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Yale Center for British Art to partner with Google on expanded Art Project

By Guest PostApril 4, 2012Culture, Technologyamy meyers, art, art project, british art, connecticut, george stubbs, Google, google art project, john frederick herring, joshua reynolds, museum, synthesis, Technology, the harvest, thomas gainsborough, thomas rowlandson, united kingdom, united states, william hogarth, yale center

The Yale Center for British Art is partnering with the Google Art Project to share the museum’s renowned collections with viewers around the world. The collaboration is part of a major global expansion of the pioneering Art Project, which now consists of 151 partners in 40 countries.

The Yale Center for British Art — which houses the largest collection of British art outside the United Kingdom — is one of only six university museums in the world to collaborate with Google. It is one of only 29 institutions in the United States and is the only museum in Connecticut to participate. (more…)

Mapping Grasslands for Biofuel Potential

By Guest PostMarch 31, 2012Environmentalternative, america, biofuel crop, cell wall, cellulosic, energy, environmental impact, fertilizer, fossil fuel, grassland, irrigation water, marcia mcnutt, miscanthus, municipal wastes, nebraska, non food crop, north american, overgrazing, plant, platte river basin, prairie, switchgrass, tallgrass, united states, usgs, woody biomass

USGS scientists have developed a new method for mapping grasslands that demonstrate high potential for growing biofuel crops with relatively little energy input and environmental impact.

The pioneering investigation used remote sensing data from satellites to identify detailed areas of the Greater Platte River Basin (most of Nebraska, parts of adjacent states) that are best suited for producing cellulosic (from the cell walls of plants) biofuel derived from hardy switchgrass, a native plant that grows wild or is easily cultivated. (more…)

Berkeley Lab Study Shows Significantly Higher Potential for Wind Energy in India than Previously Estimated

By Guest PostMarch 29, 2012Environmentamol phadke, berkeley lab, China, electricity, gw, India, jayant sathaye, julie chao, mnre, potential, ranjit bharvirkar, renewable energy, united states, western india, wind energy, wind power

A new assessment of wind energy in India by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has found that the potential for on-shore wind energy deployment is far higher than the official estimates— about 20 times and up to 30 times greater than the current government estimate of 102 gigawatts. This landmark finding may have significant impact on India’s renewable energy strategy as it attempts to cope with a massive and chronic shortage of electricity.

“The main importance of this study, why it’s groundbreaking, is that wind is one of the most cost-effective and mature renewable energy sources commercially available in India, with an installed capacity of 15 GW and rising rapidly,” says Berkeley Lab scientist Amol Phadke, the lead author of the report. “The cost of wind power is now comparable to that from imported coal and natural gas-based plants, and wind can play a significant role in cost effectively addressing energy security and environmental concerns.” (more…)

Another Vertebrate Species Reported Extinct from the Hawaiian Islands

By Guest PostMarch 22, 2012Naturearchipelago, blue tailed skink, chris brown, cnrs, copper striped, cryptic extinction, emoia impar, extinction, hawaiian islands, ivan ineich, kauai, lizard, marcia mcnutt, maui, napali coast, oahu, oryx, Paris, robert fisher, skink, species, tropical, tropical pacific, united states, vertebrate species

HONOLULU – A species of lizard is now extinct from the Hawaiian Islands, making it the latest native vertebrate species to become extirpated from this tropical archipelago.

The copper striped blue-tailed skink (Emoia impar) — a sleek lizard with smooth, polished scales and a long, sky-blue tail — was last confirmed in the Na’Pali coast of Kauai in the 1960s. But repeated field surveys on Kauai, Oahu, Maui and Hawai’i islands from 1988 to 2008 have yielded no sightings or specimens. (more…)

Walk of A Lifetime Promotes Organ Donation

By Guest PostMarch 21, 2012General, Health, Mediafirefighter, harry kiernan, kidney, liver, los angeles, new haven, new york, organ donation, sukru emre, united states, vietnam veteran, walk of 2012

Donating part of his liver and a kidney to two different recipients was not enough for Harry Kiernan. The Vietnam veteran and firefighter is now taking his efforts to raise awareness about organ donation many steps further by walking across the United States.

Kiernan’s 3,300-mile journey began on March 19 at Yale-New Haven Hospital, where a kick off ceremony for “Walk of 2012,” took place under the Donate Life flag near the hospital’s entrance. (more…)

Confidence in Climate Data: Using 3 Million-Year-Old Records

By Guest PostMarch 20, 2012Uncategorized21st century, ar5, atmospheric co2, China, climate, climate conditions, fossils, france, geologic period, Germany, global warmth, ipcc, Japan, marci robinson, marcia mcnutt, million years, north atlantic climate, north atlantic data, norway, pliocene, pliocene conditions, pliocene temperature, pliomip, test models, trace gases, united kingdom, united states, university of bristol, university of leeds

How do we understand what’s happening today by looking back millions of years?

Scientists are looking at what climate conditions were like 3.3 to 3 million years ago, during a geologic period known as the Pliocene, and they are confident in the accuracy of their data.

The Pliocene is the most recent period of sustained global warmth similar to what is projected for the 21^st century. Climate during this time period offers one of the closest analogs to estimate future climate conditions. (more…)

New Labor-Tracking Tool Proposed To Reduce C-Sections in First-Time Moms

By Guest PostMarch 16, 2012Healthabortions, c sections, cervix, cesarean, childbirth, dystocia, dystocia diagnosis, emily caldwell, gray area, hormonal intervention, jeremy neal, labor, labor assessment, labor tracking tool, linear process, nancy lowe, oxytocin, painful scarring, partograph, pregnant women, stillbirths, united states

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Researchers have designed a new version of a labor-tracking tool for pregnant women that they predict could reduce the use of hormonal intervention during labor and lower the number of cesarean sections performed on low-risk, first-time mothers.

The tool, called a partograph, takes into account the most recent research findings that suggest labor is not a linear process, but is instead slower during earlier labor and accelerates gradually as labor advances. A diagnosis of abnormally slow labor is the No. 1 reason that C-sections are performed in low-risk births by first-time moms. (more…)

U.S. Citizenship May Be Determined At Random

By Guest PostMarch 12, 2012Politicsact, americans, civics knowledge, data, fate, immigrant, immigration officer, immigration services, michigan state university, naturalization, noncitizenship, paula winke, sat, test, united states, us citizenship, uscis

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The fate of nearly half a million immigrants hoping for U.S. citizenship may have been determined randomly, at least in part, according to a new study by a Michigan State University researcher who found the high-stakes civics test isn’t a reliable measure of civics knowledge.

To be awarded citizenship, immigrants must correctly answer six of 10 questions on the verbally administered civics portion of the U.S. Naturalization Test, said Paula Winke, assistant professor of second language studies. (more…)

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