science wire

Hold the salt: coastal drinking water more vulnerable to water use than climate change
Human activity is likely a greater threat to coastal groundwater used for drinking water supplies than rising sea levels from climate change, according to a study conducted by geoscientists from the University of Saskatchewan and McGill University in Montreal.

Carbon storage project combines innovation and outreach
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Geologists are hoping to learn a great deal about geologic carbon sequestration from injecting 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into sandstone 7,000 feet beneath Decatur, Ill.

The decline of David and Mary: New inventiveness driving the diversification of popular culture
Inventiveness in the naming of babies in the United States suddenly increased in the late 1980s, having changed little during the previous hundred years. A new study from the Universities of Bristol and Durham considers what this tells us about the competing forces at work in popular culture: globalization and local innovation.

Models underestimate future temperature variability; food security at risk
Climate warming caused by greenhouse gases is very likely to increase the variability of summertime temperatures around the world by the end of this century, a University of Washington climate scientist said Friday. The findings have major implications for food production. Current climate models do not adequately reflect feedbacks from the relationship between the atmosphere and soil, which causes them to underestimate the increase of variability in summertime temperatures, said David Battisti, a UW professor of atmospheric sciences.

No Evidence of Groundwater Contamination from Hydraulic Fracturing
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.

Lava Formations in Western U.S. Linked to Rip in Giant Slab of Earth
A new model by Scripps researchers details a rupture inside the Farallon slab that caused a magma flow now known as Columbia River flood basalt in the Western U.S. Like a stream of air shooting out of an airplane's broken window to relieve cabin pressure, scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego say lava formations in eastern Oregon are the result of an outpouring of magma forced out of a breach in a massive slab of Earth.

Building a better trap
Fieldwork in Peru's Andes Mountains is demanding, especially when it involves hauling heavy equipment to remote sites that are accessible only by traversing the region's rugged terrain. But the task of collecting insects for the study of vector-borne diseases and other purposes has become a little less onerous since a Yale School of Public Health researcher and colleagues designed a lighter - and perhaps better - trap.

University of Glasgow reaches for the stars with launch of Space Glasgow Research Cluster
The University of Glasgow unveiled an ambitious space technology research programme today (Monday 13 February) at an event attended by the Minister of State for Universities and Science, the Rt Hon David Willetts MP.

The art of shutting down a nuclear plant
Gaëtan Girardin, researcher in nuclear engineering, gives us the key to understanding nuclear reactor safety.

Plymouth University's Professor Iain Stewart made president of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society
He took over the role at the annual general meeting of the society on Thursday 9 February, from The Earl of Lindsay who had been in post since 2005.

Environment Canada cuts threaten science, international agreements
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.

Grant to Support Purchase of Helicopter
— The University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science announced that it has received a challenge grant for $700,000 from the Miami-based Batchelor Foundation to support its exploration research efforts.

The question of life in the ancient world
Just what was life like in the ancient world? Michael Scott, Affiliated Lecturer in the Faculty of Classics and Research Associate at Darwin College, shares some of his thoughts as he prepares to talk this Friday on 'Life in the Ancient World' as part of the Darwin Lecture series 2012.

As next supercontinent forms, Arctic Ocean, Caribbean will vanish first
Geologists at Yale University have proposed a new theory to describe the formation of supercontinents, the epic process by which Earth's major continental blocks combine into a single vast landmass. The new model radically challenges the dominant theories of how supercontinents might take shape. In a paper published Feb.

Science Frontiers Showcased at Scripps
From prediction of algal blooms that could poison seafood to identification of subseafloor oil deposits to an effort for the military to borrow camouflage techniques from octopi, the cross-section of research presented at Scripps Institution of Oceanography Jan. 19 ran the gamut from practical to fantastical.

Study Offers Clues to What Happened Prior to ‘Snowball’ Earth
— Coral Gables — In a study published in the journal Geology, scientists at the University of Miami suggest that significant changes in the carbon isotopic composition of carbonates, which occurred prior to the major climatic event (Snowball Earth) of more than 500 million years ago, are unrelated to worldwide glacial events.

Tree rings may underestimate climate response to volcanic eruptions
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Some climate cooling caused by past volcanic eruptions may not be evident in tree-ring reconstructions of temperature change, because large enough temperature drops lead to greatly shortened or even absent growing seasons, according to climate researchers who compared tree-ring temperature reconstructions with model simulations of past temperature changes.

Mars Express reveals wind-blown deposits on Mars
Mars Express reveals wind-blown deposits on Mars New images from ESA's Mars Express show the Syrtis Major region on Mars. Once thought to be a sea of water, the region is now known to be a volcanic province dating back billions of years. Syrtis Major can be spotted from Earth even with relatively small telescopes - the near-circular dark area on the planet stretches over 1300 x 1500 km.

Scotland first to map wild land
In a first for the UK, a new map detailing Scotland's wild areas is being published today by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). Some of the country's wildest landscapes are already identified and protected if they fall within national parks or national scenic areas. But many other wild areas are not identified in any way.

Objects of devotion
Why did Renaissance shoppers fill their baskets with rosaries, crucifixes, Christ-dolls and devotional paintings? A new study by historian Mary Laven investigates the significance of Catholic clutter, as she explains.

Penn State scientists elected to American Geophysical Union
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Michael Mann and David Pollard, both scientists in Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, have been elected as Fellows of the American Geophysical Union for exceptional contributions in original research in climate change.

"How to Grow a Planet" on the BBC
Geologist Iain Stewart will demonstrate how plants are the “silent power” that has shaped the Earth, in a new three-part series for BBC2 starting this week. How to Grow a Planet will offer a totally new perspective on the world's history, and will document the crucial role that plants have played in its evolution.

Penn Receives NSF Grant to Research Geological Record of Chilean Earthquakes
Geological evidence of earthquakes and tsunamis aids in anticipating the timing and magnitude of future events.

Photos from disaster show Japan’s people ’don’t live for the past’
A collection of images currently displayed in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel tells two stories—a story of devastation and another about the resiliency of the people of Japan.

Voyage to the most isolated base on Earth
Voyage to the most isolated base on Earth Alexander Kumar, the next ESA-sponsored crewmember to stay in Concordia, has arrived safely at the research base in Antarctica.

Suomi remembered for problem-solving ability, drive
Verner Suomi's career — even his life — may not have been as long and illustrious had he not been an inveterate problem solver.

Death Valley Crater May Be Younger and More Active Than Previously Thought
Death Valley's half-mile-wide Ubehebe Crater turns out to have been created 800 years ago—far more recently than generally thought.

Supporting innovation: from green chemistry to pain research
The CFI awards more than $1 million to seven McGill researchers The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) has announced it has awarded $1,072,471 to McGill University under its Leaders of Opportunity Fund (LOF).

Ancient dinosaur nursery oldest nesting site yet found
An excavation at a site in South Africa has unearthed the 190-million-year-old dinosaur nesting site of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus-revealing significant clues about the evolution of complex reproductive behaviour in early dinosaurs. The newly unearthed dinosaur nesting ground predates previously known nesting sites by 100 million years, according to study authors.

The two faces of Titan’s dunes
The two faces of Titan's dunes A new analysis of radar data from the international Cassini spacecraft has revealed regional variations amongst Titan's sand dunes. The result yields new clues to the giant moon's climatic and geological history. Dune fields are common on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, second only to the seemingly uniform plains that cover most of the surface.

Ancient lessons for a modern challenge
The seat of the Khmer Empire in Cambodia mysteriously collapsed in the 15th century. Now a University of Cambridge Gates Scholar has pieced together its climate history and put forward a compelling new theory to explain its demise. There is a lot we can learn from studying how climate change affected populations in the past which could help us to devise ways of coping in the future." —Mary Beth Day What caused the collapse of the Cambodian city of Angkor, the largest preindustrial city in the world, 600 years ago?

‘Picture This #13′ Mary Anning’s Ichthyosaur, Sedgwick Museum
Mary Anning's fossil discoveries revealed an 'ancient Dorset', and were influential contributions to the blossoming science of palaeontology during the early 19th century.

Celebrating the centenary of Captain Scott reaching the South Pole
marks the 100th anniversary of the first British team reaching the South Pole. Founded as a memorial to Captain Scott and his four companions, the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) is marking the occasion with two days of celebrations.

Antarctic lake study a step closer
A University-led project to explore a subglacial lake in Antarctica has concluded its first phase.

Next ice age delayed by global warming
Without human carbon dioxide emissions the next ice age would be imminent, according to a Nature Geoscience study led by a UCL scientist.

Depleted Gas Reservoirs Can Double as Geologic Carbon Storage Sites
A demonstration project on the southeastern tip of Australia has helped to verify that depleted natural gas reservoirs can be repurposed for geologic carbon sequestration, which is a climate change mitigation strategy that involves pumping CO 2 deep underground for permanent storage. The project, which includes scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), also demonstrated that depleted gas fields have enough CO 2 storage capacity to make a significant contribution to reducing global emissions.

¤3.5m for research into volcanic unrest
A collaborative research project that could significantly improve our understanding of the processes behind volcanic unrest and our ability to forecast its outcomes has been awarded almost ¤3.5 million by the European Commission. The project - 'Volcanic unrest in Europe and Latin America: Phenomenology, eruption precursors, hazard forecast, and risk mitigation (VUELCO)' - is coordinated by Jo Gottsmann from the University of Bristol's School of Earth Sciences.

Russian river water unexpected culprit behind Arctic freshening - with video
Sandra Hines UW News and Information Alan Buis NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory A hemispherewide phenomenon – and not just regional forces – has caused record-breaking amounts of freshwater to accumulate in the Arctic's Beaufort Sea. Frigid freshwater flowing into the Arctic Ocean from three of Russia's mighty rivers was diverted hundreds of miles to a completely different part of the ocean in response to a decades-long shift in atmospheric pressure associated with the phenomenon called the Arctic Oscillation, according to findings published in the Jan.

‘Extreme Sleepover #12’ – An equestrian adventure on the Mongolian steppes
In the final report of the Extreme Sleepover series, undergraduate Robin Irvine explains how a fascination for the relationships between humans, horses and dogs took him to the Mongolian steppes.

‘Extreme Sleepover #10’ – an encounter with ‘Hell’s Gate’
In the tenth of a series of reports contributed by Cambridge researchers, PhD student Robert Hird pitches his tent next to a gas crater in Turkmenistan in the course of his studies on the stability of saline soils.

‘Extreme Sleepover #7’ – on the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River
In the seventh of a series of reports contributed by Cambridge researchers, architect Michael Ramage travels to South Africa to build strength out of weakness.

‘Extreme Sleepover #6’ – drilling deep into geological history
In the sixth in a series of reports contributed by Cambridge researchers, earth scientist Marian Holness investigates the secrets locked into an ancient magma chamber that never erupted.

Chinese fossils shed light on the evolutionary origin of animals from single-cell ancestors
Evidence of the single-celled ancestors of animals, dating from the interval in the Earth's history just before multicellular animals appeared, has been discovered in 570 million-year-old rocks from S

‘Extreme Sleepover #1′ – Breathless at Everest base camp
In the first of a series of reports contributed by Cambridge researchers, physiologist Andrew Murray studies responses to extreme altitude as part of a programme that will improve hospital treatments for critically ill-people.

Traditional social networks fueled Twitter’s spread
Site's U.S. growth relied primarily on media attention, geographic proximity of users. We've all heard it: The Internet has flattened the world, allowing social networks to spring up overnight, independent of geography or socioeconomic status.

Rapidly rising Arctic temperatures could lead to significantly greater sea-level rise
Rapidly rising Arctic temperatures could lead to significantly greater sea-level rise An environmental expert from the University of Sheffield has warned global sea-level rise by the year 2100 could be significantly greater than previously predicted following analysis of Greenland´s rapidly shrinking ice sheets.

Glacial tap is open but the water will run dry
Retreating glaciers threaten water supplies Glaciers are retreating at an unexpectedly fast rate according to research done in Peru's Cordillera Blanca by McGill doctoral student Michel Baraer.

Geology research in Lund receives SEK 40 million
Within the space of a week, Lund University’s geology researchers have raked in SEK 40 million. Professor Birger Schmitz has received SEK 25 million for his ground breaking research on the meteorite flux to earth that has been taking place for billions of years.

Plumes of plankton blooms wins New Zealand’s top science prize
Robert Strzepek, a visiting scientist in the Research School of Earth Sciences, has won the New Zealand Prime Minister's Science prize.

What are the prospects for sustaining high-quality groundwater?
Intensive agriculture practices developed during the past century have helped improve food security for many people but have also added to nitrate pollution in surface and groundwaters. New research has looked at water quality measurement over the last 140 years to track this problem in the Thames River basin.

In hot water: Ice Age findings forecast problems
Data from end of the last Ice Age confirm effects of climate change on oceans The first comprehensive study of changes in the oxygenation of oceans at the end of the last Ice Age (between about 10 to 20,000 years ago) has implications for the future of our oceans under global warming.

Nitrogen from humans pollutes remote lakes for more than a century
Nitrogen derived from human activities has polluted lakes throughout the Northern Hemisphere for more than a century and the fingerprint of these changes is evident even in remote lakes located thousands of miles from the nearest city, industrial area or farm. The findings, published Dec. 16, are based on historical changes in the chemical composition of bottom deposits in 36 lakes using an approach similar to aquatic archeology.

Violent storms provide testing conditions for research scientists
Better forecasting of violent storms, such as those battering the British Isles over the past few weeks, could be possible in the future.

Japanese quake survivors tell their story with photos
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The overripe cucumber dangles from a vine in a photo snapped by a woman who survived the earthquake and tsunami that ravaged northeastern Japan.

Study Links Tropical Cyclones to Earthquakes
— Coral Gables — A groundbreaking study led by University of Miami scientist Shimon Wdowinski shows that earthquakes, including the recent 2010 temblors in Haiti and Taiwan, may be triggered by tropical cyclones (hurricanes and typhoons).

Christmas - it’s not about the money, money, money
Christmas doesn't have to cost a fortune and a simple handmade or pre-used gift can mean as much, if not more, than the present that broke the bank.

Scientists’ computer models help predict tsunami risk
Stanford scientists are using complex computational models to solve the puzzle of the devastating tsunami that struck Japan earlier this year and predict where future tsunamis might occur.

Floods, Drought, Heat Waves: Climate Change Gives State Legislators Something to Plan For
The lineup of presentations at an extreme weather workshop taking place today at Scripps Institution of Oceanography sounds like an overview of biblical plagues, but in fact the event's conveners sai

Report: Geoengineering Plans Must Account for Ecosystem Impacts
As geoengineering planning becomes widespread, researchers note that little thought has been given to its potential effects on ecosystems Scientists attempting to understand the potential effects of human geoengineering efforts often must rely on similar natural events to reach conclusions.

Political sociologist appointed to head migration centre
Political sociologist appointed to head migration centre The Sussex Centre for Migration Research, one of the UK's leading research centres on migration, will have a new Director from 1 April 2012.

The poorest people in Laos do not serve on Indigenous tourism
Many argue that international tourism can provide developing countries with new resources and assist poor people to create a better future.

Rosemary Knight: Geophysicist, senate chair, hitchhiking advocate
Rosemary Knight, who joined the Stanford faculty in 2000 after teaching for a decade at the University of British Columbia, loved math, physics and chemistry in high school and was elated when she "discovered" geology, a field that combined all three.

Flying into the eye of the storm
09 Dec 2011 University of Manchester scientists flew into the middle of the violent storms battering Scotland yesterday to measure the huge impact of the winds. Atmospheric scientist Keith Bower was on the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) research aircraft, while Professor Geraint Vaughan was monitoring measurements from the ground.

ESA selects Astrium to build Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite
ESA selects Astrium to build Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite Furthering Europe's capacity to monitor atmospheric pollution, ESA has awarded a contract worth ¤45.5 million to Astrium UK to act as prime contractor for the Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite system.

100 years of discovery: Celebrating South Pole research
To mark the centennial of Roald Amundsen's expedition to the South Pole, the IceCube Research Center is hosting an evening of exploration and learning on Tuesday, Dec. 13 from 6:30-8:30 at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. A hose caries hot water to the top of an Antarctic drill tower as part of the IceCube project.

Ancient meat-loving predators survived for 35-million years
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.

Snow in the Rockies, dry summers in the Southwest?
New simulations of summer rains in the arid American Southwest show that they are influenced by the previous winter's snowpack in the Rocky Mountains. Summer rains, called "monsoons," are the predominant source of rain in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico, says Michael Notaro , a climate scientist who is associate director at the Nelson Institute Center for Climatic Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Two Artists Are Better Than One?
All the artworks pictured below are featured in the Oceanside Museum of Art exhibition "Vantage Point: UCSD Visual Dialogues." A seemingly unstable sculpture is the first thing that meets the eye

Researchers star in Academy awards

Today’s Severe Drought, Tomorrow’s Normal
While the worst drought since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s grips Oklahoma and Texas, scientists are warning that what we consider severe drought conditions in North America today may be normal for the continent by the mid-21 st century, due to a warming planet.

Climate change warning deep under the Dead Sea
University of Minnesota professor is part of international team that predicts the volatile region's water may once again vanish MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (12/05/2011) —An international te

Global winds could explain record rains, tornadoes
Two talks at a scientific conference this week will propose a common root for an enormous deluge in western Tennessee in May 2010, and a historic outbreak of tornadoes centered on Alabama in April 2011.

ESA’s space weather box Proba-2 tracks stormy Sun
ESA's space weather box Proba-2 tracks stormy Sun Researchers gathered for European Space Weather Week have been presented with the latest results from ESA's own space weather station: the Proba-2 microsatellite.

Mountains and buried ice on Mars
Mountains and buried ice on Mars New images from Mars Express show the Phlegra Montes mountain range, in a region where radar probing indicates large volumes of water ice are hiding below. This could be a source of water for future astronauts. Phlegra Montes is a range of gently curving mountains and ridges on Mars.

Opal offers fast, lasting remedy for uranium contamination at nuclear sites, say Stanford researchers
Stanford researchers are proposing to use opal to sequester uranium at contaminated sites. The idea springs from natural deposits of opal, containing uranium, that have been stable for hundreds of thousands or even millions of years.

Rise of Atmospheric Oxygen More Complicated Than Previously Thought
Penn State, PA Coalition Against Rape join to fight child sexual abuse Penn State Town Hall Forum provides open discussion Football head coach search committee formed University launches hot

Moore Foundation Awards $6 Million for Research Leading to Earthquake Early Warning System
Released by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation: PALO ALTO, Calif. —The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has awarded $6 million to three West Coast universities to create a prototype earthquake early warning system for the Pacific Coast of the United States.

Moore Foundation awards $6 million for earthquake early warning research
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has awarded $6 million to three West Coast universities to create a prototype earthquake early warning system for the Pacific Coast of the United States. The grant will allow seismologists at the University of California, Berkeley; California Institute of Technology (Caltech); and University of Washington, Seattle, in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), to learn about the science of earthquakes and the best way to capture and analyze seismic data.

$2M grant could make early earthquake warning a reality in the Northwest
When a magnitude 9 earthquake devastated Japan in March some residents got a warning, ranging from a few seconds to a minute or more, that severe shaking was on the way.

Indian Ocean cocktail party leaves trail of party hats behind
Scientists have unexpectedly found traces of the supercontinent Gondwana in the Indian Ocean - in the process solving a mystery behind a large group of ocean 'mountains' known as seamounts, including Christmas Island. The German-Australian team of marine geologists set out on the German research vessel Sonne to map and sample about 60 seamounts - ranging in height from one to three kilometres - in one the world's largest volcanic seamount provinces off the north-west Australian coast.

Satellites respond to humanitarian needs
Satellites respond to humanitarian needs A review of crisis response using Earth observation techniques is now available online.

Peruvian villagers how to protect adobe buildings from earthquake collapse
Children playing with wooden blocks that were used to represent adobe blocks during the training on earthquake basics and earthquake preparedness for children.

Lessons from the Christchurch Earthquake
A leading Infrastructure academic believes an assessment needs to be made of the level of "very rare" earthquake that needs to be considered in structural design, perhaps one with a 10,000 year

Carbon cycling in the terrestrial biosphere was much smaller during last ice age than in today’s climate
A reconstruction of plants' productivity and the amount of carbon stored in the ocean and terrestrial biosphere at the last ice age is published today. The research by an international team of scientists greatly increases our understanding of natural carbon cycle dynamics. A reconstruction of plants' productivity and the amount of carbon stored in the ocean and terrestrial biosphere at the last ice age is published today.  The research by an international team of scientists greatly increases our understanding of natural carbon cycle dynamics.

EPFL's long history of engineering geology
It was an era of massive construction projects - dams, roads, and bridges – and many felt there was a need to better understand and control the behavior of the soil and rock underpinnings of all these infrastructures.

EPFL's long history of Geotechnical Engineering
It was an era of massive construction projects - dams, roads, and bridges – and many felt there was a need to better understand and control the behavior of the soil and rock underpinnings of all these infrastructures.

Family firms more likely to survive in recession-hit UK
Family businesses have been more resilient in meeting the economic challenges created by the current recession, a study has shown.

ARVE published in "Global Change Biology"
ARVE researchers at EPFL/ENAC publish in "Global Change Biology" on the effects of land use and climate change on the carbon cycle of Europe over the past 500 years! Learn more on http://arve.epfl.

Erratic, extreme day-to-day weather puts climate change in new light
by Morgan Kelly The first climate study to focus on variations in daily weather conditions has found that day-to-day weather has grown increasingly erratic and extreme, with significant fluctuations in sunshine and rainfall affecting more than a third of the planet. Princeton University researchers recently reported in the Journal of Climate that extremely sunny or cloudy days are more common than in the early 1980s, and that swings from thunderstorms to dry days rose considerably since the late 1990s.

Insects offer clues to climate variability 10,000 years ago
CHAMPAIGN, lll. - An analysis of the remains of ancient midges - tiny non-biting insects closely related to mosquitoes - opens a new window on the past with a detailed view of the surprising regional variability that accompanied climate warming during the early Holocene epoch, 10,000 to 5,500 years ago.

Lightning network helps get a handle on volcanoes
Scientists in Alaska are using data from a worldwide lightning monitoring program at the University of Washington to keep tabs on a remote volcano that rumbled to life recently but is not equipped with monitors.

Sunken islands could cause tectonic shift in Gondwana story
In the remote waters of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth, scientists have just discovered two sunken islands, almost the size of Tasmania, which were once part of the supercontinent Gondwana. "The data collected on the voyage could significantly change our understanding of the way in which India, Australia and Antarctica broke off from Gondwana," said Joanne Whittaker , a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Sydney's School of Geosciences.

Brazil joins the International Charter ’Space and Major Disasters’
Brazil joins the International Charter 'Space and Major Disasters' In the year that severe flooding and landslides claimed over 800 lives in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil has joined the i

NASA Ready for November Launch of Car-Size Mars Rover
The Mars Science Laboratory Spacecraft, inside its payload fairing, is hoisted onto its Atlas V launch vehicle (left).

Kawasaki Disease Linked to Wind Currents
Kawasaki Disease (KD) is a severe childhood disease that many parents, even some doctors, mistake for an inconsequential viral infection. In fact, if not diagnosed or treated in time, it can lead to irreversible heart damage. After 50 years of research, including genetic studies, scientists have been unable to pinpoint the cause of the disease.

Early Results from Hydraulic Fracturing Study Show No Direct Link to Groundwater Contamination
FORT WORTH, Texas — Preliminary findings from a study on the use of hydraulic fracturing in shale gas development suggest no direct link to reports of groundwater contamination, the project leader at The University of Texas at Austin's Energy Institute said Wednesday. "From what we've seen so far, many of the problems appear to be related to other aspects of drilling operations, such as poor casing or cement jobs, rather than to hydraulic fracturing, per se," said Charles 'Chip' Groat , a university geology professor and Energy Institute associate director who is leading the project.

Battered Tharsis Tholus volcano on Mars
Battered Tharsis Tholus volcano on Mars The latest image released from Mars Express reveals a large extinct volcano that has been battered and deformed over the aeons.

Link Established Between Air Pollution and Cyclone Intensity in Arabian Sea
Pollution is making Arabian Sea cyclones more intense, according to a multi-institutional study that included scientists at UCSD's Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Traditionally, prevailing wind shear patterns prohibit cyclones in the Arabian Sea from becoming major storms. A paper appearing in the Nov.

To dredge or not to dredge: Class analyzes inlet options
Every fall, students in Restoration Ecology (HORT 4400) take on a real-world project in the local community, working together to gather data, analyze the issues and report their findings.

U of M scientists, Master Gardeners part of team to analyze biofuel production and land use
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (11/07/2011) —Can a single biofuel production system reduce water and nutrient runoff from farm fields, cut down on soil erosion and turn a profit for the farmers who grow it?

Explorers Invite Public to Join Historic Ocean Expedition Online
AUSTIN, Texas — Explorer Robert Ballard, who discovered the wreck of the R.M.S. Titanic in 1985, is partnering with scientists from The University of Texas at Austin and other institutions to webcast a live scientific expedition to the eastern Mediterranean Nov.

Geologic Carbon Sequestration Comes to Big Sky Country
The quest to reduce carbon emissions is coming to Big Sky country.

UW-Madison home to weather-predicting supercomputer
A new supercomputer designed to run weather prediction models is now the most powerful computer of its kind on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, where researchers will help make those models more accurate. The National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration approached UW-Madison's Space Science and Engineering Center with a $1 million grant to design and install the Supercomputer for Satellite Simulations and Data Assimilation Studies (known as S4).

Researchers to explore if Ganges River water use affects climate
Thursday 27 October 2011 By Colin Smith Determining if water usage patterns in northern India over the last 50 years are affecting the climate is the focus of new international £1.1 million collaboration announced today. Researchers from Imperial College London are part of a UK and Indian academic consortium that is developing the most comprehensive computer models yet of the water cycle in the Ganges River Basin, which is one of the most heavily populated and farmed river basins in the world.

Study analyzes only known footage of the largest woodpecker that ever lived
The imperial woodpecker - the largest woodpecker that ever lived - probably went extinct in the late 20th century in the high mountains of Mexico, without anyone ever capturing photos or film of the 2-foot-tall, flamboyantly crested bird.

Cycads are not "living fossils" from Dinosaur Age
Today's cycads - plants famed as "living fossils" because they've survived since the last dinosaurs munched on them 65.5 million years ago - are really only a few million years old, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, scientists and their international team.

Small but agile Proba-1 reaches 10 years in orbit
A good photographer needs agility. So it is with ESA microsatellite Proba-1, which turns in space to capture terrestrial targets.

Researchers Identify Mysterious Life Forms in the Extreme Deep Sea
Voyager to the Marian Trench Marine Biology Research Division Integrative Oceanography Division Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics Scripps Homepage ScrippsNews Home Prosp

Fiery volcano offers geologic glimpse into land that time forgot -- with video
The first scientists to witness exploding rock and molten lava from a deep sea volcano, seen during a 2009 expedition , report that the eruption was near a tear in the Earth's crust that is mimicking the birth of a subduction zone.

Mission accomplished: cave crew returns to Earth
Mission accomplished: cave crew returns to Earth Take five astronauts and instead of sending them into space take them underground.

Replenishing Key Fish Species
October 17, 2011 — Coral Gables — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science has awarded nearly $1 million to the University of Miami

Led team creates amorphous diamond, a super-hard form of carbon
A new form of carbon that rivals diamonds in its hardness, but has an amorphous structure similar to glass, has been produced under ultrahigh pressure in laboratory experiments. The research team was led by Stanford mineral physicist Wendy Mao and graduate student Yu Lin. An amorphous diamond – one that lacks the crystalline structure of diamond, but is every bit as hard – has been created by a Stanford-led team of researchers.

Slide show: Northwoods partners
The complex interplay between the earth's climate on global and local levels drives University of Wisconsin-Madison atmospheric and oceanic sciences professor Ankur Desai's research.

Engineering team heads to Antarctica to explore hidden lake
Engineering team heads to Antarctica to explore hidden lake Durham University is playing a key role on an extraordinary Antarctica project.

Earth from Space: Volcanic Canaries
The subtropical Canary Islands off Africa's west coast are pictured in this Envisat image. The Canary Islands' favourable climate and beaches attract over 12 million visitors per year.

IBM R&D lab will reduce impact of major disasters
14 Oct 2011 The University of Melbourne has welcomed the new IBM Research and Development - Australia, which will help the community better prepare for and better cope with major natural disasters and lead to a more sustainable future.

NASA’s Dawn Science Team Presents Early Science Results
October 12, 2011 Scientists with NASA's Dawn mission are sharing with other scientists and the public their early information about the southern hemisphere of the giant asteroid Vesta.

How many grains of sand are there on a beach?
A team of leading international scientists has begun one of the most comprehensive studies on a sandy beach in the UK and will address the question ‘how many grains of sand move up and down the beach under different waves’.

Engineering team heads to Antarctica to explore hidden lake
Next week a British engineering team heads off to Antarctica for the first stage of an ambitious scientific mission to collect water and sediment samples from a lake buried beneath three kilometres of solid ice. This extraordinary research project, at the frontier of exploration, will yield new knowledge about the evolution of life on Earth and other planets, and will provide vital clues about the Earth's past climate.

New View of Vesta Mountain From NASA’s Dawn Mission
October 10, 2011 A new image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows a mountain almost three times as high as Mt.

London Science Festival at UCL
This year UCL's 'Your Universe' Festival of Astronmy is running in partnership with the London Science Festival 2011.

Research explores virus movement in Madison groundwater
According to the conventional wisdom, drinking water taken from a deep aquifer protected by a semi-permeable layer of rock should be protected from many contaminants, including viruses. But the discovery of virus particles in many deep Madison water wells since 2003 has raised one key question: How do viruses, which should not survive more than two years underground, reach more than 700 feet deep, and penetrate this semi-permeable "aquitard?" In presentations to the Geological Society of America (Oct.

BBC documentary brings the world’s oldest underwater city back to life
Movie industry computer graphics and the very latest digital marine technology have brought the world's oldest submerged city back to life in a BBC Two documentary due to be shown this Sunday (October 9) at 8pm. Just a few metres under the sea, off the southern coast of Greece, lies Pavlopetri — the oldest submerged city in the world.

Wild plants are good for pollinators
A new study has shown that encouraging strips of wild plants at the edges of fields is important for supporting bees and other important pollinators. The research by academics at the University of Bristol has shown that enhancing the size of wild features in landscapes could be important for making sure that insect pollinators can exist within an agricultural landscape that faces increasing pressure for yield.  The paper is published online in PLoS One .

New NSF Grant Pairs Green Ocean Technology with Needed Earthquake Sensors
New NSF Grant Pairs Green Ocean Technology with Needed Earthquake Sensors Industry-academia collaboration will help address critical gaps in earthquake monitoring and tsunami warning systems

Non-compete agreements create ’career detours’
New study shows the agreements carry a high cost for many employees. CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Technology firms frequently require workers to sign non-compete agreements, which typically bar their employees from joining rival companies for one to two years.

Rising carbon dioxide levels at end of last ice age not tied to Pacific Ocean, as had been suspected
Oct. 3, 2011 Rising carbon dioxide levels at end of last ice age not tied to Pacific Ocean, as had been suspected ANN ARBOR, Mich.—After the last ice age peaked about 18,000 years ago, levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide rose about 30 percent. Scientists believe that the additional carbon dioxide—a heat-trapping greenhouse gas—played a key role in warming the planet and melting the continental ice sheets.

Seismologists’ trial in Italy highlights need for routine earthquake forecasting, Stanford geophysicist says
The manslaughter trial of six Italian seismologists highlights the need for scientists to put more effort into explaining their work to the public, says Stanford geophysicist Greg Beroza.

NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft Begins New Vesta Mapping Orbit
PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's Dawn spacecraft has completed a gentle spiral into its new science orbit for an even closer view of the giant asteroid Vesta.

NASA Selects Science Investigations For Concept Studies
PASADENA, Calif. - NASA has selected 11 science proposals, including one from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, for evaluation as potential future science missions.

NASA-Funded Quake Forecast Gets High Score in Study
While earthquakes can't yet be predicted, scientists are making advances in their ability to forecast where they are most likely to occur, with the best forecasts now about 10 times more accurate than a random prediction, according to a new study by scientists at the University of California, Davis.

Extreme space weather at Mercury blasts the planet’s poles
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—The solar wind sandblasts the surface of planet Mercury at its poles, according to new data from a University of Michigan instrument on board NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft. The sodium and oxygen particles the blistering solar wind kicks up are the primary components of Mercury's wispy atmosphere, or "exosphere," the new findings assert.

No point switching gas and electricity suppliers, find out how much you use to save
Switching gas and electricity suppliers will not get customers the best deal. The only way householders in the UK can save money on their gas and electricity bills is to work out how much they use each month, according to a University of Warwick economist.

Dinosaur detectives on display at Museum of the Earth
Putting itself on display through a clear glass window, the Cornell-affiliated Museum of the Earth's fossil preparation laboratory has opened to visitors, who can now watch paleontologists - including several Cornell students - carve away at hunks of rock to reveal the fossils inside.

UM Scientists Research Clues to Worldwide Weather Patterns
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First life may have arisen above serpentine rock, say Stanford researchers
Stanford Earth scientists lend geophysical support to a theory of life's origins – but show that, if it's accurate, the first organisms could only have arisen during one brief stretch of geological time, long ago.

Exploring an asteroid with the Desert RATS
Exploring an asteroid with the Desert RATS Earlier this month, European scientists linked up with astronauts roaming over the surface of an asteroid.

Researchers chance viewing of river cutoff forming provides rare insight
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - For University of Illinois river researchers, new insight into river cutoffs was a case of being in the right place at the right time. Geography professor Bruce Rhoads and geology professor Jim Best were conducting research where the Wabash River meets the Ohio River in the summer of 2008 when they heard about a new channel that had just formed, cutting off a bend in the winding Wabash just upstream from the confluence.

Acidic clouds from large-scale Icelandic volcanoes: a severe public health hazard
New research from the University of Leeds shows that a large-scale volcanic eruption in southern Iceland, similar to the Laki eruption in 1783, could result in widespread air pollution across Europe. The study shows that an event on a similar scale to the eight-month-long Laki eruption in 1783 - 1784 would release huge amounts of sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere.

Origin of Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Remains a Mystery
PASADENA, Calif. - Observations from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission indicate the family of asteroids some believed was responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs is not likely the culprit, keeping open the case on one of Earth's greatest mysteries. While scientists are confident a large asteroid crashed into Earth approximately 65 million years ago, leading to the extinction of dinosaurs and some other life forms on our planet, they do not know exactly where the asteroid came from or how it made its way to Earth.

Statoil Signs $5 Million Partnership with The University of Texas at Austin
Sept. 19, 2011 AUSTIN, Texas — International energy company Statoil has signed an agreement with The University of Texas at Austin to fund $5 million of research over five years focusing on geology, geophysics and petroleum engineering.

Black hole, star collisions may illuminate universe's dark side
by Morgan Kelly Scientists looking to capture evidence of dark matter - the invisible substance thought to constitute much of the universe - may find a helpful tool in the recent work of researchers from Princeton University and New York University. The team unveiled in a report in the journal Physical Review Letters this month a ready-made method for detecting the collision of stars with an elusive type of black hole that is on the short list of objects believed to make up dark matter.

New tsunami software will help protect vulnerable coastal communities
A new piece of software has been developed to help protect vulnerable coastal communities from the destruction of a tsunami.

MIT: First prototype built from MIT’s effort to construct houses for $1,000 each
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Home prices in many of the world's most famous cities run to well over $1,000 per square foot.

A Trip to Alaska in Search of the Future of Climate Change
Last month, scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and several other U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories traveled to two small Alaskan towns - tiny dots amid the vastness of the tundra, and perfect places to observe Earth at a crossroads.

Shell Partners with UT Austin to Pursue New Solutions to Unlock Gas Resources
Sept. 13, 2011 AUSTIN, Texas — Shell and The University of Texas at Austin today signed a five-year agreement to invest $7.5 million to address short- and long-term challenges facing the growing worldwide unconventional oil and gas industry.

Biomaterial performance can be programmed and predicted
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Biomaterials, in particular biodegradable materials, are increasingly used in medicine. These materials serve on their own as structural support and replacement, and as platforms for drug release, embedding of cells and tissue engineering. Yet, many materials and devices fail in clinical trials because they do not perform as expected from in vitro experiments.

Forest logging increases risk of mega fires
Logging in Victoria's mountain ash forests is increasing the risk of catastrophic wildfires, according to an expert from The Australian National University. In a study published in the journal PNAS last week, Professor David Lindenmayer from the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society, and a team of world-renowned ecologists, analysed Victoria's mountain ash forests after the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires as well as decades of ecological data.

Can scientists look at next year’s climate?
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.

Klimaveränderung fordert Wasserkraftwerke heraus
Die Klimaänderung wird kaum grössere Auswirkungen auf die gesamtschweizerische Stromproduktion aus Wasserkraft haben. Einzelne Kraftwerke können jedoch stark davon betroffen sein. Dies sind die Schlussfolgerungen eines mehrjährigen Forschungsprojektes, welches heute an einer Fachtagung in Visp vorgestellt und unter 200 Fachpersonen diskutiert wird.

First Global Picture of Greenhouse Gases Emerges from Pole-to-Pole Flights
News release URL Scripps HD Pier Cam Keeling Research Group Prospective Students Scripps Homepage ScrippsNews Home First Global Picture of Greenhouse Gases Emerges from Pole-to-Pole Flights HIPPO creates atlas of atmosphere September 7, 2011 By NCAR with edits by Rob Monroe The NSF/NCAR Gulfstream V research aircraft, known as HIAPER (High-performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research).

Engineers study 9/11 for lessons on how to help buildings withstand threats
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The cost of breathing - about £65 each year
The whole atmosphere is effectively worth more than 100 times the value of the world economy (Gross World Product – GWP), according to research being presented to the annual International Confe

Statewide initiatives may result from Stanford-led ’deliberative polling’
One weekend in June, a scientifically representative sample of California voters gathered in Torrance for the first-ever statewide "deliberative poll." Spearheaded by Stanford communication Professor James Fishkin, the gathering aimed to educate and facilitate discussion among participants, who were polled on their opinions toward a variety of statewide reforms.

NASA’s Mars Rover Opportunity Begins Study of Martian Crater
PASADENA, Calif. - The initial work of NASA's Mars rover Opportunity at its new location on Mars shows surface compositional differences from anything the robot has studied in its first 7.5 years of exploration.

RSMAS Professor to Lead Deepwater Horizon Research
— Coral Gables — The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GRI) announced yesterday that eight research consortia will be funded for a total of $112.5 million over three years to support r

Humans Shaped Stone Axes 1.8 Million Years Ago
Early humans were using stone hand axes as far back as 1.8 million years ago. Credit: Pierre-Jean Texier, National Center of Scientific Research, France. A new study suggests that Homo erectus , a precursor to modern humans, was using advanced tool-making methods in East Africa 1.8 million years ago, at least 300,000 years earlier than previously thought.

NASA Satellite Shows a Mean Irene’s Fury
After pounding North Carolina and Virginia on Aug. 27, Hurricane Irene made a second landfall near Little Egg Inlet, N.J., early Sunday morning, Aug.

NASA/ISRO Image Shows Irene’s Winds Before Landfall
Hurricane Irene made landfall early Saturday morning, Aug. 27, just west of Cape Lookout, NC, as a category one hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (75 knots).