Tag Archives: study

Study Provides New Insights on Drought Predictions in East Africa

By Guest PostFebruary 4, 2013Environment20th century, aridity, atmospheric convection, charcoal, climate, climate model simulations, climate variability, columbia university, drought conditions, drought predictions, earth observatory, east africa, east african climate, eastern africa, el niño, famine, future predictions, geologic past, geologist, geopolitical significance, global warming, gulf of aden, historical fluctuations, historical patterns, horn of africa, humanitarian crisis, indian ocean, jason smerdon, jessica tierney, lake sediment cores, lamont-doherty, little brother, little ice age, long term shifts, medieval times, moisture balance, oceanographic institution, pacific, pacific ocean, paleoclimate record, paleorecord, pollen, precipitation, projections, rainfall, region, run off events, study, surface temperatures, temperature, warm sea surface, water isotopes, western indian ocean, whoi, woods hole

Research May Also Help Determine Effects of Global Warming in the Region

With more than 40 million people living under exceptional drought conditions in East Africa, the ability to make accurate predictions of drought has never been more important. In the aftermath of widespread famine and a humanitarian crisis caused by the 2010-2011 drought in the Horn of Africa—possibly the worst drought in 60 years— researchers are striving to determine whether drying trends will continue.

While it is clear that El Niño can affect precipitation in this region of East Africa, very little is known about the drivers of long-term shifts in rainfall. However, new research described in the journal Nature helps explain the mechanisms at work behind historical patterns of aridity in Eastern Africa over many decades, and the findings may help improve future predictions of drought and food security in the region. (more…)

Reconcilable Differences: Study Uncovers the Common Ground of Scientific Opposites

By Guest PostFebruary 1, 2013Science20th century, activity, austrian physicist, chaotic motion, classical, common ground, denys bondar, english scientist, experimental data, herschel rabitz, imperial college London, isaac newton, laws of motion, mathematical framework, mathematical model, microscopic particles, misha ivanov, novel theories, observed data, odds physics equations, operational dynamic modeling, paul ehrenfest, princeton model, princeton university, quantum elements, quantum mechanics, reconcilable differences, renan cabrera, robert gilmore, scientific laws, scientific opposites, shakespearean sounding crossroads, study, theoretical roof, theories, ukraine, uzhgorod national university

Searching for common elements in seemingly incompatible scientific theories may lead to the discovery of new ones that revolutionize our understanding of the world.

Such is the idea behind a mathematical framework Princeton University researchers developed that strips away the differences between scientific laws and theories to reveal how the ideas are compatible. In a recent report in the journal Physical Review Letters, the authors explain how the mathematical model finds common ground between the famously at-odds physics equations that govern classical and quantum mechanics. (more…)

The Fed and Interest Rates: Biased Toward the GOP?

By Guest PostNovember 1, 2012Politicsbill clinton, counter intuitive, democrat, election, fed, federal funds rates, federal reserve bank, fiscal, george bush, government, independent bank, jared wadley, michigan, monetary policies, partisan bias, party, policy behaviour, presidential election, republican, right wing, study, university, vincent are bundock, White House, william clark

ANN ARBOR — With the elections less than a week away, it’s worth considering that the party of the president influences the policy behavior of the Federal Reserve Bank, according to a new University of Michigan study.

The Federal Reserve Bank increases interest rates before the presidential elections when Democrats are in office, but lowers the rates when Republicans control the White House. The independent bank finds it easier to accomplish its policy goals when Republicans control the White House than when Democrats do, the researchers say. (more…)

Yellowstone Wolf Study Reveals How to Raise Successful Offspring

By Guest PostOctober 11, 2012Naturearmies, arms race, body weight, bridgett vonholdt, canine distemper, carnivore population, cooperation, cooperative, dan macnulty, dan stahler, data, excellent model, factor, female, female wolves, gray wolves, group behavior, key ingredient, life history, life sciences, mother, national, national park, offspring, park service, predator, princeton university, pup survival, reproduction, robert wayne, social carnivores, sociality, soldiers, state university, study, survival advantage, utah, weight, wolves, world, yellowstone, yellowstone park, young adulthood

What are the key ingredients to raising successful, self-sufficient offspring? A new life sciences study using 14 years of data on gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park indicates that cooperative group behavior and a mother’s weight are crucial.

“A female’s body weight is key in the survival of her offspring, and cooperation in the protection and feeding of young pups pays off in terms of the production of offspring,” said Robert Wayne, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA and co-author of the new research, published this week in the online edition of the Journal of Animal Ecology. (more…)

Questions for B. Anthony Bogues: Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice

By Guest PostOctober 2, 2012Culture, Politics1863, alumnae hall, american society, anthony bogues, brown, center, christina paxson, contemporary issue, courtney coelho, emancipation proclamation, historical injustice, justice, national debate, public forum, racial slavery, slavery, study, united states, university

Created on recommendation of the 2006 Report of the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice, the new Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice will expand upon the work of that committee, creating a space for student and faculty research and public discussion of the history and legacies of these issues. Here, inaugural director B. Anthony Bogues shares his vision for the Center.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — In 2003, a University steering committee undertook a three-year project on slavery and justice. One of the committee’s recommendations was the creation of a center that would continue to expand upon that work. Earlier this year, Anthony Bogues was named director of the new center. He is hiring staff and finding the center a permanent home on campus, which he expects to have within the next two years. For now, the Center will be located in Alumnae Hall.

Part of the center’s mission will be to act as a public forum for the discussion of the history of slavery and its legacy. On Wednesday, Oct. 3, the center and the Office of the Dean of the College will sponsor the 2012 First Readings Lecture, which will take place at 5 p.m. in the Salomon Center for Teaching. Author Charles Rappleye will discuss his book Sons of Providence: The Brown Brothers, the Slave Trade and the American Revolution. (more…)

New Tool for CSI? Geographic Software Maps Distinctive Features inside Bones

By Guest PostOctober 1, 2012Scienceagricultural tool, amanda agnew, anthropology, arcgis, body size, bones, compression, crime statistics, cross section, david rose, disease, excavation site, flood model, foot bone, geographic, gis, human, human remains, information system, julie field, mapping software, metatarsal, microscope, ohio state, osteons, osteoporosis, pattern, sam stout, scientific criteria, sex, skeletal variation, spatial data, statistical measure, study, tension

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A common type of geographic mapping software offers a new way to study human remains.

In a recent issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, researchers describe how they used commercially available mapping software to identify features inside a human foot bone – a new way to study human skeletal variation. (more…)

Scientists Explore Changing Arctic Ocean

By Guest PostAugust 25, 2012EnvironmentArctic, arctic ecosystem, arctic ocean, atmosphere, burning, calcification rate, calcium carbonate, canada basin, carbon dioxide, CO2, corals, crabs, cutter healy, Environment, florida keys, food chain, fossil fuel, gulf of mexico, jonathan wynn, kim yates, lisa robbins, marcia mcnutt, marine, north pole, ocean acidification, ocean acidity, oysters, plankton, resources, robert byrne, shell, shrimp, skeleton, study, terrestrial organism, us coast guard, virgin islands

Scientists are setting sail on August 25 to study ocean acidification in the Arctic and what this means for the future survival of marine and terrestrial organisms.

The Arctic Ocean is one of the most vulnerable places on the planet for acidification, yet it is the least-explored ocean. Acidification can disturb the balance of marine life in the world’s oceans, and consequently affect humans and animals that rely on those food resources.

Ocean acidification is particularly harmful to organisms such as corals, oysters, crabs, shrimp and plankton, as well as those up and down the food chain. Higher acidity decreases an organism’s calcification rate, meaning they lose their ability to build shells or skeletons. (more…)

Ribbeting Research

By Guest PostJuly 13, 2012Nature, Scienceacoustic difference, amphibians, amplexus, cocktail party problem, eardrum movement, eustachian tubes, female cope, frog ears, frogs, gray treefrog, hearing aids, jackhammer, mammalian ears, mammals, mark bee, mr right, study, university of minnesota, velocity

Studies of frogs may lead to better hearing aids

When Mark Bee talks to his 106-year-old grandmother alone, her two enormous hearing aids enable her to understand him well.

“But at a table at Thanksgiving, with everybody talking, the devices don’t do well,” says Bee, an associate professor of ecology, evolution and behavior at the University of Minnesota.

Her difficulty in a noisy situation is called the cocktail party problem, after the background babble that stymies many hearing-impaired people trying to pick out individual voices at a party. But in ponds all over the world, frogs handle a similar problem, and Bee hopes to learn enough about how they do it to put the principles to work helping people like his grandmother. (more…)