NASA – Page 38 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Expedition to Mid-Cayman Rise Identifies Unusual Variety of Deep Sea Vents

By Guest PostJuly 22, 2010Scienceaist, autonomous underwater vehicles, auvs, black smoker, caribbean sea, cayman trough, chris german, ctd, dana yoerger, earth, hybrid vehicle, hydrothermal vents, interior, Japan, jon copley, ko-ichi nakamura, lost city, louis whitcomb, max coleman, mcr, mid-cayman rise, NASA, nereus, north american plate, piccard and walsh, r/v cape hatteras, woods hole oceanographic institution

*Method included first use of Nereus hybrid vehicle in ‘autonomous’ mode*

The first expedition to search for deep-sea hydrothermal vents along the Mid-Cayman Rise has turned up three distinct types of hydrothermal venting, reports an interdisciplinary team led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

(more…)

First-of-Its-Kind Map Details the Height of the Globe’s Forests

By Guest PostJuly 21, 20101 commentEnvironment, Scienceaqua, atmosphere, canopy, carbon cycles, carbon dioxide, desdynI, douglas fir, ecosystems, height of the world’s forests, icesat, imaging spectrodiometer, lidar, michael lefsky, modis, NASA, richard Houghton, satellite data, satellites, tallest forests, terra, tropical rain forests, woods hole research center

WASHINGTON — Using satellite data, scientists have produced a first-of-its kind map that details the height of the world’s forests. Although there are other local- and regional-scale forest canopy maps, the new map is the first that spans the entire globe based on one uniform method.

(more…)

Global Model Confirms: Cool Roofs Can Offset Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Mitigate Global Warming

By Guest PostJuly 20, 20101 commentEnvironment, Scienceberkeley lab, carbon dioxide, carbon emissions, climate change, cool roof, cool the world, curb, doe, emissions, evaporation, goddard space flight center, hashem akbari, keith oleson, light-colored rooftops, model, NASA, ncar, radiation, steven chu, surabi menon, Technology, temperature, topography, urban heat

Can light-colored rooftops and roads really curb carbon emissions and combat global climate change?

The idea has been around for years, but now, a new study by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that is the first to use a global model to study the question has found that implementing cool roofs and cool pavements in cities around the world can not only help cities stay cooler, they can also cool the world, with the potential of canceling the heating effect of up to two years of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions.

(more…)

Photo Proof: Super Stars of the Universe Have Humble Beginnings

By Guest PostJuly 18, 20101 commentScience4.6 billion years, 85-meter telescope, Chile, department of astronomy, eso, european southern observatory, high-mass stars, NASA, nasa spitzer space telescope, southern sky, stefan kraus, stellar collisions, super massive star, universe, university of michigan, very large telescope interferometer

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—The first close-up picture of a nascent super massive star and its surroundings has shown that the highest mass stars in the universe form just like their smaller counterparts. They are born from swirling disks of gas and dust, rather than from violent stellar collisions.

“How these high mass stars form has been a debate for 20 years,” said Stefan Kraus, a research fellow in the University of Michigan Department of Astronomy who is first author of a paper on the findings published July 15 in Nature.

(more…)

Staggering tree loss from 2005 Amazon storm

By Guest PostJuly 16, 20102 commentsEnvironment, NatureAmazon, carbon cycling, central amazon, ecologist, geophysical research letters, inpa, jeffrey chambers, manaus region, NASA, negrón-juárez, new orleans, niro higuchi, rainforest, satellite images, tropical, tulane university

WASHINGTON — A single, huge, violent storm that swept across the whole Amazon forest in 2005 killed half a billion trees, a new study shows.

(more…)

Microsoft and NASA Bring Mars Down to Earth Through the WorldWide Telescope

By Guest PostJuly 13, 20102 commentsScience, Technologyames research center, Baltimore, california, california institute of technology, earth, energy, Environment, fay, high resolution imaging science experiment, hirise, hubble, intelligent robotics group, irg, mars, mars orbiter laser altimeter, martian surface, michael broxton, Microsoft, mola, NASA, nebula, pasadena, red planet, san josé, WorldWide Telescope

*Dramatic imagery from NASA Mars missions creates new user experiences in the Microsoft Research WorldWide Telescope.*

REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft Research and NASA are providing an entirely new experience to users of the WorldWide Telescope, which will allow visitors to interact with and explore our solar system like never before.

(more…)