Tag Archives: project

Pine Island Glacier: A Scientific Quest in Antarctica to Determine What’s Causing Ice Loss

By Environment, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

*Researchers study heat delivered by ocean currents to bottom side of glacier that releases more than 19 cubic miles of ice each year*

An international team of researchers, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA, will helicopter onto the Pine Island Glacier ice shelf, one of Antarctica’s most active, remote and harsh spots, in mid-December 2011–weather permitting.

The project’s mission is to determine how much heat ocean currents deliver to the underside of the Pine Island Glacier as it discharges into the sea. Quantifying this heat and understanding how much melting it causes is key to developing reliable models to predict glacier acceleration and therefore predict how much ice will be delivered from land into the ocean thus contributing to sea level rise. (more…)

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Thawing Permafrost Could Release Vast Amounts of Carbon and Accelerate Climate Change by the end of this Century

By Environment, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

*New computer modeling study, led by a Berkeley Lab scientist, could help revise understanding of permafrost’s role in global warming*

Billions of tons of carbon trapped in high-latitude permafrost may be released into the atmosphere by the end of this century as the Earth’s climate changes, further accelerating global warming, a new computer modeling study indicates.

The study also found that soil in high-latitude regions could shift from being a sink to a source of carbon dioxide by the end of the 21st century as the soil warms in response to climate change. (more…)

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New Disney Tron:Legacy Digital Book Site Comes Alive With HTML5 in Internet Explorer 9

By Technology, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

*Site offers immersive Web experience for comic book enthusiasts.*

BURBANK, Calif. — June 3, 2011 — When the team behind the latest Tron:Legacy Project project website started their work, they had in mind one goal: raise the bar for what a graphic novel could be like online. “Most online comics are stagnant,” says Dario Di Zanni, development manager for Disney publishing digital media. “We wanted an engaging, fluid site that is more like the actual experience of reading a comic book.”

Originally released by Disney in 1982, the classic science-fiction film “Tron” has spawned comics, games, books and a television series based on the story of protagonist Sam, who is investigating his father’s disappearance 20 years earlier. Sam’s quest takes him on a solo journey through his father’s digital legacy. (more…)

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