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Space Weather Forecast: Sunspotty, With an Increasing Chance of Solar Storms

By Guest PostApril 15, 2012Environmentatmosphere, coronal mass ejections, dark sky, earth, flagpole, fm broadcasts, forecast, frank lind, gps, john sahr, k p index, kuow, laura vertatschitsch, magnetic field, magnetosphere, mars, mary levin, mechanical energy, molecular plasma, northern light, satellites, seattle, sieg hall, solar flares, solar storms, source, space weather, sunspot cycle, sunspotty, transmitter, xray

The past few months have seen a spate of solar flares – bringing spectacular views of the northern lights as far south as Seattle – along with media speculation that the electrical activity could disrupt power grids, satellites or ground airplanes.

John Sahr, a UW professor of electrical engineering who studies the upper atmosphere, is the regional go-to guy for such questions. We found some time in Sahr’s busy schedule (he’s also the UW’s associate dean of undergraduate academic affairs and a part-time zombie hunter) to get his read on the space weather forecast. (more…)

‘Kinect Star Wars:’ A Tour de Force by Fans, for Fans

By Guest PostApril 3, 2012Science Fiction, Technologyabby lee, boonta eve, c 3po, craig derrick, darth vader, david tuft, don mattrick, droids, force, galactic dance off, george lucas, Germany, han solo, jabba the hutt, jedi experience, jorg neumann, kinect, kinect star wars, lego, lucasarts, Microsoft, nahil sharkasi, padawans, princess leia, r2 d2, rancor rampage, seattle, star wars, stormtrooper, xbox 360

*Meet the Force-sensitive fans who helped bring the Star Wars universe to life in “Kinect Star Wars,” the ultimate Jedi experience for Padawans of all ages.*

REDMOND, Wash. – Abby Lee walked into a Seattle toy store recently and purchased two LEGO Darth Vader alarm clocks, a Star Wars pop-up book, and a few LEGO speeder bikes. The bemused checkout clerk asked if she was going to a birthday party.

“No,” Lee replied. “I’m going to work.” (more…)

Fossil Raindrop Impressions Imply Greenhouse Gases Loaded Early Atmosphere

By Guest PostApril 2, 2012Environmentames research center, atmosphere, atmospheric pressure, concentration, david catling, earth history, fossilized, greenhouse gases, jelte harnmeijer, latex peels, liquid water, low carbon innovation, peter polivka, pressure broadening, raindrop impression, raindrop velocity, roger buick, sanjoy som, seattle, South Africa, sun, temperature, warm temperature

In ancient Earth history, the sun burned as much as 30 percent dimmer than it does now. Theoretically that should have encased the planet in ice, but there is geologic evidence for rivers and ocean sediments between 2 billion and 4 billion years ago.

Scientists have speculated that temperatures warm enough to maintain liquid water were the result of a much thicker atmosphere, high concentrations of greenhouse gases or a combination of the two. (more…)

‘Mount Sharp’ on Mars Links Geology’s Past and Future

By Guest PostApril 1, 2012Sciencearizona, bob sharp, curiosity, edward stolper, gale crater, geological sciences, grand canyon, john grotzinger, ken edgett, life magazine, liquid water, mars, michael malin, mount rainier, mount sharp, NASA, robert p sharp, san diego, seattle, spacecraft

One particular mountain on Mars, bigger than Colorado’s grandest, has been beckoning would-be explorers since it was first sighted from orbit in the 1970s. Scientists have ideas about how it took shape in the middle of ancient Gale Crater and hopes for what evidence it could yield about whether conditions on Mars have favored life.

No mission to Mars dared approach it, though, until NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission, which this August will attempt to place its one-ton rover, Curiosity, at the foot of the mountain. The moat of flatter ground between the mountain and the crater rim encircling it makes too small a touchdown target to have been considered safe without precision-landing innovations used by this mission. (more…)

Meet the Team That Puts ‘Amazing Power’ at People’s Fingertips

By Guest PostFebruary 15, 2012Technologyapplecharlottecooking, betsy speare, cloud division, cloud os, ebay, erin chapple, group policy, integration of information, jeffrey snover, Microsoft, microsoft news center, mnc, new england, powershell, sabrina, seattle, smartphone app, social networking site, Technology, the teenage witch, vancouver canucks, windows server, windows server 8

*Members of the Windows Server team speak with Microsoft News Center about their groundbreaking work in moving customers to the cloud—and what else they find fascinating.*

REDMOND, Wash. – Start telling most people about the importance of servers and their eyes glaze over. They would much rather talk about some cool new smartphone app or the latest social networking site. Yet without servers, the things we value most about technology—from mobile devices to online shopping—would be impossible.

“It’s servers that enable us to do everything from email to eBay,” says Betsy Speare, a principle program manager lead in the Windows Server Manageability team. “Servers are making the world a smaller place by providing the backbone for communication and the integration of information.” (more…)

Scientists Sound Alarm over Threat of Untreatable Gonorrhea in United States

By Guest PostFebruary 14, 2012Healthantimicrobial agents, cdc, cephalosporins, chapel hill, communicable disease, drug resistant gonorrhea, ethnic group, fluoroquinolone resistant, fluoroquinolones, gail a bolan, gonococcal infections, gonorrhea, gonorrhea bacteria, judith n wasserheit, mics, minimum inhibitory concentrations, n gonorrhoeae, neisseria gonorrhoeae, oral cefixime, p frederick sparling, penicillins, race, resistant gonorrhea, seattle, sexual orientation, sulfanilamide, tetracyclines, third generation cephalosporins, threat, united states, university of north carolina, university of washington, untreatable gonococcal infection, urinary tract

Researchers are continuing to sound the alarm on the growing threat of multi-drug resistant gonorrhea in the United States, according to a perspective in the Feb. 9 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

In July of 2011, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released “Cephalosporin Susceptibility Among Neisseria gonorrhoeae Isolates – United States, 2000-2010,” which signaled the potential for resistance to the cephalosporins, the last line of defense for treating gonorrhea. (more…)

Treatment For TB Can Be Guided By Patients’ Genetics

By Guest PostFebruary 11, 2012Scienceanti-inflammatory, charles serhan, corticosteroids, david tobin, dexamethasone therapy, duke university, francisco roca, gene, gene variant, genetic sequence, goldilocks effect, guy thwaites, harvard university, heterozygous advantage, human genetics, hyperinflammation, infection, inflammation, inflammatory response, lalita ramakrishnan, leukotriene b4, lipoxins, lta4h, mary claire king, mutation, oxford university, patient, pro inflammatory, seattle, substance, tb, tb like infection, tb meningitis, tuberculosis, tuberculosis treatment, university of washington, Vietnam, zebrafish

A gene that influences the inflammatory response to infection may also predict the effectiveness of drug treatment for a deadly form of tuberculosis.

An international collaboration between researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle, Duke University, Harvard University, the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam and Kings College London reported these findings Feb. 3 in the journal Cell. (more…)

Jailhouse Phone Calls Reveal Why Domestic Violence Victims Recant

By Guest PostAugust 21, 2011Culture, Generalamy bonomi, chris locke, criminal justice system, david martin, detention facility, domestic violence victims, felony assault, felony charge, felony domestic violence, group health research institute, heather katafiasz, jailhouse telephone conversations, king county prosecutors office, ohio state university, perpetrators, phone calls, rashmi gangamma, seattle, state supreme court, victims, Washington, washington state detention facility

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study uses – for the first time – recorded jailhouse telephone conversations between men charged with felony domestic violence and their victims to help reveal why some victims decide not to follow through on the charges.

Researchers listened to telephone conversations between 17 accused male abusers in a Washington state detention facility and their female victims, all of whom decided to withdraw their accusations of abuse. For each of the couples, the researchers analyzed up to about three hours of phone conversations. (more…)

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