EurekAlert! - Earth Science

Estimated 3.2 million Burmese potentially affected by cyclone

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health) 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.

Undergraduates develop 'dirt-powered' microbial fuel cells to light Africa

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(Harvard University) A team composed of Harvard students and alumni was among the winners of the World Bank's Lighting Africa 2008 Development Marketplace competition, held in Accra, Ghana from May 6-8, 2008. The innovation, microbial fuel cell-based lighting systems suitable for Sub-Saharan Africa, netted the group a $200,000 prize.

University of Minnesota to host world's largest conference on evolution

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Minnesota) More than 1,400 of the world's top experts on evolution will gather in Minnesota June 20 through 24 for Evolution 2008, the world's largest annual gathering of evolutionary biologists.

Mouse can do without man's most treasured genes

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Michigan) 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.

Scientists aim to unlock deep-sea 'secrets' of Earth's crust

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(Durham University) 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.

Deep sea methane scavengers captured

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres) 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.

Warming climate is changing life on global scale, says new study

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(The Earth Institute at Columbia University) 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.

Studies confirm greenhouse mechanisms even further into past

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(Oregon State University) 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.

Ice cores reveal fluctuations in the Earth's greenhouse gases

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Copenhagen) 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.

Nanowires may boost solar cell efficiency, UC San Diego engineers say

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(University of California - San Diego) 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.

AMS May science highlights

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(American Meteorological Society) 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.

Archaeologist uses satellite imagery to explore ancient Mexico

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(Rochester Institute of Technology) 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.

Euro Science Open Forum 2008 online media registration deadline ends June 30

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(EuroScience Open Forum 2008) Information follows regarding media registration for ESOF 2008 in Barcelona, Spain.

Fecal microorganisms inhabit sandy beaches of Florida

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(Soil Science Society of America) 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.

Beijing game for clean air challenge

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(Springer) 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.

Henry Moore sculpture could be re-erected thanks to 21st century science

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(Imperial College London) 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.

Sticky gecko feet: The role of temperature and humidity

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(Public Library of Science) 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.

Hot climate could shut down plate tectonics

Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(Rice University) 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.

Human vision inadequate for research on bird vision

Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(Uppsala University) 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.

Beyond nutrition -- plants deliver

Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(Wiley-Blackwell) 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.

Ancient protein offers clues to killer condition

Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Leeds) 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.

Researchers find natural section favors parasite fitness over host health

Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(Emory University) 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.

NOAA reports coastal waters show decline in contaminants

Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(NOAA Headquarters) 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.

American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- May 7, 2008

Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(American Chemical Society) 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.

Development of new techniques to understand marble quality and durability

Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

(Universidad de Granada) 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.