Tag Archives: scientists

Made in IBM Labs: Scientists Set New Speed Record for Big Data

By Guest PostFebruary 13, 2014Technologyadc technology, big data, circuits conference, epfl, gigabits per second, ibm labs, isscc, lukas kull, made in, martin schmatz, new speed record, san francisco, scientists, semtech corp, solid-state, thomas toifl, yusuf leblebici

Ultra-high definition 4K movie or 40,000 songs from the Cloud could be downloaded in a few seconds

SAN FRANCISCO – 13 Feb 2014: IBM today announced that it has achieved a new technological advancement that will helpimprove Internet speeds to 200 – 400 Gigabits per second (Gb/s) at extremely low power.

The speed boost is based on a device that can be used to improve transferring Big Data between clouds and data centers four times faster than current technology. At this speed 160 Gigabytes, the equivalent of a two-hour, 4K ultra-high definition movie or 40,000 songs, could be downloaded in only a few seconds. The device was presented at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco. (more…)

Scientists solve a decades-old mystery in the Earth’s upper atmosphere

By Guest PostDecember 28, 2013Sciencebinbin ni, chorus, craig kletzing, data driven, decades old mystery, earth, electron acceleration, emfisis, extremely energetic particles, geoff reeves, global wave model, inward, jacob bortnik, james van allen, local stochastic acceleration, low frequency, planetary magnetospheres, qianli ma, radial diffusive transport, radiation belts, radio wave, scientists, solve, space scientist, ultra relativistic electrons, university of iowa, upper atmosphere, van allen

New research published in the journal Nature resolves decades of scientific controversy over the origin of the extremely energetic particles known as ultra-relativistic electrons in the Earth’s near-space environment and is likely to influence our understanding of planetary magnetospheres throughout the universe.

Discovering the processes that control the formation and ultimate loss of these electrons in the Van Allen radiation belts — the rings of highly charged particles that encircle the Earth at a range of about 1,000 to 50,000 kilometers above the planet’s surface — is a primary science objective of the recently launched NASA Van Allen Probes mission. Understanding these mechanisms has important practical applications, because the enormous amounts of radiation trapped within the belts can pose a significant hazard to satellites and spacecraft, as well astronauts performing activities outside a craft. (more…)

In the Zone: How Scientists Search for Habitable Planets

By Guest PostJuly 18, 2013Scienceatmosphere, exoplanets, goldilocks planets, habitable planets, habitable zone, kepler 69c, kepler mission, liquid water, lucianne walkowicz, NASA, penn state university, radiation, ravi kumar kopparapu, scientists, search, solar system, star, stephen kane, super earth, super venus planet, total energy output, venus like planet

There is only one planet we know of, so far, that is drenched with life. That planet is Earth, as you may have guessed, and it has all the right conditions for critters to thrive on its surface. Do other planets beyond our solar system, called exoplanets, also host life forms?

Astronomers still don’t know the answer, but they search for potentially habitable planets using a handful of criteria. Ideally, they want to find planets just like Earth, since we know without a doubt that life took root here. The hunt is on for planets about the size of Earth that orbit at just the right distance from their star – in a region termed the habitable zone. (more…)

The rhythm of everything

By Guest PostJune 21, 2013General, Health, Scienceadolescents, approximately a day, automobile accidents, blood pressure, body temperature, breast cancer rates, brown university, cancer epidemiology, chronic insomnia, chronobiology international, circa diem, circadian cycle, circadian gene, circadian rhythms, clock, DNA, electric lights, epigenetic changes, estrogen level, feedback loop, habitual fatigue, heart rate, human body, jet lag, key issue, kidneys, logic, molecular autoregulatory, mutation, mysterious, natural processes, physiological phenomena, probably carcinogenic, regulatory genes, rhythm of everything. biological changes, richard g stevens, scientists, seasonal affective disorder, transcriptional activators, ultraviolet light, winter blues, yong zhu

Dawn triggers basic biological changes in the waking human body. As the sun rises, so does heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. The liver, the kidneys and many natural processes also begin shifting from idle into high gear. Then as daylight wanes and darkness descends, these processes likewise begin to subside, returning to their lowest levels again as we sleep.

These internal biological patterns are tightly linked to an external cosmic pattern: the earth’s rotation around the sun once every 24 hours. This endless loop of light and darkness and the corresponding synchrony of internal and external clocks, are called circadian rhythms, from “circa diem,” Latin for “approximately a day.” Circadian rhythms influence almost all living organisms, from bacteria to algae, insects, birds and, as is increasingly understood by science, humans beings. (more…)

Scientists Find Possible Solution to an Ancient Enigma

By Guest PostJune 20, 2013Environmentamoeba, ancient enigma, anna mcintyre wressnig, calcium carbonate, cat scans, ciliates, clotted stones, coastal sediment, colchicine, disappearance, earth history, evolution, extinction of dinosaurs, foraminifera, geobiologist, highborne cay, hypotheses, joan bernhard, layered rocks, life on earth, meteorite, microbes, microbial ecologist, microfabric, minerals, multicellular life, oceanic sediments, paleontologists, photosynthetic cyanobacteria, proterozoic eon, protozoa, remote valleys, rrna, scientists, sediment, solution, stromatolites, thecate, thrombolites, velociraptors, virginia edgcomb, whoi

The widespread disappearance of stromatolites, the earliest visible manifestation of life on Earth, may have been driven by single-celled organisms called foraminifera.

The findings, by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI); Massachusetts Institute of Technology; the University of Connecticut; Harvard Medical School; and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, were published online the week of May 27 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (more…)

Do songbirds hold key to stuttering?

By Guest PostJune 14, 2013Natureaustralian songbird, behavior, brain, california based, grammy awards, grammy foundation, j devin mcauley, jennifer lampen, juli wade, key to stuttering, language skills, laura dilley, michigan state university, million americans, process rhythm, recording academy, scientists, songbirds, soo eun chang, speech production, zebra finch

A tiny Australian songbird may hold the answer to discovering the biological source of stuttering, which affects 3 million Americans and is notoriously difficult to treat.

A team of Michigan State University scientists will investigate the brain and behavior of the zebra finch in the first in-depth study of whether stuttering stems from a lack of rhythm. (more…)

Scientists sequence genome of ‘sacred lotus,’ which likely holds anti-aging secrets

By Guest PostJune 7, 2013Health, Scienceanti aging secrets, australia, China, chinese academy, corn, crops, crysten blaby haas, disease, evolution, genetic defects, genetic endowment, genetic repair mechanisms, genome, germination defects, human health, humans, jane shen miller, Japan, liaoning province, longevity, molecular biologists, nelumbo nucifera, northeastern china, origin of life, powerful genetic system, rice, robert vanburen, sabeeha merchant, sacred lotus, sciences, scientists, sequence, shaohua li, spiritual purity, symbol, university of Illinois, unusual genetics, urbana-champaign, US, wheat, william schopf, wuhan botanical garden

A team of 70 scientists from the U.S., China, Australia and Japan today reports having sequenced and annotated the genome of the “sacred lotus,” which is believed to have a powerful genetic system that repairs genetic defects, and may hold secrets about aging successfully. The scientists sequenced more than 86 percent of the nearly 27,000 genes of the plant, Nelumbo nucifera, which is revered in China and elsewhere as a symbol of spiritual purity and longevity.

“The lotus genome is an ancient one, and we now know its ABCs,” said Jane Shen-Miller, one of three corresponding authors of the research and a senior scientist with UCLA’s Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life. “Molecular biologists can now more easily study how its genes are turned on and off during times of stress and why this plant’s seeds can live for 1,300 years. This is a step toward learning what anti-aging secrets the sacred lotus plant may offer.” (more…)

Underwater Robot

By Guest PostFebruary 27, 2013Sciencearthur trembanis, carter duval, ceoe, coast of delaware, create sonar images, douglas miller, high definition, laundry basket, marine samples, mark moline, metal frame, navigation system, navy, number of mussels, palau, plastic, plume of water, record video, redbird artificial reef, remotely operated vehicle, research expedition, rov, scientists, swimming pool, underwater robot, university of delaware, waterproof video cameras, western pacific

New remotely operated vehicle to aid UD marine research efforts

UD researchers discuss a new underwater robot that will assist in marine research.

An underwater robot made a splash at a University of Delaware swimming pool recently in a test of the new equipment, which will soon be used in field research by College of Earth, Ocean and Environment (CEOE) scientists.

The device, called a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), can dive deep below the ocean surface to record video, create sonar images and retrieve objects. (more…)