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Public Release: 14-May-2008
Estimated 3.2 million Burmese potentially affected by cyclone
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Lehman College, CUNY have developed geographic risk models, which indicate that as many as 3.2 million Burmese are estimated to be affected by the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis. Using Geographic Information Systems, the researchers calculated the likely distribution of the population of Burma (also known as Myanmar) and developed maps of the regions at greatest risk from the storm’s effects.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Tim Parsons
tmparson@jhsph.edu
410-955-7619
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Public Release: 14-May-2008
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Mouse can do without man's most treasured genes
The mouse is a stalwart stand-in for humans in medical research, thanks to genomes that are 85 percent identical. But identical genes may behave differently in mouse and man, a study by University of Michigan evolutionary biologists Ben-Yang Liao and Jianzhi Zhang reveals.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Nancy Ross-Flanigan
rossflan@umich.edu
734-647-1853
University of Michigan
Public Release: 14-May-2008
33rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference
Applied Physics Letters
New efficiency record for solar cells
Physicist Bram Hoex and colleagues at Eindhoven University of Technology, together with the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, have improved the efficiency of an important type of solar cell from 21.9 to 23.2 percent (a relative improvement of 6 per cent). This new world record is being presented on Wednesday May 14 at a major solar energy conference in San Diego.
Contact: Bram Hoex
b.hoex@tue.nl
31-402-474-880
Eindhoven University of Technology
Public Release: 14-May-2008
Scientists aim to unlock deep-sea 'secrets' of Earth's crust
Scientists from Durham University will use robots to explore the depths of the Atlantic Ocean to study the growth of underwater volcanoes that build the Earth's crust.
Natural Environment Research Council
Contact: Alex Thomas
media.relations@durham.ac.uk
44-019-133-46075
Durham University
Public Release: 14-May-2008
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Deep sea methane scavengers captured
Scientists of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig and the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena succeeded in capturing syntrophic microorganisms that are known to dramatically reduce the oceanic emission of methane into the atmosphere. These microorganisms that oxidize methane anaerobically are an important component of the global carbon cycle and a major sink for methane on Earth.
National Science Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Davidow Grant, National Institutes of Health, CaltechGPSTexaco Fellowship
Contact: Tilo Arnhold
presse@ufz.de
49-341-235-1635
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Public Release: 14-May-2008
Nature
Warming climate is changing life on global scale, says new study
A vast array of physical and biological systems across the earth are being affected by warming temperatures caused by humans, says a new analysis of information not previously assembled all in one spot. The effects on living things include earlier leafing of trees and plants over many regions; movements of species to higher latitudes and altitudes in the northern hemisphere; changes in bird migrations in Europe, North America and Australia; and shifting of the oceans' plankton and fish from cold- to warm-adapted communities.
Contact: Kevin Krajick
212-854-9729
The Earth Institute at Columbia University
Public Release: 14-May-2008
Nature
Studies confirm greenhouse mechanisms even further into past
The newest analysis of trace gases trapped in Antarctic ice cores now provide a reasonable view of greenhouse gas concentrations as much as 800,000 years into the past, and are further confirming the link between greenhouse gas levels and global warming, scientists reported today in the journal Nature.
Contact: Edward Brook
brooke@geo.oregonstate.edu
541-737-8197
Oregon State University
Public Release: 14-May-2008
Nature
Ice cores reveal fluctuations in the Earth's greenhouse gases
Ice cores from Antarctica show both the lowest atmospheric content of CO2 (carbon dioxide) and fast changes in the content of CH4 (methane) measured over the past 800,000 years. Knowledge about the relationship between greenhouse gases and the temperature in the Earth's climate history will help scientists develop models of future climate changes. The results are being published in two articles in the respected scientific journal Nature.
Contact: Gertie Skaarup
skaarup@nbi.dk
453-532-5320
University of Copenhagen
Public Release: 13-May-2008
Nano Letters
Nanowires may boost solar cell efficiency, UC San Diego engineers say
University of California-San Diego electrical engineers have created experimental solar cells spiked with nanowires that could lead to highly efficient thin-film solar cells of the future.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Daniel Kane
dbkane@ucsd.edu
858-534-3262
University of California - San Diego
Public Release: 13-May-2008
AMS May science highlights
Following are story ideas and tips about upcoming AMS meetings, papers in our peer-reviewed journals, and other happenings in the atmospheric and related sciences community.
Contact: Stephanie Kenitzer
kenitzer@ametsoc.org
425-432-2192
American Meteorological Society
Public Release: 13-May-2008
Archaeologist uses satellite imagery to explore ancient Mexico
Satellite imagery obtained from NASA will help RIT archaeologist Bill Middleton peer into the ancient Mexican past. In a novel archaeological application, multi- and hyperspectral data will help build the most accurate and most detailed landscape map that exists of the southern state of Oaxaca, where the Zapotec people formed the first state-level and urban society in Mexico. National Geographic funding will help look at how climate and vegetation patterns changed over time.
NASA, National Geographic
Contact: Susan Gawlowicz
smguns@rit.edu
585-475-5061
Rochester Institute of Technology
Public Release: 13-May-2008
Journal of Environmental Quality
Fecal microorganisms inhabit sandy beaches of Florida
A study of Florida beaches has shown that wet sand and dry sand above the intertidal zone have significantly more fecal bacteria than near-shore seawater. Scientists researched whether indicator bacteria survive longer in sand relative to open water and found that all feces-derived bacteria were capable of enhanced growth and survival in sand, while in seawater the bacterial populations steadily decreased over time.
US Environmental Protection Agency
Contact: Sara Uttech
suttech@soils.org
608-268-4948
Soil Science Society of America
Public Release: 13-May-2008
Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health
Beijing game for clean air challenge
With the Olympic Games in sight, the Chinese Government is committed to improving the air quality in Beijing, and has had measures in place since 1998 which have already made a difference. However, there is still some way to go to meet national air quality standards in the Chinese capital, according to Professor Wang Wen-Xing and his team from the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences in Beijing, in the People's Republic of China.
Contact: Renate Bayaz
renate.bayaz@springer.com
49-622-148-78531
Springer
Public Release: 13-May-2008
Henry Moore sculpture could be re-erected thanks to 21st century science
A dismantled Henry Moore sculpture could be re-erected in Kensington Gardens, London, thanks to the latest rock engineering techniques, says a team of experts today.
Contact: Colin Smith
cd.smith@imperial.ac.uk
44-020-759-46712
Imperial College London
Public Release: 13-May-2008
PLoS ONE
Sticky gecko feet: The role of temperature and humidity
A team of five University of Akron researchers has published the paper, "Sticky gecko feet: the role of temperature and humidity" in PLoS ONE, an open-access, online journal for peer-reviewed scientific and medical research.
Contact: Dave Russ
dwr10@uakron.edu
330-972-6477
Public Library of Science
Public Release: 12-May-2008
Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Hot climate could shut down plate tectonics
A new study of possible links between climate and geophysics finds that a much hotter climate could shut down the Earth's plate tectonics. While human-induced climate change couldn't generate the needed heat, volcanic activity or changes in the sun's luminosity could. The research, which is available online in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, may help explain why Venus swelters beneath a thick blanket of heat-trapping carbon dioxide.
National Science Foundation, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
Contact: Jade Boyd
jadeboyd@rice.edu
713-348-6778
Rice University
Public Release: 12-May-2008
American Naturalist
Human vision inadequate for research on bird vision
The most attractive male birds attract more females and as a result are most successful in terms of reproduction. This is the starting point of many studies looking for factors that influence sexual selection in birds. However, is it reasonable to assume that birds see what we see? In a study published in the latest issue of American Naturalist, Uppsala researchers show that our human vision is not an adequate instrument.
Contact: Anders Odeen
Anders.Odeen@ebc.uu.se
46-070-301-5262
Uppsala University
Public Release: 12-May-2008
The Plant Journal
Beyond nutrition -- plants deliver
The need for a renewable and affordable source of carbon that can sustain future economic development without negatively impacting the environment is now widely recognized. It is also apparent that the increasingly high demand for fossil carbon will eventually deplete existing stocks.
Contact: Lucy Mansfield
lucy.mansfield@wiley.com
44-018-654-76241
Wiley-Blackwell
Public Release: 12-May-2008
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Ancient protein offers clues to killer condition
More than 600 million years of evolution has taken two unlikely distant cousins -- turkeys and scallops -- down very different physical paths from a common ancestor. But University of Leeds researchers have found that a motor protein, myosin 2, remains structurally identical in both creatures.
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Contact: Peter Knight
p.j.knight@leeds.ac.uk
44-113-343-4349
University of Leeds
Public Release: 12-May-2008
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Researchers find natural section favors parasite fitness over host health
A team of scientists has uncovered evidence that natural selection selects for harmful parasites by maximizing parasite fitness. Studying monarch butterflies Danaus plexippus infected with parasite Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, the scientists observed that higher levels of replication within the host resulted in both higher virulence and greater transmission of the parasite.
Emory University, University of Georgia, Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, Marie Curie Outgoing International Fellowship, National Science Foundation
Contact: Holly Korschun
hkorsch@emory.edu
404-727-3990
Emory University
Public Release: 12-May-2008
NOAA reports coastal waters show decline in contaminants
NOAA scientists today released a 20-year study showing that environmental laws enacted in the 1970s are having a positive effect on reducing overall contaminant levels in coastal waters of the US. However, the report points to continuing concerns with elevated levels of metals and organic contaminants found near urban and industrial areas of the coasts.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Contact: Ben Sherman
ben.sherman@noaa.gov
301-713-3066
NOAA Headquarters
Public Release: 12-May-2008
American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- May 7, 2008
The American Chemical Society's News Service Weekly PressPac contains reports from 36 major peer-reviewed journals on chemistry, health, medicine, energy, environment, food, nanotechnology and other hot topics.
Contact: Michael Woods
m_woods@acs.org
202-872-4400
American Chemical Society
Public Release: 9-May-2008
Development of new techniques to understand marble quality and durability
The results allow to establish durability controls in new constructions, preserve the historic heritage and restore it with guarantees. In addition, the research work offers the possibility of determining marbles quality and origin. This is an applied research line, transferable to the industry of ornamental stones, with the collaboration of the Universities of Granada and Gottinguen.
European Union
Contact: Eduardo Sebastián Pardo
rolando@ugr.es
34-958-243-340
Universidad de Granada
Public Release: 9-May-2008
Scientists endure Arctic for last campaign prior to CryoSat-2 launch
An international group of scientists has swapped their comfortable offices for one of the most inhospitable environments on the planet to carry out a challenging field campaign that is seen as the key to ensuring the data delivered by ESA's ice mission CryoSat will be as accurate as possible.
Contact: Malcolm Davidson
malcolm.davidson@esa.int
31-715-655-957
European Space Agency
Public Release: 8-May-2008
IFAT 2008
New gas sensors for monitoring carbon dioxide sinks
A novel gas sensor system makes it possible to monitor large areas cost-effectively the first time. The patented gas sensor is based on the principle of diffusion, according to which certain gases pass through a membrane faster than others. Using a tube-like sensor it is possible to measure an average gas concentration value over a certain distance without influencing or distorting conditions in the measuring environment.
Contact: Tilo Arnhold
presse@ufz.de
49-341-235-1635
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
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