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UF: Florida Population Soars in Century’s First Decade, But Rate is Slowing

By Guest PostJune 15, 2011Economyannual population increases, economic growth, flagler and sumter counties, florida, growth rates, hillsborough county, metropolitan city, miami dade county, monroe, orange county, palm coast, pinellas, population growth, projections, stan smith, university of florida, warrington college of business administration

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida was again one of the country’s leaders in population growth in the last decade, but the growth rates over the past few years have been among the lowest in the state’s history, according to a new study by the University of Florida.

Florida’s permanent resident population increased by more than 2.8 million between 2000 and 2010 — an increase of 17.6 percent to 18,801,310. That mark was the third-largest numeric increase and the eighth-largest percentage increase in the country. However, the growth rate lagged behind previous periods for the state, and projections are the growth rate will steadily decline through 2040. (more…)

Dawn Reaches Milestone Approaching Asteroid Vesta

By Guest PostMay 5, 2011Scienceasteroid, asteroid belt, asteroid vesta, cape canaveral air force station, celestial body, christopher russell, cosmic rays, dawn spacecraft, earth, earth orbiting telescopes, florida, gamma ray, interplanetary travel, marc rayman, NASA, neutron detector, orbit, planet, protoplanet, radio signal, spacecraft, terra incognita, vesta

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has reached its official approach phase to the asteroid Vesta and will begin using cameras for the first time to aid navigation for an expected July 16 orbital encounter. The large asteroid is known as a protoplanet — a celestial body that almost formed into a planet.

At the start of this three-month final approach to this massive body in the asteroid belt, Dawn is 1.21 million kilometers (752,000 miles) from Vesta, or about three times the distance between Earth and the moon. During the approach phase, the spacecraft’s main activity will be thrusting with a special, hyper-efficient ion engine that uses electricity to ionize and accelerate xenon. The 12-inch-wide ion thrusters provide less thrust than conventional engines, but will provide propulsion for years during the mission and provide far greater capability to change velocity. (more…)

Fossil Bird Study Describes Ripple Effect of Extinction in Animal Kingdom

By Guest PostMarch 9, 2011Scienceanimal kingdom, blackbird family, california, cowbird, david steadman, decline of panthers, domino effect, ecosystems, extinction, florida, fossil record, fossil study, grasslands, jessica oswald, mammals, mexican fossils, Mexico, negative impact, northern mexico, oceans, pandanaris convexa, rancho la brea fossil site, ripple effect, sediment, songbird species, sonora, térapa, trickle down effect, university of florida, wetlands

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A University of Florida study demonstrates extinction’s ripple effect through the animal kingdom, including how the demise of large mammals 20,000 years ago led to the disappearance of one species of cowbird.

The study shows the trickle-down effect the loss of large mammals has on other species, and researchers say it is a lesson from the past that should be remembered when making conservation, game and land-use decisions today. (more…)

UF Pine lsland Pollen Study Leads to Revision of State’s Ancient Geography

By Guest PostMarch 3, 2011Scienceavon park formation, calusa indian village, david jarzen, deep injection well, early eocene, evolution of mammals, florida, flowering plants, fort myers, fossils, fredrick rich, geologic history, gray lignitic clay, jonathan bloch, limestone, marine environments, oligocene epoch, paleontologist, phytoplankton, pine island, pollen, sea level

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A new University of Florida study of 45-million-year-old pollen from Pine Island west of Fort Myers has led to a new understanding of the state’s geologic history, showing Florida could be 10 million to 15 million years older than previously believed.

The discovery of land in Florida during the early Eocene opens the possibility for researchers to explore the existence of land animals at that time, including their adaptation, evolution and dispersal until the present. (more…)

Psychological Effects of BP Oil Spill Go Beyond Residents of Impacted Shorelines

By Guest PostFebruary 18, 2011Environment, Health1989 exxon valdez oil spill, alabama, anxiety and depression, bp oil spill, coastal communities, domestic violence, emotional and financial situations, environmental disaster, florida, franklin county, glenn morris, gulf fishing industries, gulf of mexico, human history, longitudinal analysis, natural events, oil exposure, oil spill, protein scum, psychological effects, psychological impact, red tide, seafood, spill, william mahan

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The psychological effects of the BP oil spill, the largest recorded environmental disaster in human history, extend far beyond people living around the areas of the Gulf of Mexico that were directly impacted by the spill, a new study finds.

Writing in the online edition of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, a publication of the National Institutes of Health, the researchers reported that even in areas that did not have oil exposure, people still experienced elevated levels of anxiety and depression and reduced ability to show resilience in difficult emotional and financial situations because of the disaster. (more…)

UF Researchers Find Surgical Breast Biopsies Overused in Florida

By Guest PostFebruary 11, 2011Healthbiopsy techniques, breast biopsies, david Winchester, diagnose, florida, health risks, huazhi liu, lesion, luke gutwein, mammography, needle biopsy, open surgical biopsy, patients, stephen grobmyer, surgical breast biopsies, tissue samples, women

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Thousands of women receive unnecessary surgical breast biopsies in Florida each year, University of Florida researchers state in an article published online this week by the American Journal of Surgery.

These surgeries carry greater health risks and are more expensive than a less invasive, equally effective procedure called a needle biopsy. (more…)

Shark Attacks Increase Worldwide; Florida Continues Four-year Decline

By Guest PostFebruary 7, 2011Environment, Generalapex predators, australia, beach, economic downturn, egypt, fishing lines, florida, george burgess, hawaii, ichthyologist, native floridians, red sea, shark attacks, South Africa, tourists, united states, unusual shark incident, Vietnam, water temperatures, worldwide

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The number of reported shark attacks last year increased worldwide but declined in Florida, according to the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File annual report released today.

Ichthyologist George Burgess, director of the file housed at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus, said Florida typically has the highest number of attacks worldwide, but 2010 marked the state’s fourth straight year of decline. Florida led the U.S. with 13 reported attacks, but the total was significantly lower than the yearly average of 23 over the past decade. (more…)

The Long-Term Fate of the Oil Spill in the Atlantic

By Guest PostJuly 13, 2010Environment, Scienceapril 20, axel timmermann, buoyant particles, chemical, computer simulations, deepwater horizon, fabian schloesser, florida, florida current, gulf of mexico, gulf stream, honolulu, jamstec, microbial degradation, ofes, oil spill, oliver elison timm, rig, soes, straits of florida, university of hawaii at manoa

Honolulu, HI – The possible spread of the oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon rig over the course of one year was studied in a series of computer simulations by a team of researchers from the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

(more…)

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