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How red crabs on Christmas Island speak for the tropics

By Guest PostOctober 12, 2013Environment, Natureallison shaw, australia national university, christmas island, climate pattern, cocos, crabs larvae, earth, ecosystem, el niño, erratic rainfall, fluctuations in rainfall, forest dynamics, indian ocean, kathryn kelly, keeling islands, migration data, migratory animals, next generation, North America, ocean, princeton university, red crabs, tropical zones, tropics, university of minnesota, university of washington

Each year, the land-dwelling Christmas Island red crab takes an arduous and shockingly precise journey from its earthen burrow to the shores of the Indian Ocean where weeks of mating and egg laying await.

Native to the Australian territories of Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, millions of the crabs start rolling across the island roads and landscape in crimson waves when the November rains begin. After a two-week scuttle to the sea, the male crab sets up and defends a mating burrow for himself and a female of his kind, the place where she will incubate their clutch for another two weeks. Before the morning of the high tide that precedes the December new moon, the females must emerge to release their millions of eggs into the ocean. A month later, the next generation of crabs comes ashore. (more…)

Stronger winds explain puzzling growth of sea ice in Antarctica

By Guest PostOctober 9, 2013Environmentantarctic sea ice, Antarctica, atmosphere, axel schweiger, dynamic change, global climate models, jinlun zhang, model experiment, modeling study, natural cycle, ozone depletion, puzzling growth, sea ice, south pole, southern hemisphere, Southern Ocean, stronger winds, thick ice, university of washington, variability, warming climate

Much attention is paid to melting sea ice in the Arctic. But less clear is the situation on the other side of the planet. Despite warmer air and oceans, there’s more sea ice in Antarctica now than in the 1970s – a fact often pounced on by global warming skeptics. The latest numbers suggest the Antarctic sea ice may be heading toward a record high this year.

While changes in weather may play a big role in short-term changes in sea ice seen in the past couple of months, changes in winds have apparently led to the more general upward sea ice trend during the past few decades, according to University of Washington research. A new modeling study to be published in the Journal of Climate shows that stronger polar winds lead to an increase in Antarctic sea ice, even in a warming climate. (more…)

Researcher controls colleague’s motions in 1st human brain-to-brain interface

By Guest PostOctober 2, 2013Sciencealex dadgar, andrea stocco, brain computer interface, brain interfacing, bryan djunaedi, chantel prat, dev sarma, duke university, eeg, electrodes, electroencephalography, electroencephalography machine, harvard researchers, joseph wu, magnetic stimulation, matthew bryan, rajesh rao, skype connection, Technology, transcranial magnetic stimulation, university of washington, video game, vulcan mind meld

University of Washington researchers have performed what they believe is the first noninvasive human-to-human brain interface, with one researcher able to send a brain signal via the Internet to control the hand motions of a fellow researcher.

Using electrical brain recordings and a form of magnetic stimulation, Rajesh Rao sent a brain signal to Andrea Stocco on the other side of the UW campus, causing Stocco’s finger to move on a keyboard. (more…)

Initial positive results reported on vaccine to treat genital herpes

By Guest PostSeptember 26, 2013Healthanna wald, chemotherapy in denver, chip clark, david koelle, epidemiology, gen 003, genital herpes, genocea biosciences, herpes simplex virus, human t cell, infectious diseases, matrix m, novavax, pathogens, placebo injection, positive result, protein subunit vaccine, scanning electron micrograph, sexually transmitted disease, t cell vaccines, transmission of infection, type 2, united states, university of washington, vaccine

Initial, positive results have been reported for a therapeutic vaccine candidate for treating patients with genital herpes. This first-in-class, investigational, protein subunit vaccine, GEN-003, is under development by Genocea Biosciences Inc.

Dr. Anna Wald, University of Washington professor of medicine and laboratory medicine in the School of Medicine and professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health, is among those leading clinical studies of GEN-003. The trials are also taking place at six other centers in the United States. (more…)

Physicists pinpoint key property of material that both conducts and insulates

By Guest PostSeptember 5, 2013Sciencebell laboratories, conductor, david cobden, electrical insulator, ice, jae hyung park, jim coy, liquid, metal insulator transition, phases of water, pressure, scott hunter, temperature, triple point, university of washington, vanadium dioxide, vapor

It is well known to scientists that the three common phases of water – ice, liquid and vapor – can exist stably together only at a particular temperature and pressure, called the triple point.

Also well known is that the solid form of many materials can have numerous phases, but it is difficult to pinpoint the temperature and pressure for the points at which three solid phases can coexist stably. (more…)

Magma can survive in upper crust for hundreds of millennia

By Guest PostSeptember 1, 2013Scienceandes mountains, cascades range, craggy granite formation, crystallization, francisco gutierrez, hawaii, heat conductivity, hundreds of millennia, kilauea volcano, magma, modeling research, molten rock, mount pinatubo, mount st helens, national scientiﬁc, olivier bachmann, oozing, pacific northwest, period, Philippines, plutonic magma, plutonic rock, reservoir, Santiago, sarah gelman, silica rich magma, south america, survive, temperature dependent, universidad de chile, university of washington, upper crust, volcanic arcs, volcanic eruptions, volcanic magma, washington state, yellowstone national park, yosemite national park

Reservoirs of silica-rich magma – the kind that causes the most explosive volcanic eruptions – can persist in Earth’s upper crust for hundreds of thousands of years without triggering an eruption, according to new University of Washington modeling research.

That means an area known to have experienced a massive volcanic eruption in the past, such as Yellowstone National Park, could have a large pool of magma festering beneath it and still not be close to going off as it did 600,000 years ago.

“You might expect to see a stewing magma chamber for a long period of time and it doesn’t necessarily mean an eruption is imminent,” said Sarah Gelman, a UW doctoral student in Earth and space sciences. (more…)

Wireless devices go battery-free with new communication technique

By Guest PostAugust 28, 2013Technologyaaron parks, ambient backscatter, battery free, battery free devices, communication signal, communication system, communication technique, david wetherall, existing signal, hong kong, internet, joshua smith, led light, morse code, seattle area, sensor networks, shyam gollakota, text messages, tv signal, university of washington, vamsi talla, vincent liu, wireless devices

We might be one step closer to an Internet-of-things reality.

University of Washington engineers have created a new wireless communication system that allows devices to interact with each other without relying on batteries or wires for power. (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…)

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