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Oldest European fort in the inland US discovered in Appalachians

By Guest PostAugust 11, 2013Culture, Scienceamerican south, appalachian mountains, appalachians, archaeologist, atlantic coast, carolina piedmont, catawba river, christopher rodning, city of morganton, coastal south carolina, colonial invasion, david moore, de aviles, earliest european fort, England, foothills, fort san juan, full scale, geophysical technique, inland us, jamestown, juan pardo, large scale excavations, latin america, lost colony, magnetometry, mound building mississippian, native americans, oldest european, pat berry, pedro menendez, robin beck, sir walter raleigh, spanish captain, spanish soldiers, team of archaeologists, tulane university, united states, university of michigan, warren wilson college

ANN ARBOR — The remains of the earliest European fort in the interior of what is now the United States have been discovered by a team of archaeologists, providing new insight into the start of the U.S. colonial era and the all-too-human reasons spoiling Spanish dreams of gold and glory.

Spanish Captain Juan Pardo and his men built Fort San Juan in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in 1567, nearly 20 years before Sir Walter Raleigh’s “lost colony” at Roanoke and 40 years before the Jamestown settlement established England’s presence in the region. (more…)

New Research Will Help Shed Light on Role of Amazon Forests in Global Carbon Cycle

By Guest PostFebruary 1, 2013Environmentabsorbing, alan di vittorio, Amazon, amazon basin, amazon forest landscape, analytical method, annual carbon accumulation, atmosphere, berkeley lab, biogeochemical process, biogeochemistry, brazil, carbon cycle, carbon cycling, carbon dioxide pollution, carbon sequestration, central amazon, climate change, climatic warming, co2 concentration, CO2 emissions, daniel marra, dar roberts, earth, forest carbon budgets, forest mortality patterns, gabriel ribeiro, Germany, global climate system, global warming effect, human activities, hurricane katrina, impact, jeffrey chambers, joerg tews, manaus, max planck institute, mortality map, natural disturbances, old growth forests, pixel, planet, plot based analyses, positive feedback mechanism, robinson negron juarez, satellite images, simulation modeling, spatial scale, superstorm sandy, terrestrial ecosystems, tree mortality patterns, trends, tropical, tulane university

Berkeley Lab scientists devise new tools for detecting previously unknown tree mortality.

The Earth’s forests perform a well-known service to the planet, absorbing a great deal of the carbon dioxide pollution emitted into the atmosphere from human activities. But when trees are killed by natural disturbances, such as fire, drought or wind, their decay also releases carbon back into the atmosphere, making it critical to quantify tree mortality in order to understand the role of forests in the global climate system. Tropical old-growth forests may play a large role in this absorption service, yet tree mortality patterns for these forests are not well understood.

Now scientist Jeffrey Chambers and colleagues at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have devised an analytical method that combines satellite images, simulation modeling and painstaking fieldwork to help researchers detect forest mortality patterns and trends. This new tool will enhance understanding of the role of forests in carbon sequestration and the impact of climate change on such disturbances. (more…)

Computer Modeling of Swimming Fish Could Lead To New Robots and Prosthetics

By Guest PostOctober 23, 2010Scienceavis cohen, barracuda, body, body stiffness, chia yu hsu, computational model, eric d tytell, lamprey, lisa fauci, locomotion, medical prosthetics, muscles contract, natural mechanics, simulation, swimming fish, tulane university, turbulent water, university of maryland

Image credit: University of Maryland

COLLEGE PARK, Md — Scientists at the University of Maryland and Tulane University have developed a computational model of a swimming fish that is the first to address the interaction of both internal and external forces on locomotion. The interdisciplinary research team simulated how the fish’s flexible body bends, depending on both the forces from the fluid moving around it as well as the muscles inside. Understanding these interactions, even in fish, will help design medical prosthetics for humans that work with the body’s natural mechanics, rather than against them. This research is published in the October 18, 2010 online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (more…)

Staggering tree loss from 2005 Amazon storm

By Guest PostJuly 16, 20102 commentsEnvironment, NatureAmazon, carbon cycling, central amazon, ecologist, geophysical research letters, inpa, jeffrey chambers, manaus region, NASA, negrón-juárez, new orleans, niro higuchi, rainforest, satellite images, tropical, tulane university

WASHINGTON — A single, huge, violent storm that swept across the whole Amazon forest in 2005 killed half a billion trees, a new study shows.

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Oldest European fort in the inland US discovered in Appalachians

New Research Will Help Shed Light on Role of Amazon Forests in Global Carbon Cycle

Computer Modeling of Swimming Fish Could Lead To New Robots and Prosthetics

Staggering tree loss from 2005 Amazon storm