Tag Archives: Germany

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…)

Analysis of Greenland Ice Cores Adds to Historical Record and May Provide Glimpse into Climate’s Future

By Guest PostJanuary 30, 2013Environmentalpine research, Antarctica, Arctic, arctic sciences section, atmosphere, belgium, boulder, canada, change, China, climate, climate conditions, denmark, dorthe dahl-jensen, earth climate, eemian interglacial, eemian like, eemian period, france, future, future climate, Germany, global temperatures rise, greenland ice cores, greenland ice sheet, historical record, ice ages, ice sheet, Iceland, Japan, jim white, last interglacial period, national science foundation, neem, northern greenland, northern hemisphere, paleo climate models, sea-level rise, south korea, subsurface ice layers, Sweden, switzerland, the netherlands, united kingdom, united states, university of colorado, university of copenhagen, west antarctic

The International North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling (NEEM) project results indicate that melting of Antarctic ice sheet may have contributed more to sea level rise than melting of the Greeland ice sheet some 100,000 years ago

A new study that provides surprising details on changes in Earth’s climate from more than 100,000 years ago indicates that the last interglacial–the period between “ice ages”–was warmer than previously thought and may be a good analog for future climate, as greenhouse gases increase in the atmosphere and global temperatures rise.

The research findings also indicate that melting of the massive West Antarctic ice sheet may have contributed more to sea-level rise at that time than melting of the Greenland ice sheet. (more…)

IBM Delivers New Services to Help Clients Move Enterprise Applications to the Cloud

By Guest PostJanuary 29, 2013Technologyalbert mombarg, analytics, Argentina, australia, barcelona, big data, brazil, canada, cloud adoption, cloud based transactions, cloud center, cloud computing, cloud models, cloud service, cloud today, core application, crm, enterprise, erp, Europe, five continents, france, Germany, global delivery model, ibm, ibm sce, ibm smartcloud, innovative analytics, it, it environments, it sourcing arrangements, Japan, jim comfort, lifecycle, mobile computing, model, network, new center, online access, os instance, philips smart tv, roi, sap applications, sce, self service clouds, smartcloud enterprise, social business, spain, technology and innovation, US, vishal sikka, world map

Financial, healthcare, government and electronics clients tap IBM SmartCloud Enterprise+;
IBM SmartCloud for SAP Applications now available globally

ARMONK, N.Y. – 29 Jan 2013: IBM today announced global availability for its cloud service on five continents—plus a new center opening in Spain—based on its industry-leading sourcing business to host SAP® applications and other core operations. Now clients can turn to cloud computing for enterprise applications while reducing the overall cost of IT and at the same time, expanding online access and investing in innovative analytics, social business and mobile computing.

Many organizations are eager to leverage the economic advantages of cloud computing to run their critical applications on the cloud. These applications require deep technical expertise, around-the-clock customer service, tight security and ongoing maintenance – features typically found in IT sourcing arrangements but not in the “one-size-fits-all” model of self-service clouds. (more…)

Life Possible on Extrasolar Moons

By Guest PostJanuary 14, 2013Scienceastrobiology, astrophysics potsdam, benign environment, climatic conditions, earth size, energy source, exomoons, exoplanets, extrasolar moons, extrasolar planets, Germany, greenhouse effect, habitable edge, habitable moons, habitable worlds, habitable zone, issue, jupiter, kepler space telescope, leibniz institute, life, liquid surface water, mars, NASA, orbiting planets, possible, rene heller, rory barnes, solar system, sources of light, stellar illumination, sterile gas giants, theoretical model, theoretical question, tidal heating, university of washington

In their search for habitable worlds, astronomers have started to consider exomoons, or those likely orbiting planets outside the solar system. In a new study, a pair of researchers has found that exomoons are just as likely to support life as exoplanets.

The research, conducted by Rory Barnes of the University of Washington and the NASA Astrobiology Institute and René Heller of Germany’s Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam, will appear in the January issue of Astrobiology. Heller is lead author of the paper. (more…)

Recognizing Psychological Common Ground Could Ease Tensions Among Those with Different Religious Beliefs, says MU Psychologist

By Guest PostJanuary 13, 2013Cultureabdolhossein abdollahi, agnostics, allah, atheists, awareness of death, belief, buddha, caricature, christians, conflict, crucifix, death in christians, deity, different groups, ease tension, fear of death, foxholes, Germany, god, halle, higher power, how, human knowledge, immortal entity, individual, influence, iran, islamic azad university, jamie arndt, jesus, kenneth vail, motivation, muslims, opposing viewpoints, philosophies, propaganda, psychological similarity, relationship, religious symbol, religious tradition, saale, st marienkirche, stories, supreme being, thoughts of death, thoughts of mortality, understanding, united states, university of missouri, wartime aphorism

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Understanding how thoughts of mortality influence individuals’ beliefs sheds light on the commonalities among different groups’ motivations and could help ease tensions between opposing viewpoints, according to University of Missouri experiments that tested the relationship between awareness of death and belief in a higher power. The study found that thoughts of death increased atheists, Christians, Muslims and agnostics conviction in their own world views. For example, contrary to the wartime aphorism that there are no atheists in foxholes, thoughts of death did not cause atheists to express belief in a deity.

“Our study suggests that atheists’ and religious believers’ world views have the same practical goal,” said Kenneth Vail, lead author and doctoral student in psychological science in MU’s College of Arts and Science. “Both groups seek a coherent world view to manage the fear of death and link themselves to a greater and immortal entity, such as a supreme being, scientific progress or a nation. If people were more aware of this psychological similarity, perhaps there might be more understanding and less conflict among groups with different beliefs.” (more…)

Violent Video Games: More Playing Time Equals More Aggression

By Guest PostDecember 20, 2012General, Healthaggression, aggressive behavior, brad bushman, brightness, call of duty, competitive reaction, computer screen, condemned 2, dirt2, experimental evidence, france, french university students, Germany, grenoble, laurent begue, measure aggression, michael scharkow, negative effects, nonviolent video game, over time, playing, pure, s3k superbike, the club, time task, university of hohenheim, violent video games, visual perception, youssef hasan

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study provides the first experimental evidence that the negative effects of playing violent video games can accumulate over time.

Researchers found that people who played a violent video game for three consecutive days showed increases in aggressive behavior and hostile expectations each day they played. Meanwhile, those who played nonviolent games showed no meaningful changes in aggression or hostile expectations over that period. (more…)

Can Life Emerge on Planets Around Cooling Stars?

By Guest PostNovember 20, 2012Scienceastronomers, astrophysics, brown dwarf, earth, Germany, habitable zone, heating phenomenon, ingredients, leibniz institute, life, liquid, nuclear burning, phase, planets, potsdam, rene heller, rory barnes, runaway greenhouse, sun, support, university, venus, Washington

Astronomers find planets in strange places and wonder if they might support life. One such place would be in orbit around a white or brown dwarf. While neither is a star like the sun, both glow and so could be orbited by planets with the right ingredients for life.

No terrestrial, or Earth-like planets have yet been confirmed orbiting white or brown dwarfs, but there is no reason to assume they don’t exist. However, new research by Rory Barnes of the University of Washington and René Heller of Germany’s Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam hints that planets orbiting white or brown dwarfs will prove poor candidates for life. (more…)

Steve Ballmer Talks Up Windows 8 and Windows Phone in Europe and Israel

By Guest PostNovember 13, 2012Technologyberlin, david cameron, discovery event, era, Europe, Germany, Israel, london, Microsoft, microsoft ceo, modern jago, Paris, prime minister, shoreditch area, smart mice, software, start ups, steve ballmer, tech, tel aviv, uk, wave, windows 8, windows phone, windows rt, xbox

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was in Europe and Israel last week to showcase Microsoft’s wave of newly updated products, including Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, and Surface with Windows RT. He reinforced to customers, developers, students and others that the company is moving into a new era.

REDMOND, Wash. – Nov. 13, 2012 – World, meet Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, and Surface. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer last week took Microsoft’s wave of new products on the road, visiting Europe and Israel.

He said the launch of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, an upcoming new version Office, and updates to the company’s Xbox platform—all part of the biggest wave of updates in the company’s history—signify that Microsoft has entered a new era. (more…)