Tag Archives: british columbia

Opposing phenomena possible key to high-efficiency electricity delivery

By Guest PostDecember 29, 2013Scienceali yazdani, andras gyenis, binghamton university, british columbia, coexistence, copper oxide, da silva neto, eduardo, electricity delivery, high efficiency, high temperature superconductors, hts, material, mystery in physics, pegor aynajian, phenomena, princeton university, rigid pattern, superconductivity, university, xray scattering technique

The coexistence of two opposing phenomena might be the secret to understanding the enduring mystery in physics of how materials heralded as the future of powering our homes and communities actually work, according to Princeton University-led research. Such insight could help spur the further development of high-efficiency electric-power delivery.

Published in the journal Science, the findings provide a substantial clue for unraveling the inner workings of high-temperature superconductors (HTS) based on compounds containing copper and oxygen, or copper oxides. Copper-oxide high-temperature superconductors are prized as a material for making power lines because of their ability to conduct electricity with no resistance. It’s been shown that the material can be used to deliver electrical power like ordinary transmission lines, but with no loss of energy. In addition, typical superconductors need extremely low temperatures of roughly -243 degrees Celsius (-405 degrees Fahrenheit) to exhibit this 100-percent efficiency. A copper oxide HTS, however, can reach this level of efficiency at a comparatively toasty -135 degrees Celsius (-211 degrees Fahrenheit), which is achievable using liquid nitrogen. (more…)

Movement of marine life follows speed and direction of climate change

By Guest PostSeptember 15, 2013Environmentbering sea, biological data, british columbia, changes in temperature, climate change, climate data, climate velocity, daniel pauly, direction, geological features, gulf of alaska, jorge sarmiento, malin pinsky, marine life, movement, ocean temperature move, predictions, princeton university, Rutgers University, simon levin, speed, survey data, temperature change, united states, university, warmer oceans

Scientists expect climate change and warmer oceans to push the fish that people rely on for food and income into new territory. Predictions of where and when species will relocate, however, are based on broad expectations about how animals will move and have often not played out in nature. New research based at Princeton University shows that the trick to more precise forecasts is to follow local temperature changes.

The researchers report in the journal Science the first evidence that sea creatures consistently keep pace with “climate velocity,” or the speed and direction in which changes such as ocean temperature move. They compiled 43 years of data related to the movement of 128 million animals from 360 species living around North America, including commercial staples such as lobster, shrimp and cod. They found that 70 percent of shifts in animals’ depth and 74 percent of changes in latitude correlated with regional-scale fluctuations in ocean temperature. (more…)

2001-02 Drought Helped to Shift Rocky Mountain Pine Beetle Outbreak into Epidemic

By Guest PostNovember 5, 2012Environment19th century, alpine research, Arctic, beetles, boulder, british columbia, climate, colorado, continental divide, drought, dynamics, epidemic, episode, evan pugh, forest, front range, lodgepole pine, mountain, native insect, new mexico, North America, northern, pine beetle, ponderosa pine, precipitation, rocky mountains, tania schoennagel, teresa chapman, thomas veblen, university, warmer climate, western slope, wyoming

A new University of Colorado Boulder study shows for the first time that episodes of reduced precipitation in the southern Rocky Mountains, especially during the 2001-02 drought, greatly accelerated development of the mountain pine beetle epidemic.

The study, the first ever to chart the evolution of the current pine beetle epidemic in the southern Rocky Mountains, compared patterns of beetle outbreak in the two primary host species, the ponderosa pine and lodgepole pine, said CU-Boulder doctoral student Teresa Chapman. The current mountain pine beetle outbreak in the southern Rockies — which range from southern Wyoming through Colorado and into northern New Mexico –is estimated to have impacted nearly 3,000 square miles of forests, said Chapman, lead study author. (more…)

University of Toronto Study Demonstrates Impact of Adversity on Early Life Development

By Guest PostOctober 28, 2012Sciencebehavioural geneticist, biology, british columbia, childhood adversity, chris reaume, cifar, dna sequence, drosophila melanogaster, ebbd, Environment, enzyme, evidence, evolutionary biology, food, for, foraging gene, fruit fly, gene, gene robinson, human development, illinois, interaction, james burns, kindergartener, larvae, marla sokolowski, molecular genetics, Nature, neuroscience, pkg, pnas, pre programmed, protein, reproductive fitness, rna, rovers, sitters, tom boyce, toronto, transgenic manipulation, university

Study part of growing body of knowledge surrounding gene-environment interplay

TORONTO, ON – It is time to put the nature versus nurture debate to rest and embrace growing evidence that it is the interaction between biology and environment in early life that influences human development, according to a series of studies recently published in a special edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

“Biologists used to think that our differences are pre-programmed in our genes, while psychologists argued that babies are born with a blank slate and their experience writes on it to shape them into the adults they become. Instead, the important question to be asking is, ‘How is our experience in early life getting embedded in our biology?’” says University of Toronto behavioural geneticist Marla Sokolowski. She is co-editor of the PNAS special edition titled “Biological Embedding of Early Social Adversity: From Fruit Flies to Kindergarteners” along with professors Tom Boyce (University of British Columbia) and Gene Robinson (University of Illinois). (more…)

Criminology and the Global Financial Crisis

By Guest PostMay 24, 2012Culture, Economy, Politicsaccounting firm, american real estate, angelina matson, arielys theory, armani suits, arthur andersen, behavioral economics, bernie madoff, black box accounting, bnp paribas, british columbia, criminal behavior, criminology, dan ariely, disaster, duke university, enron, financial collapse, financial system, global economic meltdown, global financial crisis, impersonality inherent, jeff skilling, jp morgan chase, lehman brothers, mafia hit men, obscure, psychopathy checklist, robert hare, ruthlessness, sexual predators, traits, united states, university

The first overt indications of the impending global financial crisis manifested themselves in August 2007, when BNP Paribas announced it was severing ties with three hedge funds specializing in mortgage debt for American real estate properties. The crisis was exacerbated by the immediate freeze on credit by banks to their customers – and to each other. The crisis came to a head in 2008 when the United States government refused to rescue investment firm Lehman Brothers from financial collapse. Subsequent actions by the American government and by foreign governments, as well as actions taken by commercial enterprises world wide, have been focused on repairing the financial damage to sovereign economies and to individuals thrown out of work – and out of their homes.

It is not unreasonable that everyday individuals failed to comprehend the exotic and opaque financial instruments and transactions employed by companies like Enron and individuals like Bernie Madoff. Powerhouse accounting firm Arthur Andersen was also taken in by Enron, and paid for its error in judgment by being forced to close its doors after nearly a century of operation. Madoff utilized the services of investment firm JP Morgan Chase for years, nearly until the time of his arrest. (more…)

One Year Later: Japan Quake, Tsunami a Cautionary Tale for Pacific Northwest

By Guest PostMarch 8, 2012Environment, Generalalki, british columbia, cascadia subduction zone, earthquakes, hokkaido university, Japan, jody bourgeois, john vidale, long beach peninsula, magnitude 9, northern california, ocean shores, one year anniversary, oregon, pacific northwest, prediction, puget sound, sapporo, seattle fault, seismometer readings, sunday, tohoku earthquake, tsunami, tsunami evacuation, united states, university of washington, Washington

Sunday marks the one-year anniversary of the great Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan, killing more than 16,000 people and causing billions of dollars in damage.

University of Washington scientists say the event has some important lessons for the Pacific Northwest – most notably, not that a similar event can happen here but that it WILL happen here, and that this region is still much less prepared than Japan was a year ago. (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…)

New Study Shows No Evidence of Groundwater Contamination From Hydraulic Fracturing

By Guest PostFebruary 21, 2012Environmentaaas, appalachia, aquifer, austin, barnett shale, british columbia, casing failure, charles chip groat, drilling operation, energy institute, fracturing fluid, gas, geologic units, groundwater contamination, haynesville shale, hydraulic fracturing, marcellus shale, natural gas, new york, north texas, northeast texas, oil, Pennsylvania, shale formation, surface spill, university of texas, vancouver, western louisiana

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Hydraulic fracturing of shale formations to extract natural gas has no direct connection to reports of groundwater contamination, based on evidence reviewed in a study released Thursday by the Energy Institute at The University of Texas at Austin.

The study, released at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Vancouver, British Columbia, found that many problems ascribed to hydraulic fracturing are related to processes common to all oil and gas drilling operations, such as casing failures or poor cement jobs. (more…)