SAN FRANCISCO – An unusually hot melting season in 2010 accelerated ice loss in southern Greenland by 100 billion tons – and large portions of the island’s bedrock rose an additional quarter of an inch in response. (more…)
Astronomers at Yale University have discovered what appear to be three fast-growing supermassive black holes in a relatively young, still-forming galaxy.
The discovery raises the possibility that this type of black hole continues to form billions of years after the Big Bang, challenging current theory. Astronomers previously thought all supermassive black holes emerged soon after the birth of the universe 13.7 billion years ago. (more…)
Lived through period of species extinction
A species of ancient predator with saw-like teeth, sleek bodies and a voracious appetite for meat survived a major extinction at a time when the distant relatives of mammals ruled the earth.
A detailed description of a fossil that scientists identify as a varanopid “pelycosaur” is published in the December issue of Naturwissenschaften – The Science of Nature. Professors Sean Modesto from Cape Breton University, a U of T alumnus, and Robert Reisz from University of Toronto Mississauga provide evidence that a group of ancient, agile predators called varanopids survived for more than 35 million years and co-existed with more advanced animals. (more…)
*Rats free trapped companions, even when given choice of chocolate instead*
The first evidence of empathy-driven helping behavior in rodents has been observed in laboratory rats that repeatedly free companions from a restraint, according to a new study by University of Chicago neuroscientists.
The observation, published today in Science, places the origin of pro-social helping behavior earlier in the evolutionary tree than previously thought. Though empathetic behavior has been observed anecdotally in non-human primates and other wild species, the concept had not previously been observed in rodents in a laboratory setting. (more…)
*comScore Releases Overview of European Internet Usage for October 2011*
LONDON, UK, 9 December 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released an overview of internet 
usage in Europe, showing 376.6 million unique visitors went online in October 2011 for an average of 27.8 hours per person. This study highlights internet usage in 49 European markets aggregated into the European region and provides individual reporting on 18 markets. The study also analysed the online behaviour of mothers, defined as females age 25 and older with children in the household, showing their heavy propensity to visit retail sites. (more…)
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Catching terrorists who detonate bombs may be easier by testing the containers that hide the bombs rather than the actual explosives, according to pioneering research led by Michigan State University.
Currently, law enforcement labs tend to test for DNA on the exploded bomb fragments – but this has a low success rate, said David Foran, an MSU forensic biologist and lead investigator on the research project. (more…)
New research suggests it may be possible to learn high-performance tasks with little or no conscious effort
New research published today in the journal Science suggests it may be possible to use brain technology to learn to play a piano, reduce mental stress or hit a curve ball with little or no conscious effort. It’s the kind of thing seen in Hollywood’s “Matrix” franchise. (more…)
A new software tool developed by the HiRISE team in the UA’s Lunar and Planetary Lab allows members of the public to download high-resolution images of the Martian landscape almost instantaneously and explore the surface of the Red Planet from their own desktops.
Imagine zooming in over the surface of Mars, sweeping over sand dunes and circling around the rims of craters – all from your home desktop.
With HiView, the image-viewing tool recently released by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE, team at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Lab, you can do just that. (more…)
