Tag Archives: Europe

„Gold“ für die tierischen Athleten

By Guest PostFebruary 8, 2014Naturealopex lagopus, amur tiger, andy rouse, aptenodytes forsteri, desoria saltans, druck, eisbaer, Europe, francois pierrel, fritz poelking, gletscherfloh, gold, hal whitehead, kaiserpinguin, klimawandel, oekosystem, panthera tigris altaica, panthera uncia, physeter catodon, polarfuchs, pottwal, rangifer tarandus, rentiere, schneeleopard, sibirischer tiger, ursus maritimus, vancouver, volker homes, wild wonders, winterspiele 2010, wwf, wwf deutschland

Zum Start der Olympischen Winterspiele 2010 in Vancouver: WWF präsentiert Rekorde aus dem Tierreich.

Wenn am 12. Februar die Olympischen Winterspiele in Vancouver beginnen blickt die Welt gebannt nach Kanada und fiebert sportlichen Sensationen entgegen. Doch bei aller Bewunderung für die menschlichen Athleten, im Vergleich zu den Höchstleistungen im Tierreich verblasst der Glanz manch einer Goldmedaille: Pottwale tauchen bis zu 2500 Meter tief, Gletscherflöhe produzieren ihr eigenes Frostschutzmittel, der Amur-Tiger trotzt Temperaturen von bis zu 45 Grad unter Null und ein Schneeleopard kann 16 Meter weit springen. „All diese rekordverdächtigen Leistungen und Fähigkeiten sind evolutionär als Folge der Anpassung an einen bestimmten Lebensraum entstanden“, sagt Volker Homes, Leiter Artenschutz beim WWF Deutschland. „Extreme Lebensräume, wie etwa Arktis und Antarktis, die Tiefsee oder das Hochgebirge, erfordern extreme Fähigkeiten.“ Diese Vielfalt gälte es, so der WWF, zu bewahren. Denn Klimawandel, Lebensraumzerstörung und Wilderei machten auch vor den extremsten Ökosystemen des Planeten nicht hal (more…)

IBM Commits $1.2 Billion to Expand Global Cloud Footprint

By Guest PostJanuary 17, 2014Technologyann winblad, asia, australia, big data innovations, China, cloud centers, cloud clients, cloudant ceo, data, data security, derek schoettle, erich clementi, Europe, global cloud footprint, growth areas, hummer winblad, ibm, it operations, middle east, mobile applications, network, North America, saas solutions, softlayer, softlayer network, south america, standard data layer, venture capitalist investment, venture partners, Washington, watson on softlayer, web

Builds a Massive Network of Local Cloud Hubs for Businesses Worldwide with 40 Data Centers Across Five Continents

ARMONK, N.Y. – 17 Jan 2014: IBM today announced plans to commit over $1.2 billion to significantly expand its global cloud footprint. This investment includes a network of cloud centers designed to bring clients greater flexibility, transparency and control over how they manage their data, run their business and deploy their IT operations locally in the cloud.

This year IBM plans to deliver cloud services from 40 data centers worldwide in 15 countries and five continents globally, including North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. IBM will open 15 new centers worldwide adding to the existing global footprint of 13 global data centers from SoftLayer and 12 from IBM. Among the newest data centers to launch are China, Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, London, Japan, India, Canada, Mexico City and Dallas. With this announcement, IBM plans to have data centers in all major geographies and financial centers with plans to expand in the Middle East and Africa in 2015. (more…)

Multiplay and KUULUU Launch Games with SoftLayer, an IBM Company

By Guest PostJanuary 15, 2014Technologyasia, battlefield 4, Europe, Facebook, florian juergs, global network, ibm company, kuuluu, linkin park, mega title, multiplay, recharge, softlayer, united states, will lowther

Gaming companies flock to IBM SoftLayer’s cloud, adding to 130 million players worldwide

ARMONK, N.Y. and AMSTERDAM – 15 Jan 2014: SoftLayer, an IBM Company, today announced that game development studio KUULUU and world’s largest online game servers provider Multiplay are using IBM SoftLayer’s cloud capabilities to power widely popular games such as Battlefield 4 and RECHARGE. KUULUU tapped into SoftLayer’s cloud for higher performance and scale for their newest game created with Linkin Park, the most popular band on Facebook with 55 million followers, called RECHARGE, while Multiplay utilizes SoftLayer cloud to support the mega title Battlefield 4. (more…)

Social Media Helps Users Embrace Differences and Provide Support to One Another, MU Study Finds

By Guest PostJanuary 9, 2014Technologyafrica, asia, australia, Europe, Facebook, fan identification, google chat, holly willson holladay, hyunji lee, lady gaga, lady gaga followers, little monsters, melissa click, political system, skype, social media, statistics, tweets, Twitter, university of missouri, unusual behaviors, US, users, very positive thing

Lady Gaga enables followers to embrace their awkwardness while deepening the perceived relationship they feel they have with the celebrity

COLUMBIA, Mo. – According to recent statistics, more than 175 million tweets are sent daily, and 11 accounts are created every second on Twitter. One celebrity who boasts the highest amount of global subscribers is singer Lady Gaga who enjoys more than 40 million Twitter followers. Now, University of Missouri communication researchers have found that online social media gives users an outlet to embrace their differences and provide emotional support to others while deepening perceived relationships they feel they have with celebrities. (more…)

New mayor reflects on ‘exciting and innovative’ New Haven

By Guest PostJanuary 9, 2014Politicsalaina pritchard, america, assa abloy, coliseum, economic development corporation, economically dynamic place, elm haven, ethnic heritage center, Europe, first planned city, m env d, mayor, new haven, new mayor, nhpd, route 34, state capitol, toni nathaniel harp, waterbury, yalenews

Toni Nathaniel Harp ’78 M.Env.D., first came to New Haven — a place known as America’s first planned city — in 1976, to study environmental and physical planning at the Yale School of Architecture. She remained in the city after graduation, making a career in community services and serving as a New Haven alderman and Connecticut state senator.

She won election to the ultimate New Haven planning job — mayor — on Nov. 5, 2013, and was sworn in as the city’s 50^th mayor on Jan. 1, becoming the first woman to be the city’s chief executive and the first Yale graduate in the mayor’s office in 33 years. (more…)

New Study Reveals the Biomechanics of How Marine Snail Larvae Swim

By Guest PostDecember 24, 2013Environment, Natureatlantic slipper limpet, biomechanics, cilia, crepidula fornicate, dianna padilla, epifluorescent microscopy image, Europe, evolution collected, houshuo jiang, karen chan, larvae, marine ecosystem, marine snail larvae, microorganisms freely swimming, microscopic video, nuisance, oceanographic institution, stony brook university, swim, vessel of seawater, video, whoi, woods hole

Equipped with high-speed, high-resolution video, scientists have discovered important new information on how marine snail larvae swim, a key behavior that determines individual dispersal and ultimately, survival.

Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and Stony Brook University grew Atlantic slipper limpet larvae, which are slightly larger than a grain of sand, and recorded microscopic video of them swimming. In previous studies, it has been commonly thought that larvae swim faster when they beat their hair-like cilia faster. However, this new microscopic video and research shows that this is not the case. (more…)

Dogs likely originated in Europe more than 18,000 years ago, UCLA biologists report

By Guest PostNovember 16, 2013Nature, Scienceancient dog fossil, ancient hunter, carnivore, co evolutionary process, coyotes, daniel greenfield, dog, dog like animals, dogs from europe, domestic dogs, druid peak, east asia, Europe, european hunter, european wolves, evolutionary biology, finland, fossil, genetic analysis, genetic data, illinois, klaus koepfli, koster archaeological site, late pleistocene, middle east, middle east origin, migration, mitochondrial dna, modern dogs, North America, olaf thalmann, old world, origin, proximity to humans, robert wayne, species, two wolves, ucla biologist, university of turku, western russia, wolf like animals, yellowstone national park

Wolves likely were domesticated by European hunter–gatherers more than 18,000 years ago and gradually evolved into dogs that became household pets, UCLA life scientists report.

“We found that instead of recent wolves being closest to domestic dogs, ancient European wolves were directly related to them,” said Robert Wayne, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology in UCLA’s College of Letters and Science and senior author of the research. “This brings the genetic record into agreement with the archaeological record. Europe is where the oldest dogs are found.” (more…)

Tropical forest carbon absorption may hinge on an odd couple

By Guest PostOctober 7, 2013Environmentabsorb, atmosphere, carbo loading bacteria, carbon absorption, carbon dioxide, carbon sink, component of biodiversity, david medvigy, dylan craven, Europe, excess nitrogen, human activities, infectious bacteria, jefferson hall, journal nature, lars hedin, legume family, michiel van breugel, models, nitrogen, nitrogen fixation, nitrogen fixing trees, non legume trees, North America, photosynthesis, princeton university, rhizobia, root nodules, sarah batterman, stri, tropical forest, united states

A unique housing arrangement between a specific group of tree species and a carbo-loading bacteria may determine how well tropical forests can absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to a Princeton University-based study. The findings suggest that the role of tropical forests in offsetting the atmospheric buildup of carbon from fossil fuels depends on tree diversity, particularly in forests recovering from exploitation.

Tropical forests thrive on natural nitrogen fertilizer pumped into the soil by trees in the legume family, a diverse group that includes beans and peas, the researchers report in the journal Nature. The researchers studied second-growth forests in Panama that had been used for agriculture five to 300 years ago. The presence of legume trees ensured rapid forest growth in the first 12 years of recovery and thus a substantial carbon “sink,” or carbon-storage capacity. Tracts of land that were pasture only 12 years before had already accumulated as much as 40 percent of the carbon found in fully mature forests. Legumes contributed more than half of the nitrogen needed to make that happen, the researchers reported. (more…)