aaas – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Heather Leslie: Measuring ocean health

By Guest PostAugust 16, 2012Environmentaaas, artisanal fishing, biodiversity, carbon storage, clean waters, coastal livelihoods, coastal place, coastal protection, coral reefs, david orenstein, ecosystem, gulf of california, gulf region, habitat, heather leslie, index rate, mangroves, Mexico, ocean, ocean condition, ocean health index, ocean species, salt marshes, sea ice, seagrasses, sustainable management

Sustainable management of a huge, complex and valuable resource such as the ocean requires a comprehensive metric that did not exist until now. In the Aug. 16 edition of Nature a broad group of scientists including Heather Leslie, the Sharpe Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, describes the Ocean Health Index. The index rates coastal places, from regions to nations, on 10 goals: artisanal fishing opportunity, biodiversity, carbon storage, clean waters, coastal livelihoods and economies, coastal protection, food provision, natural products, sense of place, and tourism and recreation. Leslie recently answered questions posed by David Orenstein.

How does the Ocean Health Index’s focus on integrating human factors make it different and valuable?

Recognizing people’s integral roles in ocean ecosystems, this index evaluates how well the ocean provides 10 key benefits to people and how well we are protecting its ability to do so in the future. (more…)

Computer Scientist Developing Intersections of The Future With Fully Autonomous Vehicles

By Guest PostFebruary 21, 2012Science, Technologyaaas, ai driver agents, artificially intelligent, austin, austin robot technology, autonomous car, autonomous cars, british columbia, chaotic flow, computer scientist, computing system, coordinate, intersection, marvin, peter stone, simulation, stop sign, university of texas, vancouver, virtual intersection system, virtual traffic controller, wyatt mcspadden

AUSTIN, Texas — Intersections of the future will not need stop lights or stop signs, but will look like a somewhat chaotic flow of driverless, autonomous cars slipping past one another as they are managed by a virtual traffic controller, says computer scientist Peter Stone.

“A future where sitting in the backseat of the car reading our newspaper while it drives us effortlessly through city streets and intersections is not that far away,” says Stone, a professor of computer science at The University of Texas at Austin. (more…)

Rise in Global Temperatures and Extinction of the Lizards

By Guest PostMay 29, 20101 commentEnvironmentaaas, andrew sugden, barry sinervo, brazil, carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide emissions, carlos frederico duarte rocha, chamaeleonidae, department of ecology and evolutionary biology, donald miles, extinction, fausto méndez-de-la-cruz, furcifer lateralis, global climate change, google earth, google scholar, ignacio de la riva, jack sites, lizards, Madagascar, Mexico, mexico climate-warming, santa cruz, sceloporus lizard, Science, united states, university of california

For many lizards, global climate change is a matter of life and death.

After decades of surveying Sceloporus lizard populations in Mexico, an international research team has found that rising temperatures have driven 12 percent of the country’s lizard populations to extinction.

(more…)

Tag Archives: aaas

Heather Leslie: Measuring ocean health

Computer Scientist Developing Intersections of The Future With Fully Autonomous Vehicles

Rise in Global Temperatures and Extinction of the Lizards