Elefanten- und Nashorn-Wilderei dramatischer als angenommen
Anlässlich des Internationalen Tages der Ranger am 31. Juli 2014 verweist NABU International auf neueste wissenschaftliche Schätzungen, denen zufolge die Elefanten-Wilderei in Afrika noch dramatischer ist als bislang angenommen. (more…)
Die EU könnte zu moderaten Kosten ein ehrgeizigeres Klimaziel erreichen. Würden die gegenwärtig bis 2020 geplanten 20 Prozent Minderung des Ausstoßes von Treibhausgasen auf 40 Prozent bis 2030 hochgesetzt, so lägen die zusätzlichen Kosten wahrscheinlich bei weniger als 0.7 Prozent der Wirtschaftskraft. Dies ist ein Kernergebnis der internationalen, mehrere Modelle vergleichenden Untersuchung des Stanford Modeling Forum (EMF28). Die Veröffentlichung kommt zu einem entscheidenden Zeitpunkt: Nächste Woche wird die Europäische Kommission verkünden, in welchem Maß sie ihre Emissionen im nächsten Jahrzehnt senken will. Allerdings sehen die Wissenschaftler für die Zeit nach 2040 ein Risiko stark steigender Kosten. Um dem entgegen zu wirken, sind technologische Innovationen nötig. (more…)
In August, leaders from more than 50 schools from around the country will gather at Yale to hear a simple but profound message — emotions matter in the classroom.
The training session will be the largest ever held by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, which has built a sophisticated, science-based program that is anchored in the seminal work of now Yale University President Peter Salovey and fellow psychologist John D. Mayer. Less than a quarter century after publication of their paper, “Emotional Intelligence,” 75,000 educators in more than 500 schools in 30-plus states and countries including England, Spain, Italy, and Australia have learned about the key role of emotions in learning and behavior through a program called RULER. (more…)
Berkeley Lab researchers and their colleagues extend electron spin in diamond for incredibly tiny magnetic detectors
From brain to heart to stomach, the bodies of humans and animals generate weak magnetic fields that a supersensitive detector could use to pinpoint illnesses, trace drugs – and maybe even read minds. Sensors no bigger than a thumbnail could map gas deposits underground, analyze chemicals, and pinpoint explosives that hide from other probes.
Now scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley, working with colleagues from Harvard University, have improved the performance of one of the most potent possible sensors of magnetic fields on the nanoscale – a diamond defect no bigger than a pair of atoms, called a nitrogen vacancy (NV) center. (more…)
UChicago’s Angela Olinto leads U.S. collaboration on international project
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has awarded $4.4 million to a collaboration of scientists at five United States universities and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center to help build a telescope for deployment on the International Space Station in 2017.
The U.S. collaboration is part of a 13-nation effort to build the 2.5-meter ultraviolet telescope, called the Extreme Universe Space Observatory. UChicago Prof. Angela Olinto leads the U.S. collaboration. The telescope will search for the mysterious source of the most energetic particles in the universe, called ultra high-energy cosmic rays, from the ISS’s Japanese Experiment Module. The source of these cosmic rays has remained one of the great mysteries of science since physicist John Linsley discovered them more than 50 years ago. These cosmic rays consist of protons and other subatomic scraps of matter that fly through the universe at almost light speed. (more…)
Angelou encourages University community to be ‘a rainbow in the clouds’
Maya Angelou had a special message for the enthusiastic audience that came to hear the renowned Renaissance woman and civil rights activist speak during a sold-out event held Friday evening, Feb. 22, in the University of Delaware’s Bob Carpenter Center.
“I’m going to remind you that you have already been paid for,” Angelou said. “Whether you are white or black or of Asian or Spanish ancestry, gay or straight, you don’t have to apologize to history for anything.” (more…)
Astronomers poised for galactic chow-down
The super-massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy has a healthy appetite, frequently snacking on asteroids and comets. Now, a cloud of gas and dust called G2 is on a dangerous course to become its next meal.
Even though Sagittarius A* (pronounced “Sagittarius A-star”) hasn’t been easy to see through the cosmic dust, sitting 25,000 light years away at galaxy central, scientists know it is a black hole — and a hungry one at that. Its weight has been estimated to be more than that of 4 million suns. (more…)
A new Brown University poll of Rhode Island voters finds strong support for state-operated casino gaming at Twin River and Newport Grand. In the hotly contested Congressional District One race, Rep. David Cicilline retains a small lead. The survey, conducted Sept. 26 to Oct. 5 2012, is based on a sample of 496 registered voters in Rhode Island.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A new public opinion survey by Brown University researchers finds that Rhode Island voters appear poised to approve questions one and two on the state ballot, which would allow casino gaming in Lincoln and Newport. Despite an approval rating of just 29.7 percent, Rep. David Cicilline appears to have an edge over Republican challenger Brendan Doherty among voters in 1st Congressional District.
Researchers at the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions and the John Hazen White Public Opinion Laboratory at Brown University surveyed a random sample of 496 Rhode Island voters from Sept. 26 to Oct. 5, 2012. The poll has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percent. (more…)
