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Physical Reality Of String Theory Shown In Quantum-critical State Of ElectronsString theory has come under fire in recent years. Promises have been made that have not been lived up to. Theoretical physicists have now for the first time used string theory to describe a physical phenomenon -- the quantum-critical state of electrons leading to high-temperature superconductivity.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 7 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm Close Relationship Between Past Warming And Sea-level RiseScientists have reconstructed sea-level fluctuations over the last 520,000 years. Comparison of this record with data on global climate and CO2 levels from Antarctic ice cores suggests that even stabilization at today's carbon dioxide levels may commit us to much greater sea-level rise over the next couple of millennia than previously thought.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 7 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm Trio Of Signals Converge To Induce Liver And Pancreas Cell Development In The EmbryoUnderstanding the molecular signals that guide early cells in the embryo to develop into different organs provides insight into ways that tissues regenerate and how stem cells can be used for new therapies. Researchers have investigated a trio of cell-signaling pathways that work simultaneously, converging to direct pancreas and liver progenitor cells to mature into their final state.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 7 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm Health Food Supplement May Curb Compulsive Hair PullingResearchers have discovered that a common antioxidant, widely available as a health food supplement, may help stop the urges of those with trichotillomania, a disorder characterized by compulsive hair-pulling.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 7 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm Alzheimer's Research Pinpoints Antibodies That May Prevent DiseaseAntibodies to a wide range of substances that can aggregate to form plaques, such as those found in Alzheimer's patients, have been identified in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid of healthy people. Levels of these antibodies decline with age and, in Alzheimer's patients, with increasing progression of the disease.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 7 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm Social Security Numbers Can Be Predicted With Public InformationResearchers have shown that public information readily gleaned from governmental sources, commercial data bases, or online social networks can be used to routinely predict most -- and sometimes all -- of an individual's nine-digit Social Security number.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 7 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm Inhaled Growth Hormone Safe For Children Deficient In This Key Protein, Study SuggestsEndocrinologists have found that inhaled growth hormone is well tolerated by children with growth hormone deficiency and that this easy-to-use method can safely deliver GH to the blood stream. This first pediatric study of administering GH through the lungs may also help researchers interested in using this convenient method for effectively delivering other types of medications to children.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 7 Jul 2009 | 3:00 pm Brain's Immune System May Cause Chronic SeizuresChronic seizures caused by traumatic head injuries may result from chemicals released by the brain's immune system attempting to repair the injured site, according to a new study.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 7 Jul 2009 | 3:00 pm Prostate Cancer 'Homing Device' Created For Drug DeliveryA new prostate cancer "homing device" could improve detection and allow for the first targeted treatment of the disease. Researchers have synthesized a molecule that finds and penetrates prostate cancer cells and has created imaging agents and therapeutic drugs that can link to the molecule and be carried with it as cargo.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 7 Jul 2009 | 3:00 pm Underground Cave Dating From The Year 1 A.D. Exposed In Jordan ValleyAn artificial underground cave, the largest in Israel, has been exposed in the Jordan Valley in the course of a new survey. Archeologists reckon that this cave was originally a large quarry during the Roman and Byzantine era. Various engravings were uncovered in the cave, including cross markings, and it is assumed that this could have been an early monastery.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 7 Jul 2009 | 3:00 pm Memories of the Apollo 11 Moon LandingSPACE.com readers are discussing where they were, what they were doing, and how the July 20, 1969 Apollo landing affected them.Source: Livescience.com | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:24 pm Mutiny or Murder: What Happened to Henry Hudson? (LiveScience.com)LiveScience.com - It has been 400 years since English explorer Henry Hudson mapped the northeast coast of North America, leaving a wake of rivers and towns named in his honor, yet what happened to the famed explorer remains a mystery.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:21 pm Smallest Full Moon of 2009 TodayThe moon is full today, and it is an interesting one. In fact, it won't truly be full.Source: Livescience.com | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:54 pm 'Time to ditch climate policies'World leaders need to abandon current global climate change policies, says an international group of academics.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:46 pm Coldest Known Object in Space Is Very Unnatural (SPACE.com)SPACE.com - The coldest known object out in space has now been announced by scientists. It's not a frozen comet or even some distant, chilly gas cloud. Rather, it's a spacecraft.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:45 pm Where Tomorrow's Stars Will Be BornNew map reveals thousands of previously undiscovered knots of cold cosmic dust, each a potential star waiting to be born.Source: Livescience.com | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:43 pm The Sun Has Spots, FinallyAfter one of the longest sunspot droughts in modern times, solar activity picked up quickly over the weekend.Source: Livescience.com | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:42 pm Coldest Known Object in Space Is Very UnnaturalESA’s Planck spacecraft has cooled to its operational temperature, making it coldest object in space.Source: Livescience.com | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:39 pm BLOG: Spiders Use Debris to Fool PredatorsSpiders place debris in their webs to deceive would-be predators.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:39 pm What's That Following Space Station?Skywatchers had spotted some "mysterious satellite" following the International Space Station. Turns out it is ...Source: Livescience.com | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:38 pm Travel Doubles Risk of Blood ClotsThe risk is still relatively low for healthy people. Tips: Drink more fluids and get up and walk around every couple hours.Source: Livescience.com | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:30 pm Echolocation Allows Blind Humans to 'See'Some blind people have developed their own personal sonar using echolocation.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:15 pm Mutiny or Murder: What Happened to Henry Hudson?Hudson was never heard from again after a mutiny by his crew during a later voyage through northern Canada.Source: Livescience.com | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:11 pm Final Rules Broaden Pool for Stem Cell Research (HealthDay)HealthDay - MONDAY, July 6 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. government issued final guidelines Monday describing which embryonic stem cell lines will be eligible for government funding, effectively expanding the universe of stem cells that can be used for research.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:02 pm Rice Concrete Cuts Greenhouse EmissionsUsing rice husks as a cement substitute could lead to a boom in green construction.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:30 am World leaders gather in Italy for key G8 summit (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:14 am Aquatic deer yield evolution clueTwo mouse-deer species in Asia have been discovered swimming underwater, providing further clues to the origin of whales.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:00 am The Nation's weather (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Jul 2009 | 8:58 am India PM urges G8 nations to lead on climate change (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Jul 2009 | 8:19 am New Rules Expand Federal Funding of Stem-Cell Research (Time.com)Time.com - New government regulations for the funding of human embryonic-stem-cell research will significantly expand the number of studies on stem-cell lines that qualify for public fundsSource: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Jul 2009 | 8:00 am Chinese oil firms may bid for Iraqi oil fields (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Jul 2009 | 6:57 am Striking oppositesBangladeshis grapple with their contradictionsSource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 7 Jul 2009 | 4:47 am Call for tougher gene test rulesThe genetic testing industry should be more tightly regulated, says a report by a House of Lords committee.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 6 Jul 2009 | 11:39 pm Ham Operators Shoot the Moon
It could be the most exciting 2.5 seconds in a ham operator’s life: the time it takes to send a message to the moon and back. Hundreds of people around the world bounced their voices off the moon on June 26 and 27, including ham operators, school children and an astronaut. Around 100 parabolic dishes joined World Moon Bounce Day as part of a tribute to the Apollo 11 lunar landing 40 years ago. “I’ve been a huge fan of going to the moon and lunar exploration,” said mechanical engineer Eric Stackpole who sent his voice from the 150-foot parabolic dish in the hills behind Stanford University. “Now I can say my voice has been heard from the moon, and I’m not even an astronaut!” Stackpole sent his call name and “CQ” — which comes from “seek you” and means “anybody there?” Around 2.5 seconds later, after his voice had traveled over 450,000 miles, he heard his echo.
Time on the Stanford dish was donated by its operator, SRI International. Ham operators and engineers made some temporary modifications to equip the dish for the Moon bounce, and they had to overcome two technical malfunctions to keep the Earth-to-Moon-to-Earth transmissions flowing with powerful 1296 megahertz micro waves. First, a specialized pre-amplifier at the tip of the tripod that extends 63 feet from the dish blew out. The entire dish had to be rotated perpendicular to the ground to lower and swap the broken component with a borrowed replacement.
The highlight for the World Moon Bounce participants was hearing the voice of Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders, one of the first three humans to orbit the moon and is famous for his Earthrise photo taken Christmas eve, 1968. Anders called from Bellingham, Washington to a ham operator in New Mexico, who used his own 28-foot dish to bounce the astronaut’s message off the moon. Anders thanked ham operators for the great work they do during national disasters and said the current crescent moon looked like it did when he left for the moon over 40 years ago. See Also:
Images: Lisa T.E. Sonne
Source: Wired: Wired Science | 6 Jul 2009 | 11:16 pm Osprey chicks tagged for trackingTwo of three young birds of prey that hatched in a nest in the Highlands are fitted with satellite tags for monitoring.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 6 Jul 2009 | 11:13 pm The lifestyle to beat Alzheimer'sCoffee drinkers will be clinking mugs in a toast to new research suggesting that just two strong cups of the black stuff a day can reverse the effects of Alzheimer's disease. Dr Gary Arendash of the University of Florida showed that coffee not only helped to reverse symptoms in mice but also staved off production in the brain of abnormal protein plaques, which are the hallmark of Alzheimer's. In the UK the Alzheimer's Society is anxious not to suggest that everyone develop a caffeine habit but says that if further research confirms its benefits, coffee could become part of a lifestyle prevention plan for the disease. So what else could be in the armoury? Researchers at Columbia University in New York recently found that a Mediterranean-style diet high in fish oil and vegetables prevented people with mild memory loss from getting full-blown dementia, and also seemed to prevent memory decline in the general population. Blueberries, kale and broccoli seem particularly helpful. Smoking is repeatedly shown to dull the brain's efficiency, so that's another reason to quit, but some studies suggest that moderate alcohol intake (one or two drinks a day) can be protective. Staying fit seems to help, too. A study of more than 2,200 Japanese-American men between the ages of 71 and 93 found that those who were sedentary or walked under a quarter of a mile per day were nearly twice as likely to develop dementia as those who covered two miles or more a day. And a report in the New England Journal of Medicine found that regular dancing of any sort reduced the risk of the disease. Being bilingual or learning languages preserves brain function and lowers the risk of dementia, and the "use it or lose it" theory also has proven benefits. One study of 400 pensioners in New York showed their risk of neural decline was halved through activities such as sudoku, crosswords, visiting museums and playing a musical instrument. It's better still if you can complete those puzzles with a spouse. Being married means you are at half the risk of getting dementia compared with singletons, Swedish researchers reported this month. But maintaining that marital status quo is essential: the same study found that divorce in mid-life will increase the risk three-fold. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 6 Jul 2009 | 11:01 pm Wake up to 20/20 visionPatrick Barkham was amazed to hear about new contact lenses that correct your vision while you sleep, leaving you lens-free all day. So he decided to give them a go Ewwwcrrsssh! The screech of metal against wood was the moment I began to question the efficacy of miraculous-sounding contact lenses that correct impaired vision while you sleep. I was not asleep, in fact I was reversing my car, but my vision was definitely still impaired because I had just reversed into a telegraph pole. Perhaps I should have blamed my foolish decision to reverse down a dark country lane but I decided to berate my new i-GO contact lenses ("sleep, see, go"). One week into my trial and, by evening, everything was a bit of a blur. If you have ever worn contact lenses, the idea of wearing them to sleep in is not just revolutionary, it is repulsive. Ask any contact-lens wearer who has woken from a boozy night out to find their eyelids gummed up and lenses screaming to be removed from bloodshot eyes. But i-GO lenses are deliberately popped in at night, and removed in the morning. A new generation of gas-permeable lens, they allow oxygen into your eyes during wear, preventing your eyes from becoming dry and sore. Crucially, however, they encourage movement of cells in the epithelium, the top level of your cornea, from the centre of your eye to the periphery. These cells are gently shifted by the fluid - the tear film - between contact lens and cornea, temporarily creating a new structure to the eye. This "overnight vision correction" treatment is called orthokeratology and the lenses are now available in ordinary opticians in major cities across England. It sounds amazing, and means you can see during the day without the need for glasses, contact lenses or laser surgery. When I meet Kieran Minshull, my optician for the trial, at LK Leon in central London, I wonder why he's wearing glasses. Minshull, it transpires, has even worse sight than me and i-GO lenses cannot correct short-sightedness worse than -5.0 (Mine hovers at -4.0). And these lenses do not correct serious astigmatism. Are they dangerous? "No more than with normal contact lenses," says Minshull. "Hygiene is important but there aren't any side effects." Unlike laser surgery, there are no permanent changes. If you don't keep wearing the lenses at night, your eyes readjust and your vision returns to how it was within a few days. Minshull has treated 18 people since the i-GO lenses were launched in the UK but in the US, 50,000 people are using this technology. The lenses cost from £200 for the initial appointments and fittings and £40 per month for lenses, checkups and solutions. I begin with a sight test, then Minshull takes a topography of my eye, photographing the curvature of my cornea to obtain the measurements needed to make the lenses. A week later, Minshull shows me how to put in and remove the lenses - easy if you are familiar with contact lenses. And he tells me that I need to sleep regularly, for six hours, and wear them every night. I have some solution to clean and store them in, and lubricant should they become stuck in my eyes (urgh) and that's it. Or so I thought. These lenses, I am told, do not usually work instantly. "We should achieve something like a 70% change within the first night of wear," says Minshull. In the early days, most users find their eyesight deteriorates by the end of the day. "You may notice a little bit of ghosting in the evening," he says. I am supplied with some -1.50 daily disposable contact lenses in case my eyesight becomes less than perfect. After the first night, I wake up and visit the opticians again, for a checkup, with the i-GO lenses still in my eyes. Everything is blurred and very uncomfortable because I am unused to these hard, plastic gas-permeable lenses. It turns out my vision is about 70% better and I return to work wearing soft contact lenses to correct my improving vision. Things are still rather blurry. I accidentally blank people I know. I am not enjoying blurred vision. It makes you appreciate the miracle of sight. After two nights in the lenses, I wake up and - hosanna! - I can see. Without lenses. Almost perfectly. The problem is at night: when it gets dark, I realise that while I can read car numberplates at a distance, my sight is distorted by electric lights, which are almost as blurry as if I had my normal vision. Street lights and car headlights are fuzzy. At my weekly checkup, Minshull explains that this "ghosting" or halo effect occurs because, while the lenses have corrected the centre of my pupils, they have not yet altered the periphery. This means that in low light, when my pupils widen, I am seeing with the corrected zone and with a small uncorrected area. With most clients, this passes in time. After my very minor crash, though, I decide to wear my i-GO lenses when I am driving at night. They are not as comfortable as my old soft contact lenses but are tolerable and I can see pin-sharply with them in. At the end of the four-week trial, my eyesight only declines very slightly during the day but in the dark, bright lights are still distorted. I return for my final checkup ready to give up the lenses but Minshull shows me the progress on reshaping my eye, and says that in some cases it can take longer than four weeks. We continue for two more weeks but the i-GO lenses still leave me with blurred vision at night. Minshull believes they have not worked because I have unusually large pupils. Sean O'Sullivan, 44, a business manager for a software company, has been using the lenses for three weeks. His prescription (-3.75) is similar to mine and yet his right eye was perfect after one night and his vision in both eyes was perfectly corrected after two nights. He, too, experienced blurry lights after dark but this has steadily lessened. He can still see late at night and, if he has to travel to America, into the next day as well. "It's an amazing thing to think that by putting a plastic lens in your eye at night you can see for a day and a half," he says. "I'm surprised more people aren't trying it. It is very liberating. It feels like a miracle cure. If it works, it's a great alternative to laser surgery." So far, only one other of Minshull's patients has experienced a similar problem to mine and they loved days without lenses so much they persevered. And I can see the attraction: it was wonderful to hurl myself into the ocean and not worry about contact lenses, do away with the dryness and red eyes from wearing ordinary contact lenses all day, and nice not to worry about treading on, or losing, my glasses again. But I am letting my eyes return to their old prescription because of the blurring at night. I could wear my i-GO lenses after dark, when I am awake, but that that seems little more convenient than using standard contact lenses. I feel sorry for Minshull, who looks crushed when I tell him they are not working for me. He has taken me through the trial with reassuring thoroughness and admirable patience. But I've had it with newfangled contact lenses. On the way out of LK Leon, one of their swish pairs of frames catches my eye and I try them on: I can definitely see myself wearing glasses again. igolenses.com, 0844 7362579. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 6 Jul 2009 | 11:01 pm U.S. stem cell research rules ease some restrictionsWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government released new rules on Monday governing federally funded research on human embryonic stem cells, loosening some ethical requirements that scientists said could have cost them a decade of work.Source: Reuters: Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 10:54 pm Largest Dinosaurs Ate Often, Exercised LittleSome of the largest dinosaurs reached their great size by spending the bulk of their time eating.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 6 Jul 2009 | 10:40 pm Israeli archaeologists discover ancient quarry (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 10:19 pm NASA Probe Looks at Bright Side of Mars (SPACE.com)SPACE.com - An aging but dependable NASA probe has tweaked its orbit around Mars to seek out warmer ground on the distant, red world.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 10:15 pm Like Sex? Thank a ParasiteHow did sex evolve? It might have all been a reaction to parasites.Source: Livescience.com | 6 Jul 2009 | 10:01 pm First Land Creatures Had Wild AppearancesThe first fish-like animals to squirm out of the sea and onto land were pretty wild looking, new research concludes.Source: Livescience.com | 6 Jul 2009 | 9:59 pm Social Security Numbers Deduced From Public Data
For years, government officials have urged people to protect their Social Security numbers by giving out the nine-digit codes only when absolutely necessary. Now it turns out that all the caution in the world may not be enough: New research shows that Social Security numbers can be predicted from publicly available birth information with a surprising degree of accuracy.
By analyzing a public data set called the “Death Master File,” which contains SSNs and birth information for people who have died, computer scientists from Carnegie Mellon University discovered distinct patterns in how the numbers are assigned. In many cases, knowing the date and state of an individual’s birth was enough to predict a person’s SSN. “We didn’t break any secret code or hack into an undisclosed data set,” said privacy expert Alessandro Acquisti, co-author of the study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “We used only publicly available information, and that’s why our result is of value. It shows that you can take personal information that’s not sensitive, like birth date, and combine it with other publicly available data to come up with something very sensitive and confidential.” With just two attempts, the researchers correctly guessed the first five digits of SSNs for 60 percent of deceased Americans born between 1989 and 2003. With fewer than 1,000 attempts, they could identify the entire nine digits for 8.5 percent of the group.
There’s only a few short steps between making a statistical prediction about a person’s SSN and verifying their actual number, Acquisti said. Through a process called “tumbling,” hackers can exploit instant online credit approval services — or even the Social Security Administration’s own verification database — to test multiple numbers until they find the right one. Although these services usually block users after several failed attempts, criminals can use networks of compromised computers called botnets to scan thousands of numbers at a time. “A botnet can be programmed to try variations of a Social Security number to apply for an instant credit card,” Acquisti said. “In 60 seconds, these services tell you whether you are approved or not, so they can be abused to tell whether you’ve hit the right social security number.” To keep identity thieves from exploiting their research, the scientists left a few key details about their method out of the paper, and they released the document to government agencies before making it public. After developing an algorithm using the Death Master File, the researchers tested their results using information on birthday and hometown taken from a social networking site (the researchers declined to say which one). Again, they were able to predict Social Security numbers with a high degree of accuracy. “It worked a little worse in the online social test for obvious reasons,” Acquisti said. “Some people may not reveal the right date of birth, or they may call hometown where they went to high school, not where they were born. There’s more noise in online social networking, but nevertheless the two studies confirmed each other.” It also turns out that some SSNs are easier to predict than others. Because of the way numbers are assigned, younger people and those born in less populated states are more at risk, Acquisti said. Before 1988, many people didn’t apply for an SSN until they left for college or got their first job. But thanks to an anti-fraud effort in 1988 called the “Enumeration at Birth” initiative, parents started applying for their child’s number at birth, making it much easier to predict based on a person’s birthday. The new findings remind consumers that they should use caution when sharing data online, even when the information itself doesn’t seem particularly sensitive. But Acquisti said his real message is for policymakers. “We really wanted to come public with this result because the issue goes way beyond individual response,” he said. “It’s not just about remembering to shred your documents or to remove personal identification off your mail. As much as you try to protect your personal info, the info is already out there.” According to information privacy experts, Social Security numbers were never meant to be used for authentication purposes, and using them as passwords puts all consumers at risk for identity theft. “I have long argued that Congress or the Federal Trade Commission should prohibit companies from using SSNs as a means to verify identity,” Daniel J. Solove, professor of law at George Washington University Law School, wrote in an e-mail. “Merely protecting against their disclosure is insufficient since Acquisti and Gross demonstrate that they can readily be predicted.” As a first step, the researchers suggest that the Social Security Administration start randomizing the assignment of SSNs. But randomization is only a Band-Aid, Acquisti said. “It can buy us more time, but it isn’t going to change the underlying problem,” he said. “These numbers are supposed to be secret, but your bank has it, your insurance company has it, even your doctor has it. As long as we rely on numbers that are used as both identifiers and authenticators, then we are a system that remains insecure.” Privacy law expert Chris Hoofnagle of the University of California, Berkeley, says the response must be drastic. “Their paper points to a radical solution: Perhaps we should stop trying to protect the secrecy of the SSN, and just publish all of them to prevent their use as passwords.” See Also:
Image: Flickr/ Fabricator of Useless Articles
Source: Wired: Wired Science | 6 Jul 2009 | 9:05 pm Carbon dioxide may drive coral reefs to extinctionDavid Attenborough joined scientists today to warn that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is already above the level which condemns coral reefs to extinction, with catastrophic effects for the oceans and the people who depend upon them. Coral reefs support a quarter of all marine life, including more than 4,000 species of fish. They also provide spawning, nursery, refuge and feeding areas for creatures such as lobsters, crabs, starfish and sea turtles. This makes them crucial in supporting a healthy marine ecosystem upon which more than a billion people depend for food. Reefs also play a crucial role as natural breakwaters, protecting coastlines from storms. Attenborough said the world had a "moral responsibility" to save corals. The naturalist was speaking at the Royal Society in London, following a meeting of marine biologists. "A coral reef is the canary in the cage as far as the oceans are concerned," said Attenborough. "They are the places where the damage is most easily and quickly seen. It is more difficult for us to see what is happening in, for example, the deep ocean or the central expanses of ocean." Global warming means warmer seas, which causes the corals to bleach, where the creatures lose the symbiotic algae they need to survive. Carbon dioxide also makes seas more acidic, which means the corals find it difficult to prevent their exoskeletons from dissolving. "We've already passed a safe threshold for coral reef ecosystems in terms of climate change; we believe that a safe level for CO2 is below 350 parts per million," said Alex Rogers of the Zoological Society of London and International Programme on the State of the Ocean, who helped organise today's meeting. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen from 280ppm before the industrial revolution to around 387ppm today. Environmentalists say that any new global deal on climate must restrict the growth of CO2 levels to 450ppm, though more pessimistic scientists say that the world is heading for 550ppm or even 650ppm. "When we get up to and above 450ppm, that really means we're into the realms of catastrophic destruction of coral reefs and we'll be moving into a planetary-wide global extinction," said Rogers. "The only way to get to 350ppm or below is not only to have major cuts in CO2 emissions but also to draw CO2 out of the atmosphere through measures such as geo-engineering." guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 6 Jul 2009 | 6:22 pm “Stayin’ Alive” Saves Another Life
The disco classic “Stayin’ Alive” has saved another life. Last week, CNN reported Thursday a Massachusetts woman revived her cardiac-arrested husband by administering CPR to the song’s funky beat. After he collapsed during a walk, she was clear-headed enough to remember a public service announcement produced last year by the American Heart Association. The AHA advised people untrained in CPR to help heart attack victims by compressing their chests 100 times a minute, and that “Stayin’ Alive” thumps along at a convenient 103 beats per minute. Just as importantly, nearly every American born in the last half-century knows it by heart. The song saved another person in May, after a jogger in Delray Beach, Florida collapsed, and a passing driver stopped and performed “Stayin’ Alive”-inspired CPR. The process was originally proposed by University of Hawaii pediatrician Alson Inaba and later at the University of Illinois, who found that the song and technique stuck in trainees’ heads. Other songs fitting the 100 BPM bill are Lily Allen’s “LDN,” ABBA’s “Dancing Queen,” and Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust.” See Also:
Image: Vintage Fairytale/Flickr Video: American Heart Association Brandon Keim’s Twitter stream and reportorial outtakes; Wired Science on Twitter.
Source: Wired: Wired Science | 6 Jul 2009 | 5:07 pm Reefs could perish by end of century, experts warnLONDON (Reuters) - Increasingly acidic oceans and warming water temperatures due to carbon dioxide emissions could kill off the world's ocean reefs by the end of this century, scientists warned on Monday.Source: Reuters: Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 5:04 pm News from Afar: Diversionary tacticsDavid Ferguson describes the second day of his hastily arranged journey to a remote region of Ethiopia in time to investigate a volcanic eruption. He and his fellow geologists dodge Al-Qaida trucks and survive a flight by Ethiopian military helicopter, but their final destination still eludes them Friday: We left Addis Ababa before dawn, weaving our way through the dark streets avoiding the crowds of early morning joggers. Our destination was an Ethiopian military base around 50km from the city, from where we had been promised a helicopter ride to the eruption site about 450km northwards in the remote Afar region. Once we reached the volcano we would take gas samples from the new vent and collect pieces of lava for analysis back in the lab. My companion from the UK, Talfan Barnie, a PhD student at Cambridge University, had also brought an infra-red camera to measure the temperature of the lava. Our group numbers seven: three scientists from the University of Addis Ababa, two from the Ethiopian Geological Survey and two of us from the UK. By studying this eruption we hope to better understand how and where the magma beneath the surface is being created and when the volcano might erupt again. By sunrise we had left Addis behind and were driving south on Ethiopia's main trade route, the road to Djibouti, where almost all of the country's imports arrive. It is populated by legions of flatbed trucks, jovially nicknamed 'Al-Qaida' by the other drivers because of the vehicles' notorious safety record. Our driver expertly avoided some of their more optimistic overtaking manoeuvres and we reached the base in time to see the air force's newest recruits going through their morning drill, accompanied by patriotic slogans blasted out from a nearby loudspeaker. We were introduced to the pilot, a suave middle-aged African with a neatly trimmed moustache, and as our Ethiopian colleagues began the final negotiations we were left to admire the Russian-made fighter jets and helicopters lined up along the runway. Although we hoped to fly straight to the Afar capital, Semera, where we could pick up armed guards to accompany us to the volcano, we discovered that our first stop would be Mekele, a city in the northern Ethiopian highlands. There we would have to re-fuel and continue to Afar. As we waited for the weather to clear we took turns standing on a large steel weighing scale, a soldier recording our weights to ensure our helicopter had enough fuel for the journey. After an hour or so we got the all-clear and clambered aboard. Our geological hammers, having been deemed unsafe, had been wrapped in a bundle and stowed beneath the pilot's seat. We were joined by several family members of air force personnel who were hitching a ride to the north. The flight to Mekele took two and half hours and we passed over the highland plateau, formed from vast piles of ancient lava flows, now split by huge gorges and dotted with small villages and farms. Although it wasn't our planned route it was an amazing way to see the country and we crowded around the small windows to watch the landscape below. Ever since we heard about the eruption just a few days ago, the geologists at Addis Ababa University had been tirelessly campaigning to arrange this trip and once in the air we became increasingly excited that their efforts were finally paying off and we were just a few hours away from seeing the eruption. In Ethiopia, however, things rarely go to plan. Once we arrived in Mekele there was confusion about where exactly we wanted to land to pick up the guards and how long we could spend at the volcano. It seemed we would not have time to make the measurements we needed before it got dark. Despite being tantalisingly close, it was decided that we would have to wait until tomorrow to proceed. We made our way into the city to find a hotel for the night. We can only hope the weather will stay clear and that tomorrow we will make it to the volcano. David Ferguson is a geology PhD student at Oxford University. We'll be publishing updates on their progress in the coming days guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 6 Jul 2009 | 3:58 pm Landmark Buildings Find New Life by Going GreenLandmark buildings across the United States are being revitalized by going green.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 6 Jul 2009 | 3:45 pm BLOG: Elephants at Michael Jackson Memorial SiteCircus elephants will be allowed to enter Michael Jackson's Tuesday memorial.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 6 Jul 2009 | 3:05 pm BLOG: Smarter Energy Use With Micro-CurtailmentMicro-curtailing energy use offers a big opportunity for savings.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 6 Jul 2009 | 2:45 pm G8 leaders to set emissions goalsLeaders of G8 nations are to set a target to cut greenhouse gases by 80% by 2050, the BBC understands.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 6 Jul 2009 | 2:44 pm Community Genome Could Produce BiofuelsThe genomes of 17 different ants, fungi and bacteria could provide a source of biofuels.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 6 Jul 2009 | 2:00 pm In picturesUganda villagers fear climate change is ruining their livesSource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 6 Jul 2009 | 1:35 pm The Moon Landing: 40 Years OnForty years after the moon landing, space experts weigh in on whether we need to go back.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 6 Jul 2009 | 1:00 pm
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Voices and Morse Code bounced off the moon from Europe, South America and Australia to the Stanford dish. While the Stanford crew, led by ham operator Pat Barthelow, was a small group of die-hards and novices, Switzerland’s ham operators were joined by 300 people including families, journalists and television crews. “Forty-five children took the chance to send a short message to the Moon,” organizer Christopher Joos wrote in an email. “It was an unforgettable event for us!”
The next day after moon rise, messages were again clearly heard reflected from the surface of the moon before a 1965 amplifier overheated. Cooling it didn’t work, so a less powerful amp had to stand in.
