Tag Archives: vancouver

„Gold“ für die tierischen Athleten

By Guest PostFebruary 8, 2014Naturealopex lagopus, amur tiger, andy rouse, aptenodytes forsteri, desoria saltans, druck, eisbaer, Europe, francois pierrel, fritz poelking, gletscherfloh, gold, hal whitehead, kaiserpinguin, klimawandel, oekosystem, panthera tigris altaica, panthera uncia, physeter catodon, polarfuchs, pottwal, rangifer tarandus, rentiere, schneeleopard, sibirischer tiger, ursus maritimus, vancouver, volker homes, wild wonders, winterspiele 2010, wwf, wwf deutschland

Zum Start der Olympischen Winterspiele 2010 in Vancouver: WWF präsentiert Rekorde aus dem Tierreich.

Wenn am 12. Februar die Olympischen Winterspiele in Vancouver beginnen blickt die Welt gebannt nach Kanada und fiebert sportlichen Sensationen entgegen. Doch bei aller Bewunderung für die menschlichen Athleten, im Vergleich zu den Höchstleistungen im Tierreich verblasst der Glanz manch einer Goldmedaille: Pottwale tauchen bis zu 2500 Meter tief, Gletscherflöhe produzieren ihr eigenes Frostschutzmittel, der Amur-Tiger trotzt Temperaturen von bis zu 45 Grad unter Null und ein Schneeleopard kann 16 Meter weit springen. „All diese rekordverdächtigen Leistungen und Fähigkeiten sind evolutionär als Folge der Anpassung an einen bestimmten Lebensraum entstanden“, sagt Volker Homes, Leiter Artenschutz beim WWF Deutschland. „Extreme Lebensräume, wie etwa Arktis und Antarktis, die Tiefsee oder das Hochgebirge, erfordern extreme Fähigkeiten.“ Diese Vielfalt gälte es, so der WWF, zu bewahren. Denn Klimawandel, Lebensraumzerstörung und Wilderei machten auch vor den extremsten Ökosystemen des Planeten nicht hal (more…)

Television: Chronicle of a Death Foretold?

By Guest PostNovember 24, 2012Mediaandre h caron, balance of time, bell media, calgary, canadian productions, canadian programming, children, creation, cross canada study, cyms, endangered, Environment, made in canada, media platform, montreal, nuclear family, publication, quality, quebec, social impact, st john, television, television programs, toronto, tv, université de montréal, vancouver, young canadians

Not only is TV not endangered, but it also has a unifying social impact on the nuclear family across the country. This is the main conclusion of a cross-Canada study—Are the Kids All Right?—on the television viewing habits of families with at least one child aged between 9 and 12 years. The study was conducted by a team of researchers led by André H. Caron, professor of communications at the Université de Montréal and Director of the Centre for Youth and Media Studies (CYMS).

“Young Canadians today live in a different world than that experienced by previous generations. In this context, many well-placed observers have predicted the impending death of television,” says Dr. Caron. “We wanted to test the veracity of this statement, so we set out to meet 80 different families (over 200 participants) to determine the current place of the small screen that has shaped so many childhoods since its creation.” (more…)

Computer Scientist Developing Intersections of The Future With Fully Autonomous Vehicles

By Guest PostFebruary 21, 2012Science, Technologyaaas, ai driver agents, artificially intelligent, austin, austin robot technology, autonomous car, autonomous cars, british columbia, chaotic flow, computer scientist, computing system, coordinate, intersection, marvin, peter stone, simulation, stop sign, university of texas, vancouver, virtual intersection system, virtual traffic controller, wyatt mcspadden

AUSTIN, Texas — Intersections of the future will not need stop lights or stop signs, but will look like a somewhat chaotic flow of driverless, autonomous cars slipping past one another as they are managed by a virtual traffic controller, says computer scientist Peter Stone.

“A future where sitting in the backseat of the car reading our newspaper while it drives us effortlessly through city streets and intersections is not that far away,” says Stone, a professor of computer science at The University of Texas at Austin. (more…)

New Study Shows No Evidence of Groundwater Contamination From Hydraulic Fracturing

By Guest PostFebruary 21, 2012Environmentaaas, appalachia, aquifer, austin, barnett shale, british columbia, casing failure, charles chip groat, drilling operation, energy institute, fracturing fluid, gas, geologic units, groundwater contamination, haynesville shale, hydraulic fracturing, marcellus shale, natural gas, new york, north texas, northeast texas, oil, Pennsylvania, shale formation, surface spill, university of texas, vancouver, western louisiana

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Hydraulic fracturing of shale formations to extract natural gas has no direct connection to reports of groundwater contamination, based on evidence reviewed in a study released Thursday by the Energy Institute at The University of Texas at Austin.

The study, released at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Vancouver, British Columbia, found that many problems ascribed to hydraulic fracturing are related to processes common to all oil and gas drilling operations, such as casing failures or poor cement jobs. (more…)

Studying The Evolution of Life’s Building Blocks

By Guest PostFebruary 20, 2012Sciencealbert szent gyorgyi, ancient life, bacterium, basic module, beginning of life, beginning of time, british columbia, building block, chemical building block, chemical reactions, evolution, evolution of life, geneticists, michigan state university, molecular complementarity, molecular paleontology, origin of life, paleontologists, physiologist, robert root bernstein, species, vancouver, vitamin c

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Studying the origin of life at its building blocks offers a unique perspective on evolution, says a researcher at Michigan State University.

Robert Root-Bernstein, MSU physiology professor, will answer the question of why a physiologist studies the origin of life at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Feb. 16-20 in Vancouver, British Columbia. (more…)

Can Scientists Look at Next Year’s Climate?

By Guest PostSeptember 11, 2011Environmentalgorithm, atmospheric scientists, climate dynamics, climate models, climate pattern, climate predictions, climate scientists, dmitri kondrashov, el niño, human induced climate change, hurricane, international congress on industrial and applied mathematics, los angeles, mathematical theory of climate sensitivity, michael chekroun, michael ghil, natural catastrophe, natural climate variability, vancouver, warming of equatorial surface waters, weather forecasts

Is it possible to make valid climate predictions that go beyond weeks, months, even a year? UCLA atmospheric scientists report they have now made long-term climate forecasts that are among the best ever — predicting climate up to 16 months in advance, nearly twice the length of time previously achieved by climate scientists.

Forecasts of climate are much more general than short-term weather forecasts; they do not predict precise temperatures in specific cities, but they still may have major implications for agriculture, industry and the economy, said Michael Ghil, a distinguished professor of climate dynamics in the UCLA Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and senior author of the research. (more…)

WHOI Experts Stress Lessons From Japan Earthquake

By Guest PostMarch 13, 2011Environmentchristchurch, foreshocks, future quakes, japan earthquake, japan quake, japan tsunami, jeff mcguire, jian lin, korean icebreaker r/v araon, mainshock, national earthquake center in menlo park, pacific northwest coast, sanriku, similar quake/tsunami scenario, stress lessons, subduction zone, tokyo and yokohama, vancouver, Vancouver island canada, woods hole oceanographic institution (whoi)

While Japan’s 8.9-magnitude earthquake and accompanying tsunami represent a devastating natural disaster for the country’s residents, scientists should also seize upon the massive temblor as an important learning tool for future quakes around the world, including the Pacific Northwest coast of the United States, according to experts from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

WHOI geophysicist Jeff McGuire said such lessons may be particularly germane to residents of Northern California, Oregon, Washington and Vancouver–a region he said, could be subject to a similar quake/tsunami scenario. “Today’s earthquake happened on a subduction zone thrust fault where the Pacific plate subducts, or dives, under the Japanese islands,” he said. “Japan regularly has large earthquakes and tsunamis all along its east coast due to subduction. (more…)

Yahoo! Launches Weekend Edition, a New Weekend Destination on Yahoo! News

By Guest PostNovember 5, 2010Technologybuick, China, craig bierley, dominique dawes, harry hurt, jim brasher, journalist, mark walker, olympic games, olympic gymnast, vancouver, weekend edition, Yahoo, yahoo news

*Sponsored by Buick, Weekend Edition offers content for the weekend audience, including an original video program*

SUNNYVALE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE) — Yahoo! and Buick today unveiled Weekend Edition on Yahoo! News, a new weekend program offering compelling original video and relevant editorial content, programmed for the weekend audience. Weekend Edition (https://weekendedition.news.yahoo.com) will help Buick reach and engage the Yahoo! News audience of more than 90 million monthly visitors by integrating the Buick brand in a premium-content environment.

“With Weekend Edition, we’ve established a destination that features lighter lifestyle-oriented news programming, which we already know is more popular with our weekend audience,” said Mark Walker, vice president and head of Yahoo! News. “This program also aligns perfectly with Buick’s target demographics and brand attributes, which makes Buick an ideal partner for Weekend Edition.” (more…)