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Landscape Change Leads to Increased Insecticide Use in U.S. Midwest

By Guest PostJuly 19, 2011Environmentagricultural landscapes, annual insecticide application, bioenergy crops, claudio gratton, connecticut, crop diversity, cropland, doug landis, entomologis, great lakes bioenergy research center, insecticide, landscape ecologist, landscape simplification, long term ecological research, lter, michigan, midwest, nancy huntly, national science foundation, natural habitat, nsf, switchgrass, tim meehan, university of wisconsin-madison

*Growth of cropland, loss of natural habitat to blame*

The continued growth of cropland and loss of natural habitat have increasingly simplified agricultural landscapes in the Midwest.

In a study supported in part by the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site in Michigan–one of 26 such NSF LTER sites around the world–scientists concluded that this simplification is associated with increased crop pest abundance and insecticide use. (more…)

Scientists on a Mission: Detailed Study of U.S. Southeast Tornadoes

By Guest PostJuly 12, 2011Environmentalabama, april storm, atlanta, brad smull, cullman storm, dual polarimetric doppler radar, fingerprint of tornado, kevin knupp, memphis, national science foundation, national weather service, nexrad doppler radar system, nsf, nws, psychology and sociology of storm warnings, radar data, rapid, rapid response research, tallahassee, tim coleman, topography, tornado outbreaks, tornadoes, uah, university of alabama in huntsville

*Focus on deadly April 27, 2011, outbreak in Alabama and surrounding states*

It was one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history.

Now scientists are organizing a research program to better understand the tornadoes that blew through Alabama and other southeastern states on April 27, 2011.

Scientists at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) are analyzing radar data from that day, then merging the information with detailed storm surveys and other data. They hope to learn more about how the storms formed, what made the storms so powerful and what might be done to make tornado warnings more effective. (more…)

Scientists Study Earthquake Triggers in Pacific Ocean

By Guest PostJuly 2, 2011Environmentaccretionary margins, alaska to patagonia, basalt rock, costa rica, costa rica seismogenesis project, crisp, earthquake generating region, earthquakes, eastern pacific ocean, expedition, fault, global earthquakes, integrated ocean drilling program, iodp, italy, Japan, joides resolution, kohtaro ujiie, kristin hillis, large earthquakes, marianas, masaoki uno, mass transfer, michael stipp, nankai trough seismogenic zone experiment, nantroseize, national science foundation, nsf, pacific northwest, paola vannucchi, plate boundary, rodey batiza, samples of rock and sediment, scientific drilling vessel, seafloor, seismic plate boundary, seismogenic region, subduction processes, subduction zones, subseafloor, sumatra quakes, tectonic activity, the aleutians, tohoku earthquake, understanding of the earth, university of florence, university of tsukuba

*Samples of rock, sediment from beneath the sea-floor help explain quakes like Japan’s*

New samples of rock and sediment from the depths of the eastern Pacific Ocean may help explain the cause of large, destructive earthquakes similar to the Tohoku Earthquake that struck Japan in mid-March.

Nearly 1,500 meters (almost one mile) of sediment cores collected from the ocean floor off the coast of Costa Rica reveal detailed records of some two million years of tectonic activity along a seismic plate boundary. (more…)

Air Quality Worsened by Paved Surfaces

By Guest PostJune 11, 2011Environmentair pollution, atmospheric measurements, brad smull, china meteorological administration, coastal cities, computer simulations, emissions, fei chen, ground-level ozone, Houston, houston area, Japan, land and sea temperatures, los angeles, national center for atmospheric research, national science foundation, ncar, nsf, pavement, petrochemical facilities, pollutants, sea, shanghai, smog, traffic jams, unhealthy air, united states, university of tsukuba, urban areas on air pollution, urban development, urbanization, warm summer weather, weather patterns, wind patterns

*Widespread urban development alters weather patterns*

New research focusing on the Houston area suggests that widespread urban development alters weather patterns in a way that can make it easier for pollutants to accumulate during warm summer weather instead of being blown out to sea.

The international study, led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), could have implications for the air quality of fast-growing coastal cities in the United States and other mid-latitude regions overseas. (more…)

Mars: Red Planet’s Rapid Formation Explains Its Small Size Relative to Earth

By Guest PostMay 27, 2011Scienceali pourmand, atmosphere, chemical behavior, chondrites, composition of chondrites, computer simulation, dauphas and pourmand, earth, embryos, enriqueta barrera, fine scale chronology, geophysicist, hafnium, lithophile elements, mantle of mars, mars, martian meteorites, national science foundation, nicolas dauphas, non volatile elements, nsf, radioactive decay, red planet, refractory, solar system, tungsten in meteorites, tungsten isotopic composition, university of chicago, xenon content

*Mars developed far more quickly than our blue planet*

Mars developed in as little as two to four million years after the birth of the solar system, far more quickly than Earth, according to results of a new study published in this week’s issue of the journal Nature.

The red planet’s rapid formation helps explain why it is so small, say the study’s co-authors, Nicolas Dauphas at the University of Chicago and Ali Pourmand at the University of Miami. (more…)

Scientists Discover Animal-like Urea Cycle in Tiny Diatoms in the Ocean

By Guest PostMay 19, 2011Sciencealisdair fernie, andrew allen, animal like urea cycle, atmosphere, carbon recycling, chris bowler, david garrison, deep ocean, diatoms, environmental health of marine ecosystems, genome, marine diatoms, metazoan, national science foundation, nsf, nutrient, nutrient metabolism in diatoms, pennate diatom, photosynthesis, phytoplankton, rna interference, silica, unique cell walls, urea synthesis

*Cycle enables marine phytoplankton to use carbon and nitrogen from their environment*

Scientists have discovered that marine diatoms, tiny phytoplankton abundant in the sea, have an animal-like urea cycle, and that this cycle enables the diatoms to efficiently use carbon and nitrogen from their environment. (more…)

Climate Change May Create Tipping Points for Populations, Not Just Species

By Guest PostOctober 23, 2010Environmentalpine, Arctic, biological effects of climate change, climate change, climate warms, daniel doak, duke university, earth, ecological challenges, ecologist, mountains of colorado, national science foundation, new mexico, nsf, plants, plants and animals, saran twombly, william morris

*Researchers measure survival, reproduction of thousands of arctic and alpine plants over six years*

As Earth’s climate warms, species are expected to shift their geographical ranges away from the equator or to higher elevations.

While scientists have documented such shifts for many plants and animals, the ranges of others seem stable. (more…)

NSF Renews Centers for Nanotechnology in Society

By Guest PostOctober 15, 2010Scienceanticipatory governance, arizona state university, atomic, barbara herr harthorn, center for nanotechnology, cns ucsb, david guston, molecular manipulation, molecular scale, myron gutmann, nano enterprise, Nanotechnology, national science foundation, nature-altering science, North America, nsf

*National Science Foundation awards more than $12.5M to study societal impacts of emerging technologies*

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently renewed two important cooperative agreements totaling more than $12.5 million over five years. These awards leverage previous investments for studying the ethical, legal, economic and policy implications of the relatively new, nature-altering science called nanotechnology. (more…)

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