Tag Archives: university of massachusetts

Updating Air Pollution Measurement Methods with UMass Amherst Air Quality, Health Effects Research

By Guest PostJanuary 12, 2014Environmentair pollution exposure, air pollution measurement, air quality, amherst, arnico panday, capital city, development, electrocardiogram, elemental carbon levels, environmental, Germany, icimod, kabindra shakya, kathmandu, levels of pollution, nepal, organic, particles in air, petri dish, potsdam, rick peltier, toxicity, united states, university of massachusetts, xray fluorescence spectrometry

AMHERST, Mass. – Launching a natural research experiment in Kathmandu, Nepal, this month using advanced monitoring methods to assess health risk from air pollution, environmental health scientist Rick Peltier at the University of Massachusetts Amherst hopes to demonstrate for the first time in a real-world setting that air pollution can and should be regulated based on toxicology variables rather than simply on the volume of particles in the air.

Recent technological advances in air quality measurement methods now make it possible and practical to monitor air pollution in a much more sophisticated way than before, Peltier says. Researchers now use X-ray fluorescence spectrometry to measure air pollution metal content, ion chromatography to identify other chemicals and other tactics to assess organic and elemental carbon levels. (more…)

‘Memories of Buenos Aires,’ Edited by Max Page, Maps the Terror of Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’

By Guest PostNovember 21, 2013Politicsamherst, Argentina, buenos aires, central, democratic institutions, desaparecidos, dirty war, ilan stavans, intellectual, karen robert, max page, memoria abierta, memories, novelist julio cortazar, singer mercedes sosa, south america, st thomas university, state terrorism, terror, university of massachusetts

AMHERST, Mass. – Throughout Central and South America, there remains the palpable awareness of the decades-long “Dirty War,” in which the military and oligarchy joined forces in brutal and relentless repression of democratic institutions, and many tens of thousands people were simply marked for disappearance. That war has retained its own emotional and physical topography in the region, especially in Argentina, where as many as 30,000 citizens were killed after the generals seized power in 1976.

Now, Max Page, professor of architecture and history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has edited a new book that explores that topography and serves as an interpretive guide to the terror in Argentina, invoking the memory of the disappeared, the desaparecidos, in the memorials and hidden places of torture that mark the capital. (more…)

New Research from Sociologists Finds the Racial and Educational Preferences of Internet Daters

By Guest PostNovember 12, 2013Culture, Technologyamherst, asian men, black dater, black women, college degree, cyberspace, demographic, educational preference, formation of relationships, internet dater, jennifer lundquist, ken hou lin, mate selection, new research, online dating, racial, sociologist, university of massachusetts, white dater

Study of nearly one million dating website users shows opportunities for white daters, hurdles for blacks

AMHERST, Mass. – New research from sociologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has found specific racial patterns in the outreach and response habits of heterosexual men and women using online dating sites.

In a study published in the upcoming issue of the American Journal of Sociology, vol. 119, no. 1, UMass Amherst doctoral recipient Ken-Hou Lin and associate professor Jennifer Lundquist tracked the racial and educational characteristics of almost one million online daters searching for relationships from the 20 largest cities in the U.S. They then analyzed the inquiries sent and received by each dater, in order to gain an understanding of how members of each race interact with one another in an online dating setting. (more…)

Google, Intel Founders Support Undersea Research by UMass Amherst Microbiologist

By Guest PostAugust 24, 2013Environmentaxial volcano, begum topcuoglu, black smoker, coast of oregon, Environment, environmental conservation, Eric Schmidt, founders, Google, hydrothermal fluids, hydrothermal vents, hyperthermophilic, intel, james holden, lucy stewart, methane producing, methanogenic, microbes, NASA, nsf, oceanographic research, pathogens, quantitative hydrogen requirements, research vessel falkor, schmidt ocean institute, simple organic wastes, soi, super heat loving, umass amherst microbiologist, undersea research, undersea volcanoes, university of massachusetts, university of washington, uw

AMHERST, Mass. – When microbiologist James Holden of the University of Massachusetts Amherst launches new studies next month of the microbes living deep in the cracks and thermal vents around an undersea volcano, for the first time in his 25-year career his deep-sea research will not be funded by a government source.

Instead, Holden will be funded by philanthropists committed to supporting oceanographic research: The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation started by the co-founder of Intel and his wife, and the Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI), started by Eric Schmidt of Google and his wife, Wendy. The Moores’ foundation is dedicated to advancing environmental conservation and scientific research, while the SOI supports oceanographic research projects that “help expand the understanding of the world’s oceans through technological advancements, intelligent observation and analysis, and open sharing of information.” (more…)

Indian foresters learn state-of-the art methods in mid-career training at Yale

By Guest PostJuly 30, 2013Environmentamherst, career training, chadwick dearing oliver, forest policy, global context, greater boston area, ifs, indian foresters, indian officers, management, mark ashton, mary tyrrell, paul barten, pocket parks, quabbin reservoir, short course, teri university, tom wagner, university of massachusetts, urban resources initiative, uri, watershed, yale, yale myers forest

Officers of the Indian Forest Service (IFS) arrived on the Yale campus July 21 for a two-week training session on state-of-the-art concepts and practices in forestry and environmental management. The session is part of a partnership between the Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry at Yale, TERI University (The Energy and Resources Institute in India), and the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy acting under the auspices of the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests.

The Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests conceived the idea of holding short, intensive training sessions as a way of injecting fresh ideas, tools, and techniques into its forest service. The Yale Global Institute has participated from the beginning of the program, making this the fourth year, and the sixth group of Indian foresters welcomed to campus. (more…)

UMass Amherst Survey Shows Widespread Public Opposition to ‘Killer Robots,’ Support for New Ban Campaign

By Guest PostJune 22, 2013Technologyamericans, amherst, autonomous weaponry, bipartisan, charli carpenter, duck of minerva, forms of weapons, fully autonomous weapons, human rights, human rights watch, international affairs blog, killer robots, lethal military, machines, military family members, military technology, new ban campaign, pre emptive ban, protect the troops, public opposition, stop killer robots, university of massachusetts, yougov america

Active and former military among those most opposed to autonomous weaponry

AMHERST, Mass. – The results of a new survey by the University of Massachusetts Amherst show that a majority of Americans across the political spectrum oppose the outsourcing of lethal military and defense targeting decisions to machines. The opposition to autonomous weaponry is bipartisan, with the strongest opposition on the far left and far right, and among active and former members of the military.

A random sample of 1,000 Americans was asked how they felt about military technology that could take humans out of the loop altogether, dubbed “killer robots” by the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, an international coalition of non-governmental organizations launched in April that is working to ban-fully autonomous weapons. The survey was posted today at the website Duck of Minerva, an international affairs blog. (more…)

Research Enables Fishermen to Harvest Lucrative Shellfish on Georges Bank

By Guest PostMay 13, 2013Environment, Sciencealexandrium cells, alexandrium fundyense, bloom dynamics, cape cod, chrissy petitpas, cysts, darcie couture, dave townsend, dave wallace, deana erdner, delaware, dennis mcgillicuddy, dna evidence, don anderson, ecohab, fda, georges bank, gomtox project, gulf of maine, harmful algal blooms, marine biotoxins, massachusetts, microscope, mindy richlen, nccos, new england shellfisheries, new jersey, noaa, nova scotia, ocean quahogs, offshore population, paralytic shellfish poisoning, phytoplankton, psp, red tides, rhode island, robert magnien, sea watcher, sea water samples, smast, stacey degrasse, surf clams, toxicity, toxicity in shellfish, united states, university of maine, university of massachusetts, university of texas, whoi

Combined research efforts by scientists involved in the Gulf of Maine Toxicity (GOMTOX) project, funded by NOAA’s Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) program, and administered by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), have led to enhanced understanding of toxic algal blooms on Georges Bank. This new information, coupled with an at-sea and dockside testing protocol developed through collaboration between GOMTOX and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigators, has allowed fishermen to harvest ocean quahogs and surf clams in these offshore waters for the first time in more than two decades.

The shellfish industry estimates the Georges Bank fishery can produce up to 1 million bushels of surf clams and ocean quahogs a year, valued $10 – 15 million annually. “There is a billion dollars’ worth of shellfish product on Georges Bank that is property of the United States but that can’t be harvested because of the threat of toxicity, and 99.9% of the time, it is good wholesome product,” says Dave Wallace of North Atlantic Clam Association and a GOMTOX participant. “In an unusual and unique partnership, we worked with GOMTOX scientists, the FDA, and the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Delaware and now that huge resource can go into commerce, which helps the entire country.” (more…)

Female Lemurs Play It Safe, Live Longer, Study Suggests

By Guest PostMarch 14, 2013Natureadipose tissue, brian gerber, colorado state university, endangered lemur species, escape from predators, females, hormone level, lifestyle, male testes, masculinized genitalia, milne edwards sifaka, mortality risk factors, mystery, patricia wright, primate, rainforest dweller, rainforests of madagascar, ranomafana national park, safer sex, shu fahk, southeastern madagascar, stacey tecot, stephen king, stony brook university, ua anthropologist, university of massachusetts

Females of a little-known primate from the rainforests of Madagascar have been known to outlive their male peers by many years, despite no obvious differences in hormone levels or lifestyle. A team led by a UA anthropologist has found the likely answer to the mystery.

Researchers studying aging in an endangered lemur species report that in old age, females are the safer sex: They live much longer than their male peers.

Females tend to outlive males in many animals, including humans. But in the Milne-Edwards’ sifaka – a rainforest-dweller with orange-red eyes, a black face and woolly dark brown fur – the sexes didn’t seem to differ in any of the ways thought to give females a survival advantage in other animals. (more…)