Tag Archives: Amazon

New Research Will Help Shed Light on Role of Amazon Forests in Global Carbon Cycle

By Guest PostFebruary 1, 2013Environmentabsorbing, alan di vittorio, Amazon, amazon basin, amazon forest landscape, analytical method, annual carbon accumulation, atmosphere, berkeley lab, biogeochemical process, biogeochemistry, brazil, carbon cycle, carbon cycling, carbon dioxide pollution, carbon sequestration, central amazon, climate change, climatic warming, co2 concentration, CO2 emissions, daniel marra, dar roberts, earth, forest carbon budgets, forest mortality patterns, gabriel ribeiro, Germany, global climate system, global warming effect, human activities, hurricane katrina, impact, jeffrey chambers, joerg tews, manaus, max planck institute, mortality map, natural disturbances, old growth forests, pixel, planet, plot based analyses, positive feedback mechanism, robinson negron juarez, satellite images, simulation modeling, spatial scale, superstorm sandy, terrestrial ecosystems, tree mortality patterns, trends, tropical, tulane university

Berkeley Lab scientists devise new tools for detecting previously unknown tree mortality.

The Earth’s forests perform a well-known service to the planet, absorbing a great deal of the carbon dioxide pollution emitted into the atmosphere from human activities. But when trees are killed by natural disturbances, such as fire, drought or wind, their decay also releases carbon back into the atmosphere, making it critical to quantify tree mortality in order to understand the role of forests in the global climate system. Tropical old-growth forests may play a large role in this absorption service, yet tree mortality patterns for these forests are not well understood.

Now scientist Jeffrey Chambers and colleagues at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have devised an analytical method that combines satellite images, simulation modeling and painstaking fieldwork to help researchers detect forest mortality patterns and trends. This new tool will enhance understanding of the role of forests in carbon sequestration and the impact of climate change on such disturbances. (more…)

IBM Tops U.S. Patent List for 20th Consecutive Year

By Guest PostJanuary 10, 2013Technology2012, accenture, Amazon, analytics, annual list, apple, big data, cloud, cybersecurity, emc, era of cognitive systems, flexible products, ginni rometty, hp, ibm, ibm inventors, ibm puresystems, ibm watson system, industry solutions, intel, intelligent orchestration system, invention, lightweight, Microsoft, mobile, mobile network, modeling platform, oracle, patented invention, sms, Social networking, software defined environments, sun, symantec, synapse, ultra thin, us patent recipients

IBM inventors deliver innovation in emerging areas of tech

ARMONK, N.Y. – 10 Jan 2013: IBM today announced that it received a record 6,478 patents in 2012 for inventions that will enable fundamental advancements across key domains including analytics, Big Data, cybersecurity, cloud, mobile, social networking and software defined environments, as well as industry solutions for retail, banking, healthcare, and transportation. These patented inventions also will advance a major shift in computing, known as the era of cognitive systems.

This is the 20^th consecutive year that IBM topped the annual list of U.S. patent recipients. (more…)

Amazon Marketplace Sellers Enjoy High Growth Holiday Season

By Guest PostJanuary 2, 2013TechnologyAmazon, amazon customers, edison, eli silver, fba, fulfillment by amazon, general manager, holiday growth, mygift, new jersey, peter faricy, selling on amazon, stephen lai, third party sellers

Third-party selling on Amazon grew more than 40 percent year-over-year during the holiday season

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan. 2, 2013– Amazon.com, Inc. today announced that 2012 was a record-breaking holiday season for businesses selling on Amazon. The more than 2 million third-party sellers worldwide on Amazon experienced record holiday growth: unit growth solely from sellers in the U.S. increased more than 40 percent year-over-year. For the year, sellers on Amazon sold hundreds of millions of units worth tens of billions of dollars worldwide.

“We value the breadth and depth of selection that businesses selling on Amazon offer our more than 188 million active customers worldwide,” said Peter Faricy, VP for Amazon Marketplace. “The entire Amazon Seller organization is focused on helping third-party businesses succeed and grow on Amazon. We do this by creating a dynamic marketplace platform that helps every seller deliver the best possible selection, service and prices to all Amazon customers.” (more…)

Frontline Employees Can Make or Break Retail and Service Companies

By Guest PostDecember 7, 2012EconomyAmazon, analyst, best buy, chris derose, commercial workforce, company leader, down, employee, Google, hewlett packard, j c penney, management structure, michigan, noel tichy, retailers, ritz carlton, service companies, shopping cart, top, university, US, zappos

ANN ARBOR — Retailers and service companies still utilizing a top-down management structure likely don’t see the connection between the frontline and the bottom line until it’s too late, according to University of Michigan professor Noel Tichy.

In the U.S. alone, retail and service workers are estimated to total more than 15 million people, or nearly one-fifth of the U.S. commercial workforce. Despite the common corporate tag line about “people are our most important asset,” we don’t see many company leaders tap into more than a tiny percentage of the knowledge, creativity and judgment of their largest group of employees. (more…)

Meet Xbox Music, Microsoft’s New All-in-One Music Service

By Guest PostOctober 15, 2012TechnologyAmazon, android, beautiful, cd, digital, entertainment business, free streaming, internet, ios, iTunes, launch, madonna, Microsoft, mp3, music catalog, music experience, music life, music pass, music service, music subscription, pandora, pc, personal collection, phone, platform, playlist, radio, radio station, scott porter, smart dj, tablet, windows 8, xbox 360, xbox live, xbox music, yusuf mehdi

Xbox Music is Microsoft’s brand new all-in-one music service that enables users to listen to music how, when, where and on what device they want. It is included in a rolling update to Xbox LIVE that starts Tuesday and will be expanded when Windows 8 launches.

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 14, 2012 — If music makes the people come together, as Madonna says, the new Xbox Music gives people all the music they love, every way they want it.

Xbox Music, Microsoft’s new all-in-one music service, specially designed to let users listen to music in exactly the way they want, begins rolling out to millions of people around the world Oct. 16 on the Xbox 360, then to the masses with Windows 8 on Oct. 26. (more…)

Amazonian Tribal Warfare Sheds Light on Modern Violence, Says MU Anthropologist

By Guest PostOctober 10, 2012Culture, Scienceafghanistan, altercation, Amazon, amazon forest, amazonian, amazonian warfare, anthropologist, cause, christianity, civilization, clash, cultural factor, cultural identity, culture influence, deadly attack, death, drew bailey, european contact, europeans, evolutionary history, external raid, frequency, global goal, humans, instinctual motivation, intensity, internal raid, intertribal warfare, libya, missouri, modern gang, mortality, primate ancestor, rival group, river basin, robert walker, south america, tribal life, tribal society, university, us embassy, violence, violent conflict, war, was treachery

Developing a shared sense of global community could help reduce major episodes of violence

In the tribal societies of the Amazon forest, violent conflict accounted for 30 percent of all deaths before contact with Europeans, according to a recent study by University of Missouri anthropologist Robert Walker. Understanding the reasons behind those altercations in the Amazon sheds light on the instinctual motivations that continue to drive human groups to violence, as well as the ways culture influences the intensity and frequency of violence.

“The same reasons – revenge, honor, territory and jealousy over women – that fueled deadly conflicts in the Amazon continue to drive violence in today’s world,” said Walker, lead author and assistant professor of anthropology in MU’s College of Arts and Science. “Humans’ evolutionary history of violent conflict among rival groups goes back to our primate ancestors. It takes a great deal of social training and institutional control to resist our instincts and solve disputes with words instead of weapons. Fortunately, people have developed ways to channel those instincts away from actual deadly conflict. For example, sports and video games often involve the same impulses to defeat a rival group.” (more…)

Salt Seeds Clouds in the Amazon Rainforest

By Guest PostSeptember 13, 2012Environmentabsorption, aerosol particle, airborne particle, als beamline, Amazon, amazon jungle, amazonian, asci, ballistospores, berkeley lab, biomass, brazil, chemistry, christopher pohlker, david kilcoyne, deep, emission, fine particle, fog, forest canopy, fungi fire, gas phase, Germany, graphitic, institute, isoprene, leaves, liquid droplet, manaus, mary gilles, max planck, meinrat andreae, microscopy, moisture, morning, mpic, natural forest, nexafs, organic carbon, organism, osmosis, photon, potassium level, potassium salt, rainforest, sacs, seed, soluble particle, stxm, sugar alcohol, terpenes, tree resin, trees, ulrich pöschl, water vapor, xray

It’s morning, deep in the Amazon jungle. In the still air innumerable leaves glisten with moisture, and fog drifts through the trees. As the sun rises, clouds appear and float across the forest canopy … but where do they come from? Water vapor needs soluble particles to condense on. Airborne particles are the seeds of liquid droplets in fog, mist, and clouds.

To learn how aerosol particles form in the Amazon, Mary Gilles of the Chemical Sciences Division at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and David Kilcoyne of the Lab’s Advanced Light Source (ALS) worked with Christopher Pöhlker of Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (MPIC) as part of an international team of scientists led by MPIC’s Meinrat Andreae and Ulrich Pöschl. They analyzed samples of naturally formed aerosols collected above the forest floor, deep in the rainforest. (more…)

Amazon Appstore Launches in Europe; Now Available in the U.K., Germany, France, Italy and Spain

By Guest PostAugust 30, 2012Technology1click payments, Amazon, angry birds, appstore, ceo, cut the rope, ecommerce, Europe, france, fruit ninja, Germany, glu mobile, industry, italy, jamie oliver, jim adkins, misha lyalin, peter vesterbacka, rovio mighty eagle, skyscanner, spain, uk, web service, zeptolab

Amazon Appstore rollout across the EU is the latest in a series of additions that make Amazon the most complete end-to-end platform for developers looking to build, market and monetize their apps and games

SEATTLE & LUXEMBOURG–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aug. 30, 2012– Amazon.com, Inc. today announced the launch of its Amazon Appstore in the U.K., Germany, France, Italy and Spain, giving European customers access to Amazon’s broad selection of quality Android apps with the convenience of shopping on Amazon from their Android phones and tablets. Customers can get the Amazon Appstore for their Android phones and tablets by visiting www.amazon.com/getappstore.

Amazon’s Appstore offers a great selection of games and apps, including local favorites like “Jamie Oliver’s 20 Minute Meals” and “Skyscanner,”established bestsellers like “Fruit Ninja” and “Cut the Rope,” and new apps from top-tier brands like Rovio and Glu Mobile. In addition to localized content and a localized mobile store for each specific country, European customers will have access to popular Amazon Appstore features like the “Free App of the Day,” which offers a paid app for free every day. Today’s Free App of the Day is the ad-free version of “Angry Birds.” All Free Apps of the Day are specially-selected for the Free App of the Day program. Apps and games purchased from Amazon can be used across a customer’s Android devices, enabling them to buy an app or game once and enjoy it everywhere. (more…)