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Public Release: 24-May-2013
How do cold ions slide? One of the challenges faced by those who study friction is finding a connection between the phenomena observed within the macroworld and those in the nanoworld. The stick-slip, a phenomenon observed at every scale when two surfaces slide on one another, could be the starting point to identify such connection. The scientists at SISSA have studied such phenomenon through a system of "trapped cold ions." Contact: Federica Sgorbissa Public Release: 24-May-2013
Detection of the cosmic gamma ray horizon: Measures all the light in the universe since the Big Bang Radiation from all galaxies that ever existed suffuses the Universe with a diffuse extragalactic background light (EBL). Measuring the EBL is as fundamental to cosmology as measuring heat from the Big Bang (cosmic microwave background) at radio wavelengths. Alberto Dominguez and six coauthors describe the best measurement yet of the evolution of the EBL over the past 5 billion years, based on observations from radio waves to gamma rays from NASA spacecraft and ground-based telescopes. Contact: Alberto Dominguez Public Release: 23-May-2013
Reforestation study shows trade-offs between water, carbon and timber More than 13,000 ships per year transit the Panama Canal each year. Each time a ship passes through, more than 55 million gallons of water are used. The advent of large "super" cargo ships has demanded expansion of the canal, leaving the authority to consider how meet increased demand for water. One proposed measure is the reforestation of the watershed, which has been studied by ASU scientists Silvio Simonit and Charles Perrings to aid planners. Contact: Margaret Coulombe Public Release: 22-May-2013
U-M study challenges notion that umpires call more strikes for pitchers of same race A University of Michigan study challenges previous research that suggests umpire discrimination exists in Major League Baseball. Contact: Laura Bailey Public Release: 22-May-2013
Researchers explain magnetic field misbehavior in solar flares When a solar flare erupts from the sun, its magnetic fields sometime break a widely accepted rule of physics. Why? Now we know. Contact: Phil Sneiderman Public Release: 22-May-2013
Making chaos visible Exactly 50 years after the US-American meteorologist Edward Lorenz discovered chaos (remember the "butterfly effect?") the topic is still as fascinating as ever. A new visualization technique developed at the University of Vienna helps to make chaos visible to the naked eye. The method, which is being published in "Royal Society Interface," allows for the intuitive interpretation of chaotic or nearly chaotic phenomena, and thus makes the fascinating world of chaos theory more accessible to the scientific community. Contact: Christian Herbst Public Release: 22-May-2013
Researchers reveal model of Sun's magnetic field Researchers at the Universities of Leeds and Chicago have uncovered an important mechanism behind the generation of astrophysical magnetic fields such as that of the Sun. Contact: Richard Mellor Public Release: 20-May-2013
Soft matter offers new ways to study how ordered materials arrange themselves A fried breakfast food popular in Spain provided the inspiration for the development of doughnut-shaped droplets that may provide scientists with a new approach for studying fundamental issues in physics, mathematics and materials. Contact: John Toon Public Release: 20-May-2013
CosmosID unveils new tool for faster, specific and accurate testing of probiotics products The FDA and CosmosID have conducted a side-by-side analysis of commercially available probiotics to compare the identity of species and strains present in the products to what was stated on their respective labels. Contact: Robin Buckley Public Release: 20-May-2013
Predicting infectious influenza A new computer model could help scientists predict when a particular strain of avian influenza might become infectious from bird to human, according to a report to be published in the International Journal of Data Mining and Bioinformatics. Contact: Albert Ang Public Release: 16-May-2013
Can math models of gaming strategies be used to detect terrorism networks? In a paper published in the SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics last month, authors Anthony Bonato, Dieter Mitsche, and Pawel Pralat describe a mathematical model to disrupt flow of information in a complex real-world network, such as a terrorist organization, using minimal resources. Contact: Karthika Muthukumaraswamy Public Release: 16-May-2013
Scientific insurgents say 'Journal Impact Factors' distort science An ad hoc coalition of unlikely insurgents -- scientists, journal editors and publishers, scholarly societies, and research funders across many scientific disciplines -- today posted an international declaration calling on the world scientific community to eliminate the role of the journal impact factor in evaluating research for funding, hiring, promotion, or institutional effectiveness. Contact: Mark Leader Public Release: 16-May-2013
Fast and painless way to better mental arithmetic? Yes, there might actually be a way In the future, if you want to improve your ability to manipulate numbers in your head, you might just plug yourself in. So say researchers who report in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on May 16 on studies of a harmless form of brain stimulation applied to an area known to be important for math ability. Contact: Mary Beth O'Leary Public Release: 15-May-2013
European winter weather harder to forecast in certain years Weather forecasters have a tougher job predicting winter conditions over Europe in some years over others, concludes a new study carried out by the National Oceanography Centre. Contact: Catherine Beswick Public Release: 14-May-2013
Untangling the tree of life Vanderbilt phylogeneticists examined the reasons why large-scale tree-of-life studies are producing contradictory results and have proposed a suite of novel techniques to resolve the conflicts. Contact: David Salisbury Public Release: 14-May-2013
NJIT computer scientist publishes new algorithm cluster to data mine health records The time may be fast approaching for researchers to take better advantage of the vast amount of valuable patient information available from US electronic health records. Lian Duan, an NJIT computer scientist with an expertise in data mining, has done just that with the recent publication of "Adverse Drug Effect Detection," IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics. Contact: Sheryl Weinstein Public Release: 14-May-2013
New software spots, isolates cyber-attacks to protect networked control systems Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a software algorithm that detects and isolates cyber-attacks on networked control systems -- which are used to coordinate transportation, power and other infrastructure across the United States. Contact: Matt Shipman Public Release: 14-May-2013
New principle may help explain why nature is quantum One question researchers have yet to answer is why nature picked quantum physics, in all its weird glory, as a sensible way to behave. Contact: Jenny Hogan Public Release: 13-May-2013
Western Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami hazard potential greater than previously thought Earthquakes similar in magnitude to the 2004 Sumatra earthquake could occur in an area beneath the Arabian Sea at the Makran subduction zone, according to recent research published in Geophysical Research Letters. Contact: Catherine Beswick Public Release: 9-May-2013
Heady mathematics Two UC Berkeley applied mathematicians have found a way to mathematically describe the evolution and disappearance of a foam. Using these equations, they were able to generate a movie that shows the complex draining, popping and rearrangement of these bubbles as the foam vanishes. Contact: Robert Sanders Public Release: 9-May-2013
Early infant growth rate linked to composition of gut microbiota The composition of gut microbiota in a new-born baby's gut has been linked to the rate of early infant growth, reports research published this week in PLOS Computational Biology. The findings support the assertion that the early development of "microbiota" -- the body's microbial ecosystem -- in an infant can influence growth and thereby the likelihood of obesity. Contact: Merete Eggesbø Public Release: 8-May-2013
Study shows that people organize daily travel efficiently A population-level study discovers small-scale details about individuals' choices. Contact: Sarah McDonnell Public Release: 8-May-2013
Researcher construct invisibility cloak for thermal flow By means of special metamaterials, light and sound can be passed around objects. KIT researchers now succeeded in demonstrating that the same materials can also be used to specifically influence the propagation of heat. A structured plate of copper and silicon conducts heat around a central area without the edge being affected. The results are presented in the Physical Review Letters journal. Contact: Monika Landgraf Public Release: 8-May-2013
The effect of climate change on iceberg production by Greenland glaciers While the impact of climate change on the surface of the Greenland ice sheet has been widely studied, a clear understanding of the key process of iceberg production has eluded researchers for many years. Published in Nature this week, a new study presents a sophisticated computer model that provides a fresh insight into the impact of climate change on the production of icebergs by Greenland glaciers, and reveals that the shape of the ground beneath the ice has a strong effect on its movement. Contact: Paul B Holland Public Release: 8-May-2013
An electronic nose can tell pears and apples apart Swedish and Spanish engineers have created a system of sensors that detects fruit odors more effectively than the human sense of smell. For now, the device can distinguish between the odorous compounds emitted by pears and apples. Contact: SINC |