you are? How much money you could make with a visitor center? 

How you answer says a lot about how you think, and as pollsters are beginning to wonder, how you might feel about science.

(more…)

Read More

Whether Glaciers Float May Affect Sea-Level Rise

WASHINGTON — Glaciers that detach from the seafloor and begin floating create larger icebergs than glaciers that stay on the sea floor, researchers have found. Floating glaciers also produce icebergs more erratically.  

These new observations may help researchers better understand and predict iceberg production from glaciers and ice sheets, improving estimates of sea-level rise due to climate change.

(more…)

Read More

Between the Nightmare of the Gulf and the Magic of Solar Impulse

While the BP Deepwater Horizon well spits tens of thousands of barrels of oil offshore on the Gulf of Mexico, an environmental disaster of proportions never before imagined, a beautiful new kind of bird flies silently in the skies on its first test flight. 

(more…)

Read More

Photo Proof: Super Stars of the Universe Have Humble Beginnings

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—The first close-up picture of a nascent super massive star and its surroundings has shown that the highest mass stars in the universe form just like their smaller counterparts. They are born from swirling disks of gas and dust, rather than from violent stellar collisions.  (more…)

Read More

The Long-Term Fate of the Oil Spill in the Atlantic

Honolulu, HI – The possible spread of the oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon rig over the course of one year was studied in a series of computer simulations by a team of researchers from the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

(more…)

Read More